The Top Five Themes That Put the Democratic National Convention Over the Top
The Democratic National Convention recently wrapped up, capping Vice President Kamala Harris’ unprecedented rise to the democratic nomination for the presidency. Let’s take a look at the top five themes generating the most online discourse during and immediately following the conclusion of the DNC, and what people are saying on social platforms about each one.
JOY
Overall, online discourse recognized that the DNC chose a joyful, uplifting, and future-focused narrative in stark contrast with the Republican National Convention’s bleak and almost apocalyptic tone. Viewers responded overwhelmingly positively to this uplifting atmosphere, celebrating Kamala Harris and the convention’s commitment to reintroducing joy and hope into the political process.
VISION
Conventions are often guilty of being all style and very little substance, but most DNC viewers felt that Harris and the party delivered with a specific future-focused vision for the country.
Even so, some viewers – especially conservatives – felt that Harris provided little in the way of specifics and that democrats are responding more resoundingly to style and emotion than they are to policy.
UNITY
When President Biden relinquished his claim on the democratic nomination for 2024, many wondered whether democrats would fracture over the appropriate successor. Harris quickly united the party into a cohesive and enthusiastic movement in support of her candidacy, and that unity continued to fire up democrats during the convention.
LINEAGE
DNC viewers loved seeing the party’s “elders” come together to champion the potentials of the Harris platform. President Biden, the Obamas, the Clintons, and Governor Tim Walz all received heavy positive mentions across social media platforms. Mentions of Former President Barack Obama appeared with a 67% positivity rate, mentions of Former First Last Michelle Obama appeared with a strong 73% positivity rate, and mentions of Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz appeared with a whopping 78% positivity rate.
PROGRESS
The DNC overwhelmingly fore-fronted the potential for progress, and viewers and the resulting online conversation were absolutely thrilled about it.
Harris summed up the convention’s attitude best as she accepted the party’s nomination, empowering and encouraging the crowd to:
The bottom line is DNC attendees and viewers responded overwhelmingly positively to the convention’s enthusiastic, uplifting, and future focused tone, especially in comparison with the RNC’s dour apocalyptic tone. The majority of the positive discourse illustrates that the Harris campaign and the democratic party would be wise to continue harnessing confident, inspirational, and emotional messaging that acknowledges their lineage but focuses on the future. In addition, voters are eager to hear more about Harris’ policies and perspectives on major issues, and more direct articulation of these details can help the campaign transform emotional enthusiasm into more pragmatic trust.