The Note: Democrats cast virtual as virtue as convention ends

Next comes the RNC -- with different leaders, priorities and images to offer.

By
Rick Klein
 and
MaryAlice Parks
August 21, 2020, 6:00 AM ET
8 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The format was unusual. The news was minimal. The calamari was memorable -- and presumably edible.

The first-ever virtual convention is complete, with Joe Biden standing as the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris making history as the vice-presidential nominee and lessons for both parties and for the nation on connecting in the age of COVID-19.

Among the takeaways that may be relevant for the next 70-plus days: The Democrats did not hide from the fact that the convention was virtual. Even big-name speakers beamed in from living rooms and small businesses, and masks and social distancing were just part of the program -- up to and including the acceptance speeches by Biden and Harris.

Republicans didn’t even wait for their own virtual convention next week to provide the contrast. President Donald Trump made a mask-less pizza stop in Pennsylvania on Thursday, shortly after a campaign stop in Biden’s hometown of Scranton.

By contrast, Biden and his wife, Jill, strapped on masks to watch fireworks in Delaware celebrating his nomination. That could be one of the enduring images of this convention -- and that’s part of the point.

Biden and his fellow Democrats did more than try to blame Trump this week. They suggested that their policies and their candidates would be smarter and more responsible, with the pandemic and crises of race relations and the economy front of mind for voters and viewers.

These are crises that people feel and live, and the Democratic convention was designed, in part, to show that party leaders feel and live the same way. Next comes the Republican National Convention -- with different leaders, different priorities and much different images to offer.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

For decades, Biden's personal tragedies have helped him connect with people and defined his political career.

Thursday night, the former vice president went one step further and argued that his experience losing so many loved ones makes him uniquely suited to lead a grieving nation.

Biden was the strongest during his speech when he talked straight to Americans who have lost family members to the coronavirus. He said he understood their personal pain and, in an intimate moment, underscored what had been a major argument from Democrats all week -- that Biden has empathy for others.

The Democratic nominee offered advice to those families and then the same message to the whole country. He said the healing process for him started with finding purpose and getting to work. It was a message that likely resonated with many looking for answers, ideas and next steps out of this crisis moment.

Biden also took care to reflect on George Floyd’s death and the movement it sparked.

After facing much criticism lately for how he talks about race at times, Biden’s claim that Floyd’s daughter’s words landed and resonated with him could go a long way for younger voters who have been looking to see Biden reflect and show a willingness to learn.

The TIP with Quinn Scanlan

The importance of voting has been a central theme of the Democratic National Convention this week -- on brand with their push to expand voting access and ease restrictions around casting a ballot during this pandemic election cycle. On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo became the latest Democrat to take action on that front, giving any New York voter the option to request an absentee ballot for the general election.

That leaves just six states -- all states that voted for Trump, who's railed against mail-in voting -- that still require an excuse beyond coronavirus concerns to cast ballots by mail this fall: Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

But the expansion of mail-in voting will lead to significantly more voters choosing to cast ballots this way nationwide and the process for canvassing those ballots is more cumbersome than for those cast in person.

In the key battleground states that already had a robust vote-by-mail program in place, like Arizona and Florida, the processing of and signature verification for those ballots can begin starting at least two weeks prior to Election Day. Georgia recently took action to allow county election officials to start that process beginning Oct. 19. And in Ohio, absentee ballots are actually the first votes counted on election night.

But for the three "Blue Wall" states that Trump won in 2016 by a margin less than one percentage point -- Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- mail-in ballots can't be processed at all until Election Day. If the laws determining when that can begin aren't changed, there's a real possibility that voters, and candidates, will have to wait longer than they're used to for a winner to be called.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Friday morning’s episode features ABC News Senior Congressional correspondent Mary Bruce, who recaps Joe Biden’s acceptance speech on the final night of the Democratic National convention. ABC News Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl explains why former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday. And ABC News Senior Foreign correspondent Ian Pannell brings us the latest on the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" Podcast. As Joe Biden prepared for the final night of the Democratic National Convention, his campaign's communications director, Kate Bedingfield, promised Biden would put a premium on "transparent, open" communication with the press, which would likely include a return to daily press briefings. "I think we would get back to a more regular rhythm of communicating consistently with the press, day in and day out, about the administration's priorities," she said in an interview with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and ABC News Political Director Rick Klein on the podcast. https://bit.ly/2w091jE

FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast. If the guiding wisdom for a running mate is “do no harm,” Joe Biden’s VP pick, Kamala Harris, has so far succeeded. In this reaction to the third night of the Democratic National Convention, the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast crew discusses Harris’ speech and asks whether she can go beyond this guiding wisdom and become an asset for the Democrats this fall. https://53eig.ht/2E06IDH

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND

  • Vice President Mike Pence appears ABC's "Good Morning America."
  • U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies at 9 a.m. before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a hearing to examine the finances and operations of the Postal Service during the coronavirus and leading up to the elections.
  • President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the 2020 Council for National Policy Meeting in Arlington, Virginia, at 11 a.m.
  • Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff attend a virtual Biden for President grassroots finance event.
  • Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”: ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with Biden Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield. And the Powerhouse Roundtable discusses all the week’s politics with former New Jersey Governor and ABC News Contributor Chris Christie, former Chicago Mayor and ABC News Contributor Rahm Emanuel, Associate Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and ABC News Contributor Leah Wright Rigueur and former Virginia Congresswoman and ABC News Contributor Barbara Comstock.

    • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

    The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back Monday for the latest.