‘He Didn’t So Much Pass the Torch as Set It Ablaze’: The Best and Worst Moments From Night 1 of the Convention

Cottle There was a whole lot of sass for a gathering of Democrats — and you know I mean that in a good way. From Steve Kerr dropping a Steph Curry “night night” on Trump to the “Law & Order” sendup starring Trump as the perp to Jamie Raskin’s entire speech. And Crockett? My, oh, my.

Donovan Biden’s keynote slipping beyond prime time may not have been by design, but it was certainly conspicuous. Not since George W. Bush’s video message to the 2008 R.N.C. has a sitting president been so marginalized.

Goldberg Kamala Harris and Tim Walz usually try to tamp down chants of “Lock him up,” not wanting to seem like part of a political prosecution. But when the crowd started up the refrain on Monday evening, Clinton, who Trump once promised to imprison, couldn’t hide her ironic delight.

Labash Isbell singing “Something More Than Free” in front of an American flag on a barn? Suck on it, Lee Greenwood, and you Branson-comes-to-the-Republican-convention types. Republicans have been out-sung again. Don’t bother calling Ted Nugent to even up the score.

Charles M. Blow and Michelle Goldberg are Times columnists.

Kristen Soltis Anderson is a contributing Opinion writer, a Republican pollster and the author of “The Selfie Vote.”

Binyamin Appelbaum is a member of the editorial board.

Frank Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer.

Jane Coaston is a contributing Opinion writer.

Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion and is a host of the podcast “Matter of Opinion.”

Liam Donovan is a senior political strategist at Bracewell who previously worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He is also a host of “The Lobby Shop” podcast.

Matt Labash, formerly a national correspondent at The Weekly Standard, is the author of “Fly Fishing With Darth Vader” and writes the newsletter Slack Tide.

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Additional production by Aileen Clarke.