The one immutable law of politics is that ultimately it is always about addition, not subtraction. In 2016 Donald Trump won with 46.1%; Mitt Romney lost with 47.2% in 2012. A functional, sane president would have focused immediately on expanding that number to what will be almost surely be needed to win in 2020. But of course, Trump set about doing the exact opposite, attacking those who didn’t support him. The result is predictable: The percentage of people identifying themselves as Republicans has shrunk while those considering themselves Democrats has grown.

Watching the first night of the Democratic convention, it is refreshing to see a political party focused on addition. In 2016, non-white turnout declined for the first time in 20 years. The single most pressing need of the Democratic Party is to motivate more non-white voters. The night was balanced between a direct appeal to those voters and a mix of Republicans. In theory this was a difficult dive from a high platform, but Democrats pulled it off.

As Dems faced reality, GOP fantasized

While Republicans were in denial about the impact of COVID-19 on a huge political gathering, Democrats quickly embraced reality and set about planning a virtual convention under the direction of Stephanie Cutter. They studied the virtual NFL Draft and focused on putting together a convention unlike any other.

Meanwhile Republicans found themselves in the very odd position of unable to find a city that considered the millions of dollars in revenue worth the chaos and health risk. In this political tale lies the story of how America ended up with the worst COVID-19 response in the Western world. The Democrats were realistic; the Trump Republicans lived in a fantasy world with no one able to tell Trump the obvious truth.

I’ve worked on three Republican conventions — 2000, 2004 and 2012. Planning begins over a year out. When there is no incumbent president, that means the eventual winning nominee steps into a convention process well underway without his or her guidance. It’s much easier as an incumbent when the entire convention mechanism is under your control.

In this strangest of political years, all the pre-nominee planning for the Democratic convention was thrown out the window, and a new model erected from scratch. It has long been acknowledged that a national convention is simply a television production with little or no deliberative purpose, so perhaps this evolution of a convention into nothing but a television production was inevitable. As with a lot of changes in our society, COVID-19 accelerated trends already in motion.

By a progressive: Sanders is the MVP of the Democratic convention. We have to save our democracy from Trump.

I found the first night of the Democratic convention more engaging and compelling than a “traditional” convention which for all of the videos shown between speakers, was still bound by the same repetitive structure: one speaker after another at a podium. Past conventions inevitably were impersonal and almost always mixed with a heavy dose of predictable boredom. By designing and executing a pre-scripted and pre-shot television show, the Democratic planners were able to limit speakers to the times they desired – always a problem when a politician is on stage and reluctant to leave – while avoiding any of the unexpected twists of live television like, well, Clint Eastwood. (Yes, I was involved in that and no, it didn’t go as planned.)

Showcase for unity of party, country

This was a night of emotion, not policy, and that was smart. People ultimately care about people a lot more than policies and by giving human dimensions to racial injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic, viewers were able to empathize with the non-politicians telling their stories. One thing is for certain: the Democratic convention will look a lot more like America than the Republican one will.

If there was a single theme to the night it was unity: unity of party, unity of country. We used to call this coalition building and believe it or not, Republicans once understood its critical importance in winning elections. When you get Bernie Sanders and John Kasich supporting the same candidate, don’t let anyone tell you that’s anything but an electoral win. Yes, Kasich might turn off some in the party, but the Biden campaign is betting that on election night, the need to have given moderate suburban voters permission to feel comfortable with the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket will be a lot more valuable than any disaffected Democrats they might have left on the table.

Attacking what Lincoln protected: Trump defames US mail system as vulnerable to vote fraud, lays groundwork for coup d’etat

More Americans are dying from COVID than anywhere else in the world. More Americans are out of work in August 2020 than any August in American history. This is a country in shock and grieving. By a strange twist of political fate, Joe Biden may fit this moment perfectly. His strengths are decency and normalcy and this country is longing for both. It was not a night of anger and I’m betting that anger will be the key in which the Republican convention will be played.

And one thing is for certain: the Democrats will have better music. Working on Republican conventions, I long envied the Democrats ability to draw top talent and having Bruce Springsteen’s “Rising” as a theme mixed with tremendous young talent like Leon Bridges and Maggie Rogers would have been a dream.

All in all, I’d call opening night a big success under the most trying conditions. If the Democrats continuing running a campaign like this, and evidence suggests they will, Joe Biden should be the next president.