To oust Trump, you must vote: Democrats pound their message

The Democrats' historic boundary breakers joined forces Wednesday night at the party's national convention, pleading for Joe Biden's diverse coalition to put voting ahead of everything else this fall to save the nation from the chaotic leadership of President Donald Trump.

Their overriding message: Don't just complain about Trump; vote because your lives and democracy itself may be at stake.

Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated for president by a major party, spoke ahead of Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, and Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate and the first Black woman on a major party ticket.

“For four years, people have said to me, 'I didn't realise how dangerous he was.' 'I wish I could go back and do it over.' Or worst, 'I should have voted,'” Clinton said.

“Well, this can't be another woulda coulda shoulda election.” She added: “Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.”

Read: Donald Trump's failure cost US lives, livelihoods: Kamala Harris

The third night of the Democrats' all-online four-day convention focused on the party's commitment to progressive values on issues like gun violence and climate change, while highlighting speakers most likely to connect with women and people of colour, voters whose energy this fall could ultimately decide the outcome.

Democrats targeted Trump's policies and personality throughout, casting him as cruel in his treatment of immigrants, disinterested in the nation's climate crisis and over his head in virtually all of the nation's most pressing challenges.

Above all, there was an urgent focus on voting.

Harris, a 55-year-old California senator whose parents are Jamaican and Indian, made a surprise appearance early in the program, calling on Biden's supporters to have a specific “voting plan” to overcome the obstacles to voting raised by the coronavirus pandemic and postal slowdowns.

“When we vote things change, when we vote things get better, when we vote we address the need for all people to be treated with dignity and respect,” Harris said.

“So each of us needs a plan, a voting plan.”

Harris was to deliver her full remarks later in the night following Obama in a political hand-off that could help shape the next generation of Democratic politics.

Just 76 days before the election, Biden faces the difficult task of energising each of the disparate factions that make up the modern-day Democratic Party – a coalition that spans generation, race and ideology.

And this fall voters must deal with concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic that has created health risks for those who want to vote in person.

Biden leads many polls, but his supporters report being motivated far more by antipathy toward Trump than genuine excitement about Biden, a 77-year-old white man who has spent nearly a half-century in politics.

Democrats hope that Harris and Obama, in particular, can help bridge the divide between those reassured by Biden's establishment credentials and those craving bolder change.

Also Read: Kamala Harris: The inspiring story of many firsts

The pandemic has forced Biden's team to abandon the traditional convention format in favour of an all-virtual affair that has eliminated much of the pomp and circumstance that typically defines political conventions.

The Democratic convention will build to a finale Thursday night when Biden will deliver his acceptance speech in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home.

And after two nights that featured several Republicans, Democrats on Wednesday emphasised their party's values on issues like climate change and gun violence, issues that particularly resonate with younger voters.

On guns, Biden wants to repeal a law shielding firearm manufacturers from liability lawsuits, impose universal background checks for purchases and ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

On climate, Biden has proposed a $2 trillion plan to invest in clean energy and end carbon emissions from US power plants by 2035, even though his proposals don't go as far as activists' preferred “Green New Deal.”

A face of the Democrats' support for gun control, former Arizona Rep Gabby Giffords reflected on her own journey of pain and recovery from a severe brain injury nearly a decade after being shot in the head while meeting with constituents.