What to watch for at the Democrats’ convention this week

Last updated on: July 24, 2016 at 9:24 pm

July 25, 2016 by Gene Veith

Now it’s the Democrats’ turn to have a convention, beginning today and lasting through Thursday. Here are some things to watch for:

(1) Both the Republicans and the Democratic contests featured an insurgent arrayed against the party establishment. In the Republican case, the insurgent won. In the Democratic case, the party establishment beat down the insurgent. But his followers are not happy. Though socialist Bernie Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton, lots of Democrats on the left are bitter about her victory. They don’t like her moderate vice presidential pick Tim Kaine. And they sure don’t like the revelations in those hacked e-mails about how the Democratic National Committee undermined Sanders to anoint Clinton. (See post below.) At the convention, will the left rally to Clinton’s banner after all? Or what will they do?

(2) The Democratic National Commission is thoroughly discredited by the e-mail hack and its dump on Wikileaks. To the point that its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schulz has resigned. (See post below.) What will that mean for the convention? For the Clinton campaign?

(3) Will the Democrats make a play to win the support of evangelicals, free traders, and other conservatives who cannot abide Donald Trump? Or will they lump conservatives together and demonize them all?

(4) Will Hillary Clinton manage to project a more likable image so that voters will be more willing to vote for her?

What else should we watch for at the Democratic convention?