CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention started off with hope, hype and smaller protests than some feared — and a surprise appearance from Kamala Harris, looking very demure, very mindful. (That’s a TikTok thing, if you don’t know.) The snark level, meantime, was sky-high as cheeky partisans projected onto Trump Tower — which loomed over downtown like a middle finger extended at Democrats — a set of taunting slogans along the lines of: “Trump-Vance ‘Weird As Hell.
’” That’s trolling on a 92-story scale. There were a great many speeches and a great number of entertainers, representing Democratic constituencies from Hollywood to Nashville. (Yes, there are still some Southern Democrats.
) But, of course, Monday night belonged to Joe Biden, the president who reluctantly walked away from his reelection campaign and showed up just long enough to endorse Harris before making his poignant exit — long after much of the country had gone to bed. Columnists Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria laid off the deep-dish pizza so they could devote all their energies to the convention and came away with these thoughts: Barabak: He came, he spoke and he showed why Democrats were glad to bid their party leader a heartfelt — but nevertheless relieved — farewell.
Biden has never been a great orator. His strength was knowing how to work the levers in Washington, and for just about 45 minutes Monday night the president outlined all he’d managed to accomplish in his lone.