DNC: States officially nominate Biden for president in roll call, as AOC backs Sanders in 90-second speech
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Joe Biden was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate on Tuesday night after an improved virtual Zoom convention saw former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, along with establishment political figures Colin Powell and John Kerry, unite behind the former VP to take on Donald Trump in November.
The progressive wing of the party, however, delivered a snub as Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez didn't mention Biden during her nomination of Bernard Sanders for the candidacy.
The night focused on Jill Biden, who said her husband would fight for the soul of America with the same grit he showed following the death of their son from cancer.
Donald Trump wasn't silent during the convention, lashing out at the DNC after Bill Clinton placed responsibility for the US's coronavirus cases on the "chaos in the oval office".
"Tell the Dems that we have more Cases because we do FAR more Testing than any other Country!" Trump said in a tweet just as the former president finished up his remarks.
Clinton wasn't the only former president shipping for Biden, however, with 95-year-old Jimmy Carter making his first appearance at a Democrat convention in eight years.
Biden was Carter's "first and most effective" supporter in the Senate during the 1976 presidential campaign, and his character and decency was best for the American people.
Biden's character and decency was placed in stark contrast to Trump throughout the event, with Powell saying those personality traits would restore America's leadership and moral authority after four years of what Kerry said has been a blooper reel of incoherent foreign policy.
Former acting US attorney general Sally Yates, meanwhile, was less colorful in her assessment of the president's actions, saying he "trampled the rule trying to weaponize our Justice Department to attack his enemies."
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Day 2: Speakers and how to watch the Democratic National Convention
The second day of the Democratic National Convention begins at 9pm EST tonight, with Bill Clinton and Jill Biden headlining after Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders kicked off proceedings last night.
Who to watch
On Tuesday, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will speak at the convention, providing young and progressive voters with a voice among more mainstream speakers and Mr Biden, who is sometimes at odds with younger Democrats.
- Minority leader Chuck Schumer
- Former secretary of state John Kerry
- Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Former president Bill Clinton
- Dr Jill Biden
How to watch
The convention's programming takes place between 9 - 11pm EDT ( 1 -- 3am GMT the next day) Monday to Thursday this week, and can be watched online here.
Graig Graziosi reports on how to follow the convention for the rest of the week, up until Joe Biden's acceptance speech on Thursday 20 August.
ANALYSIS: Slick, solid and easily digested but will Democrats' low energy live-stream convention help Joe Biden beat Donald Trump?
Perhaps, writes Andrew Buncombe, the party needs to emulate professional soccer and use canned applause
Four years ago, on the opening night of the Democratic national convention, Bernie Sanders delivered a soaring piece of rhetoric in which he urged his supporters to vote for the candidate who had defeated him.
The audience packed into Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia leapt to their feet, emotions running high, as the senator declared: "We have begun a political revolution to transform America and that revolution -- our revolution -- continues."
Four years on, admittedly barely looking any older, Sanders again had to urge his fans to back a candidate other than himself, albeit Joe Biden rather than Hillary Clinton, whom many of his supporters detested.
"This election is the most important in the modern history of this country," he said. "The future of our democracy is at stake."
Yet this time it sounded flat, muted. And it was not just Bernie Sanders. Michelle Obama, Monday evening's keynote speaker, who we were told would deliver the most rousing address of her life, felt equally low-key.
Of course, it was not their fault. Forced by the coronavirus pandemic to deliver live-streamed speeches from the safety of their homes to Americans sitting in theirs, rather than in a noisy arena, the addresses lacked the input of live applause and emotion.
They were slick, solid and easily digested, but they lacked the back of and forth of speaking to a live audience, the interactions and smiles and shouts and screams. In short, they lacked an actual convention.
Read the full column.
Former president Jimmy Carter to appear at DNC convention on Tuesday
Former President Jimmy Carter will appear on day two of the Democratic National Convention, the first time the 39th president has appeared at a party convention in eight years.
DNC organizers confirmed that Carter, 95, and his wife Rosalynn would address attendees during the Zoom convention, according to the Associated Press.
The last time Carter appeared at a convention was in 2012, when a pre-recorded speech was broadcast on the convention's second night.
Day 2 focus: Trump's global leadership deficit
A day after Michelle Obama's passion wowed Democrats, Joe Biden is drawing on a collection of his party's most experienced leaders at the Democratic National Convention to underscore what he calls a global leadership deficit that threatens U.S. national security.
Jill Biden will also introduce herself to the nation for the first time as the prospective first lady. A longtime teacher, she'll speak from her former classroom at Brandywine High School near the family home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry are among the headliners on a night that organizers emphasize a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, will also make an appearance.
"Donald Trump is just not equipped, not capable of doing what we need to do in the world today," Kerry said during a briefing ahead of the convention's second night. "What Donald Trump inherited, which was a growing economy and a world of respect, he's turned into a world of chaos, literally."
Associated Press
OPINION: Trump has a strategy for dealing with the Democratic Convention. It's probably going to backfire
For Indy Voices, contributor Andrew Feinberg writes the fundamental problem with Trump is he's over-exposed, and he needs to make this race about anything other than Donald Trump, and he's just incapable.
Read the full column.
Day 1 of DNC convention was a ratings failure
About 27 per cent fewer people tuned in to the first night of the Democratic convention than in 2016, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.
The convention drew about 18.7 million viewers across six networks during the prime time speeches of Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders, according to the figures released by Fox News and CNN and reported by multiple media outlets.
That compares to the 25.7 million who watched in 2016 across ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
The figures do not include viewers on other networks or on streaming and social media platforms, as the Democratic National Committee made a push to draw viewers to other feeds.
Odds are on Donald Trump bringing up these figures the first chance he gets.
'It's like binge watching a Marriott commercial' -- Marianne Williamson on day one of DNC
2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Marianne Williamson, has some insight into why the ratings for the first night of the Democratic convention may have flopped n the ratings.
Trump's Democratic convention counter-programming to begin soon
As we just heard from Indy Voices contributor, Andrew Feinberg, Donald Trump is in the midst of his counter-programming. After his stops in Minneapolis and Wisconsin, Trump is continuing today in Yuma, Arizona and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The Arizona stop is about to kick-off, and you can follow along below.
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