They booed the invocation.
Sure, that may not sound like a surprising sin in a sports arena in a town that is so infamous for its unruly fans
— they once threw snowballs at Santa Claus — that the city set up a
special court inside Veterans Stadium to deal with transgressors.
But it happened during a prayer, at the start of a political convention
orchestrated to crown Hillary Clinton as the nominee of the Democratic
Party, the first woman ever to head a national ticket and one with a
golden opportunity to become the first woman president in the nation’s
history.
And this was the Democratic Party, which is trying to attract
faith-based voters, a party that just four years earlier got hammered
for initially dropping any mention of God from the party platform.
And yet, on Monday afternoon (July 25), many of the fiercest supporters
of Clinton’s primary rival, Bernie Sanders, booed the opening prayer.
And then they chanted Sanders’ name despite his plea that they not
protest or stage a walkout “or similar displays.”
Granted, the dissident delegates — the “Bernie-or-bust” crowd of
die-hard Sanders devotees — were not targeting God, per se. They only
started booing when the Rev. Cynthia Hale, founder of the Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga., mentioned Clinton’s name.
Initially there were cheers, but then the chorus of jeers grew louder,
and then dominated. Hale paused, and seemed to try to redirect the
negativity with a quiet “Hallelujah.” But the booing continued and then
morphed into chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!”
Hale smiled tightly, pushed on, and wrapped it up with a firm “Amen.”
The moment was the first of what threatened to become a wild ride as
the next few speakers, and, behind the scenes, panicky party leaders,
sought to rescue the convention from a potential opening night disaster.
They rejiggered the speaking lineup to highlight Sanders even though
he, too, had been booed earlier in the day by his own delegates when he
urged them to support Clinton.
During the primary fight with Clinton, Sanders had roused a devoted
band of followers with a message of economic populism delivered with the
ferocity of a biblical prophet. Was he now without honor even in his
own party?
Yet, as the evening wore on, efforts to rally the troops behind Clinton began to work.
Perhaps it was fatigue, perhaps fear of feeding the candidacy of
Republican nominee Donald Trump, who surged into a polling lead
following last week’s even more fractious GOP convention in Cleveland.
A young immigrant girl came onstage to tell her story of being reunited
with her family, and there was a mother whose children got wrapped up
in drugs testifying to the devastation of opioids. Singer Demi Lovato
spoke about her struggle with mental illness — then belted out her hit
song “Confident.”
That’s tough material to boo, even for the Berniacs, and after those
speeches even enthusiastic mentions of Clinton’s name failed to rouse
many vocal protests. Some Sanders supporters even taped their mouths
shut in protest at their fate.
The comedian Sarah Silverman, a Bernie supporter, came out with the
former comedian — and current Minnesota senator — Al Franken, a Hillary
backer, and delivered one of the most powerful speeches of the night,
which no one saw coming.
A few remaining Bernie boo birds started in on her, but that was a
mistake: “To the Bernie-or-bust people, you’re being ridiculous,” she
said in a casual smackdown.
Silverman and Franken then introduced the legendary singer Paul Simon,
who performed — of course — “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
After that, Michelle Obama delivered what many believe was a speech for the ages in endorsing Clinton.
“Laughter and music helped turn this night from the angry and the
petulant into the collegial and enthusiastic,” as PBS pundit Mark
Shields put it.
That might have been a bit optimistic. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren — the other progressive hero of this campaign — again struggled
with a few Sanders holdouts during her speech.
They were, to their credit, scripturally literate in their critiques,
though with an almost fundamentalist fervor: “You sold your birthright
for a bowl of porridge!” one yelled at Warren.
Those protests waned when Sanders himself finally took the stage. It
was late, and well past prime time when he spoke, and he delivered a
stem-winder of a stump speech. Yet his disciples were in tears.
“It’s a religious experience for these folks. It’s like watching a
Pentecostal church service,” conservative commentator David French tweeted in perhaps the pithiest, and most on point, observation of the long and dramatic night.
But Sanders delivered for Clinton, clearly and convincingly. Will it be enough to bring the faithful on board? Will they lead the party into schism
and pave a path to the White House for Trump? Or will they be reduced
to a bunch of dead-enders who boo when they get a chance, but with
decreasing return on their investment?
It’s not clear how many of those remaining in the Wells Fargo Center
after Sanders’ speech were paying attention when Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
delivered the closing benediction, but no one booed, which counts as
progress.
Then again, Schonfeld, a leader in the Conservative Jewish movement,
never mentioned Clinton. And she delivered what was the most biblically
profound meditation of the day-old convention — with perhaps a sidelong
dig at Trump, who party leaders hope will emerge as the one true
opponent by week’s end:
“In a season so filled with chatter of ‘Who is Great’ and ‘What is Great’ and ‘What Shall Be Great,’
Let us remember Scripture’s clear, simple explanation of greatness:
God is the great, the mighty and the awesome,
For God defends the cause of the widow and the orphan,
And loves the stranger residing among you.
This is God’s greatness and this is the greatness the American people must strive to imitate.”
Courtesy: Religion News Service
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