This is not the Democratic Party of 2020

This time, the shift in vibe was evident and on full display at DNC.

While there were images of January 6, 2021, and speakers, including Vice President Harris in her keynote address, highlighted concerns about protecting democracy, there was far less dismay than four years ago.

Consider the current favorite criticism of Trump and allies: that they are simply “weird” and “small” — a far cry from the moral outrage of 2020 or even President Joe Biden’s 2024 message.

Convention speakers leaned toward jubilation — a word speakers used to describe the kind of president Harris would be.

While the 2020 DNC was virtual, its tone was noticeably different. Then-candidate Joe Biden’s speech was described by NPR at the time as “sober and urgent” and “one of light versus dark.”

Four years ago, the party, after electing Biden, seemed to at least try to respond to its more progressive and leftist voices, if only in messaging and optics.

Politico reported in 2020 that the DNC’s focus on racial injustice was a “shaking” turn for the party, as one former Democratic aide put it. The party gave “full recognition” of systemic racism and its impact on society, according to the publication.

In 2024, progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke alongside racial justice advocates like the exonerated “Central Park Five.”

At the same time, pro-Palestinian activists were stationed outside the DNC, protesting all week. The DNC refused to allow a Palestinian speaker at the convention out of fears of not showing unity within the party — but it also served as another sign that the party wasn’t going out of its way to include liberal activists like it was in 2020.

The convention often focused on reaching people with different points of view — former President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton both made that presentation — and appealed to moderates, independents and Republicans. A long list of Republican speakers, from former elected officials to people who served in the Trump White House, gave speeches that sought to directly appeal to Republicans and independents.

This year’s speakers focused even more on issues that could win over moderates, such as immigration (Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, was one of the speakers) and the economy. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a moderate Democrat, specifically called for investing in “the police and the community.”

In 2020, The New York Times reported that Democrats were divided on how much bipartisanship matters, but the Democratic Party of 2024 seems much more certain that it does. The party appeared to be trying to hold together the coalition that helped elect Biden in 2020, but which Democrats have struggled to re-establish with Biden as their nominee in 2024.

There’s one key way the Democratic Party needs to replicate 2020 — or even the 2018 midterms — and that’s Election Day turnout, speakers reminded DNC attendees. Regardless of the jitters at the 2024 convention, Harris and the Democrats have 74 more days to unveil a comprehensive policy and motivate voters before the votes are counted on Nov. 5.