Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart and New York Times columnist David Brooks recapped the Democratic National Convention on Friday’s PBS News Hour by contrasting its “jubilation” and “patriotism” with the “hate” that came out of the RNC’s “weighted blanket.”
Host Amna Nawaz began with Capehart, “The Democrats spent rallying behind their ticket and rolling them out to the nation. What stood out to you from those days?”
Capehart gushed, “The jubilation and relief. There were people who were dreading the convention coming up, and then once the change in the top of the ticket came, you started hearing about people from all over the country trying to figure out how they could get tickets to get inside the hall.”
Contrasting the two conventions, he continued, “People wanted to be there. People wanted to be a part of it. And the jubilation is also around a candidate and around a party that is — like, people are hungry. I think they're exhausted by all the negativity and the hate and the heaviness, and they want to be joyful in solving the country's problems, and so over four days, whereas in Milwaukee, every night I felt like when we left the set, I was — like a weighted blanket. Four days in Chicago is a completely different experience.”
He concluded by declaring, “And so I think Democrats are — they are happy, they're excited, and I think they have rocketed out of Chicago ready, willing, and able to push Kamala Harris over the finish line.”
Capehart is the liberal half of Brooks and Capehart, so such comments were not surprising. However, Brooks agreed, “Yeah, well, certainly the emotional change in the Democratic Party is as stark as it's possible to imagine.”
He also praised the DNC as better than the RNC:
But if you look at the two parties, the two conventions, I'd say the Republicans doubled down on their core story, and the Democrats expanded their story. And so, by doubling down, I mean, their core story is the elites have betrayed us, we're going to build a working-class army to overthrow the system, and picking JD Vance just doubles down on that story. And then having Dana White and Hulk Hogan and all that, that's just like, yes, this is our story and this is who we're going for, but it's like 46 percent of the country.
Democrats had more than their fair share of celebrity speakers and performers too, but Brooks still tried to argue, “If you had stereotypes about the Democrats, this convention did not fit them. The vice presidential candidate is shown hunting. There's a bunch of football players lined up on stage. There's a bunch of military people showing up on stage. There's as much patriotism as you can possibly imagine.”
Hunting does not negate the fact that Tim Walz is still further left than the vast majority of the country.
Still, Brooks ended by adding, “She describes American foreign policy in a pretty hawkish way, and so expanding. And so, I don't know if it'll work. And it may be — and the mood of the country may be dark, and that would be good for Trump. But — or as Jonathan says, maybe we're just a little tired of dark and we want a vibe shift and so I thought both — I thought, in general, if you got a core story, you need to expand to win a majority. And so I thought Harris was a little smarter.”
Are Brooks and Capehart really “a little tired of dark” if they forecast nothing but doom and gloom if Republicans win?
Here is a transcript for the August 23 show:
PBS News Hour
8/23/2024
7:31 PM ET
AMNA NAWAZ: Okay, so for anyone who was not watching every hour of the conventions with us, although I can't imagine why you wouldn't have been, I just want to get your big takeaways here. From the last four days, Jonathan, that the Democrats spent rallying behind their ticket and rolling them out to the nation. What stood out to you from those days?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: The jubilation and relief. There were people who were dreading the convention coming up, and then once the change in the top of the ticket came, you started hearing about people from all over the country trying to figure out how they could get tickets to get inside the hall.
People wanted to be there. People wanted to be a part of it. And the jubilation is also around a candidate and around a party that is — like, people are hungry. I think they're exhausted by all the negativity and the hate and the heaviness, and they want to be joyful in solving the country's problems, and so over four days, whereas in Milwaukee, every night I felt like when we left the set, I was — like a weighted blanket. Four days in Chicago is a completely different experience.
And so I think Democrats are — they are happy, they're excited, and I think they have rocketed out of Chicago ready, willing, and able to push Kamala Harris over the finish line.
NAWAZ: What about you, David? Do you get that same sense?
DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, well, certainly the emotional change in the Democratic Party is as stark as it's possible to imagine.
But if you look at the two parties, the two conventions, I'd say the Republicans doubled down on their core story, and the Democrats expanded their story. And so, by doubling down, I mean, their core story is the elites have betrayed us, we're going to build a working-class army to overthrow the system, and picking JD Vance just doubles down on that story.
And then having Dana White and Hulk Hogan and all that, that's just like, yes, this is our story and this is who we're going for.
But it's like 46 percent of the country. Kamala Harris, on the other hand, I mean, it was not your — like, if you had stereotypes about the Democrats, this convention did not fit them. The vice presidential candidate is shown hunting. There's a bunch of football players lined up on stage. There's a bunch of military people showing up on stage. There's as much patriotism as you can possibly imagine.
She describes American foreign policy in a pretty hawkish way, and so expanding. And so, I don't know if it'll work. And it may be — and the mood of the country may be dark, and that would be good for Trump. But — or as Jonathan says, maybe we're just a little tired of dark and we want a vibe shift.
And so I thought both — I thought, in general, if you got a core story, you need to expand to win a majority. And so I thought Harris was a little smarter.
