Wavering voters targeted by Democratic National Convention; some say too much Trump-bashing, not enough substance - TribLIVE

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle recalled what high spirits he and like-minded politicos had during the Democratic National Convention four years ago, and how confident most of them were that Hillary Clinton would clinch victory in Pennsylvania.

The Forest Hills Democrat’s wife often would drive through Westmoreland County suburbs. She told him she spotted a growing number of Trump signs staked in yards and displayed on windows.

Doyle, a 13-term Congressman, recalls reassuring his spouse: “I’ve been in politics a long time,” he said. “There is no way in the world Donald Trump is going to win Pennsylvania.”

When Election Night came in November 2016 and Donald Trump took the state by 44,000 votes, “I was eating a lot of crow,” Doyle said.

Doyle recalled the scene for supporters of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party during a virtual breakfast event Tuesday morning.

“We have less than 80 days to end this national nightmare that is this Trump administration,” Doyle told those logged on to a Zoom video conference call, including local, state and federal leaders, activists and party members. “This is one we cannot lose. This is one we cannot take for granted.”

In line with fellow Democrats across the country during this year’s DNC program, Doyle spoke of increased urgency and made a call to action for getting Joe Biden into the White House: “Get your ballots in early, don’t wait until the last minute … and talk to your friends and neighbors, or if you see a Trump person. You don’t need to call (Trump) stupid or deride him, you ask if they’re really happy with this country right now.”

“We need to reach those folks,” Doyle said.

‘Not the Eagles vs. the Steelers’

Such impassioned pleas to appeal to the likes of wavering Republicans, non-traditional Democrats, independents and apathetic would-be voters have emerged as a common theme in this week’s all-virtual Democratic National Convention, which appears to be targeting a broader mass appeal than previous election cycles and trumpeting a message of “nation over party.”

“It’s not the Eagles versus the Steelers,” U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, said on Tuesday’s breakfast video chat of Pennsylvania Democratic delegates and supporters.

Conventions have evolved in recent cycles into much more than the formal nomination of presidential and vice presidential candidates. They tend to focus on the chance to build momentum while bridging divides among Democrats — particularly when a large field of candidates competed in the primary and there’s a need to bridge the gaps between them.

Based on what she’s seen so far this week, state Rep. Sara Innmorato of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood said she’s unclear about the audience being targeted: “I’m not 100 percent sure who we’re talking to.”

On Monday’s opening night, Biden was praised by Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who championed a multi-trillion-dollar universal health care plan, as well as Ohio’s former Republican Gov. John Kasich, an anti-abortion conservative who spent decades fighting to cut government spending.

“Now, I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention,” former First Lady Michelle Obama said in Monday’s headlining speech, during which she also conceded that “Joe is not perfect, and he’d be the first one to tell you that.”

Kasich credited Biden as “a man for our times — times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves and, of course, for our children.”

“Yes, there are areas where Joe and I absolutely disagree,” Kasich added. “But that’s OK, because that’s America.”

Several Democrats who represent Western Pennsylvania told the Tribune-Review that they still view the 2020 event as more of a way to build unity within their party. Others say it’s a chance to share the party’s platform with the broader electorate; some say they hope the four-day virtual extravaganza achieves both.

Three other high-profile Republicans backing Biden landed DNC speaking slots this week: former New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, former New York Congresswoman Susan Molinari and Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi and former CEO of Hewlett Packard.

“What you’re seeing from the convention is a broad swath of people from all ends of the spectrum politically,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a Democrat, told the Trib by phone. “John Kasich is certainly no liberal or progressive, but he’s talking about competent government, he’s talking about the need to take care of people during the pandemic.”

‘Am I going to vote at all?’

In contrast, during next week’s Republican National Convention, “I’d be shocked if you see a Democrat speaking there,” said Chris Bonneau, political science professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Trump “wants to hold onto his 40% base and get every single one of those 40% to come out and vote, and then he’ll win,” Bonneau said. “He never shows any indication toward trying to increase the support he has.”

With Trump being “an incumbent who’s highly polarizing,” polls suggests most voters have made their mind up about whether or not they support Trump.

But the number of apathetic and less-than-enthusiastic voters could matter, particularly for Biden. In the latest July poll by Franklin & Marshall College, just 2% of likely Pennsylvania voters said they didn’t know what they thought of Trump or were undecided and 29% were strongly favorable. On Biden, 4% said they weren’t sure what they thought of the candidate and 22% were strongly favorable.

“The number of people who are persuadable in the middle is a very small number,” Bonneau said. “Really, the question for these people isn’t, ‘Am I going to vote for Trump or am I going to vote for Biden?’ It’s: ‘Am I going to vote at all?’”

History is not on the Democratic challenger’s side, with just one incumbent president who has been defeated in the last four decades.

“I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” Kasich said Monday night. “That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times.”

The move to tap well-known politicians from the opposing party may not be the norm at convention events. But, unlike much of 2020, it’s not unprecedented.

In 2008, former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman stumped for Republican nominee John McCain. Republican former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke in support of Hillary Clinton’s nomination four years ago.

Vote-by-mail surge could enhance convention’s impact

The national conventions often produce at least a temporary “bump” of support for candidates partywide, but that support can quickly fade, according to G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs.

The timing of this year’s events could make their impact more meaningful, some observers say, simply because they are happening later in the year during an election when record-high numbers of people are expected to vote early by mail.

Polls suggest that Biden, a 77-year-old lifelong politician, garners supporters who consistently say they’re motivated more by opposition to Trump, who is 74, than excitement about Biden. Democrats hope to shift that dynamic beginning with the convention.

“Republican voters are more enthusiastic for Trump than Biden’s Democrat voters are enthusiastic about him,” Madonna said.

Innamorato said that instead of laying on the Trump-bashing too thick, she’d like to see more meaningful discussions at the DNC about policies, solutions and coalition-building, such as working to galvanize support among Bernie Sanders enthusiasts displeased that Medicare-for-All is not a part of the official platform, and providing clarity on where the party stands on issues such as fracking.

“The people who want to vote for Trump are going to vote for Trump,” Innamorato, a first-term lawmaker experiencing the DNC virtual affair via devices arranged on her kitchen table, told the Trib by phone Tuesday afternoon.

She said she’s more concerned about “the nonvoters, the people who stayed home in 2016 and didn’t vote — and shaming them is not going to motivate them to go out and vote now. “There’s this whole other group who doesn’t even know if they’re going to even vote at all because they don’t see how their lives are going to be changed one way or the other,” she said. “You have to offer a convincing and inspirational message that’s not just against an individual.”

Biden will formally accept the nomination on Thursday near his home in Wilmington, Del. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is the first Black woman on a national ticket, speaks Wednesday night.

Trump sought to undermine the Democrats’ big night by hosting a political rally in Wisconsin, where Biden’s party had originally planned this week’s convention. He called the Democrats’ event “a snooze” before it even began.

The Associated Press contributed.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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