The Democrats just wrapped up a convention that – to my mind – ranks among the most effective of modern times. A good convention usually has one or maybe two stand-out performances or moments of high emotion. This convention was packed with them.
Michelle Obama’s honest, deeply personal, flawlessly delivered expression of thanks to and faith in America.
Bill Clinton testifying to Hillary’s lifelong passion for service and affirming that political character is defined by what you do and not just what you say.
Bernie Sanders generously and dramatically setting aside the divisions of the primary campaign and asking the convention to nominate his former rival by acclamation.
Joe Biden’s plain-spoken, righteously angry, thundering exposure of Donald Trump as an unprepared, ignorant fraud.
Michael Bloomberg’s comparatively low-key, but equally effective reminder that this election is not about left versus right, but about “sane” versus “God help us.”
President Obama, as elegant and eloquent as he has ever been, delivering a rousing defense of the American experiment itself against “fascists, communists, jihadists, or homegrown demagogues.”
Not to mention the non-politicians — the Mothers of the Movement, the families of slain Police officers, the advocates for the disabled, and many, many others – who spoke with strength and grace.
Even the videos and set pieces were impressive, the best of them not needing a single word at all: over quiet music, a sequence of images, the men who have occupied the Presidency, one after another, giving way at last to shattering glass and the face of the first woman.
And, of course, there was the sheer emotion of Hillary’s historic accomplishment. To see her emerging before a sea of red, white, and blue to accept the nomination, a first in America’s 240 year history, was an overwhelming sight.
But as I reflect this morning on the last four days, all of these memorable speakers are somehow and unexpectedly eclipsed by one other: Khizr Khan, whose son, Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in the line of duty in Iraq. Watch it from beginning to end, including the video introduction for context.
How fitting that in this strangest of political years, the most profound expression of patriotism, dignity, heroism, and Americanism should be offered by a Muslim immigrant.
It was for me and many others the most powerful moment of the entire convention and quite possibly to most powerful moment of any convention.
You have sacrificed nothing and no one.
Unforgettable and unanswerable.