The Democrats rally the troops, warn about Trump

The Democratic National Convention is wrapping up Thursdayafter four days of speeches, rallies, gatherings, bar chats, (smaller than expected) protests, and general troop rallying ahead of the November presidential election. Oprah Winfrey even made an appearance.

Last night, Tim Walz formally accepted the nomination for vice president, and tonight Kamala Harris will do the same for the Democrats’ presidential nominee nod. She faces the challenge of delivering a speech that can rival the ovation-moving addresses of the week – from the likes of Oprah, Hillary Clinton, and Barack and Michelle Obama.

The Democrats have used the convention to hammer on Republican opponent Donald Trump, warning that a second Trump administration would mean an end to rights and freedoms, a cozying up to Russia and North Korea, the dismantling of improvements in health care affordability, and more. Former President Obama even managed to sneak in a jab at Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” a joke that hit … below the belt.

Trump wasn’t pleased, hitting back that the Obamas were “getting personal,” a habit shared by the Republican nominee himself. Trump also attacked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over his criticisms, calling him a “highly overrated Jewish governor.” At a rally in North Carolina, Trump also took a run at Harris, calling her “stupid” and suggesting she was a “Marxist or a communist.”

While convention time is ripe for jabs, the partisan fervor of the DNC and RNC gatherings this summer suggest that some of the upcoming presidential election may be a study in going low – very low – or what Trump might call “nasty.”

But there may also be some good vibes, a notion that Walz singled out in his acceptance speech as he thanked the crowd for “bringing the joy,” and which has buoyed Democrats since Harris replaced Joe Biden as the presumptive presidential nominee.