On the final night of the Democratic National Convention, speakers tried to turn the traditional roles of Republicans as militarists and Democrats as doves upside down. Veterans-turned-politicians and politicians-turned-hawks presented Donald Trump’s isolationism as a threat to democracy worldwide, and they argued that Kamala Harris’ steady hand as commander-in-chief would be the ultimate form of national security.
Speakers invoked the Cold War and borrowed from John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. They presented Harris as the antithesis to Trump cozying up to authoritarians abroad and at home. And Harris herself made the case that Trump was a threat that America can’t risk.
The vice president’s closing argument seemed to be an appeal to America: Don’t trust Trump.