In terms of pure star power, it would have been difficult for day two of the Democratic National Convention to hold a candle to day one. After all, the last hour alone on Monday night had First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton’s former rival for the Democratic nomination.
Former President and prospective First Gentleman Bill Clinton is a powerful speaker and still one of the biggest stars in the Democratic Party, but even he can’t match that murderers row of big name Democrats.
For the Democratic Party, though, Tuesday beat out Monday on a more important metric: party unity.
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After a Monday where mentioning the name of the party’s nominee brought boos from a portion of the delegates, Tuesday presented a convention hall much more clearly behind Hillary Clinton.
There was certainly still strife. A group of Sanders delegates left the convention hall in an attempt to occupy the media tent located just outside of the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. It was a small — but loud — minority. Most Sanders delegates stayed inside and cheered for Clinton when she was mentioned by speakers.
This newfound Democratic Party unity was shepherded by Sanders himself. When the roll call vote was held to nominate Clinton, Sanders’ home state of Vermont passed until the very end. After all of the votes had been cast, Sanders took the microphone and moved that Clinton be nominated by acclamation.
Though there will surely still be some holdouts who write in Sanders name or vote for a third party candidate, Sanders’ step seems to have achieved its desired affect: bringing most of the Democratic Party together to defeat Donald Trump in the fall.
The next two days will feature more star power. Wednesday will include speeches from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine. And on Thursday, Hillary will accept her nomination.
On Tuesday, though, Sanders may have done just enough to pull the party together, at least for now.