The 5 Best Moments of Night 2 of the Democratic National Convention

Barack and Michelle Obama crush it

5. Justin Pearson — Many may recall the Tennessee Three from April 2023, three state legislators who protested along with a large number of students over the lax gun laws in Tennessee after another school shooting. Two of those three state legislators (the two Black men) were expelled from the legislature for that, although they were reinstated about a week later. Justin Pearson was one of those guys, and I fell down a rabbit hole back then listening to a few of his speeches because he was so goddamn good. So, it was good to see him again handling roll call duties for Tennessee. And he can still knock a wig off an old lady with his inspirational speaking ability.

4. Lil John — Delegate roll calls are not meant to be particularly inspiring. It's a procedural thing where a delegate or two get to speak on behalf of their state. With the Democrats, it's also fun to see the diversity — it's not just different shades of white guy. But only Kamala Harris during this campaign would turn a roll call into a party. I was watching the roll call by myself with my headphones on and saw Lil Jon, and yelled at my wife to come and watch it again. And then she yelled at our son to come watch, and then he yelled at the twins to come watch. I watched it five times in a row, and it never got old. It's not just Lil Jon, either: It's how excited everyone in the audience is to be there. Just a blast.

3. Doug Emhoff — I love Doug! We often talk about representation in the Democratic Party. There are a lot of white guys on the Republican side, but it's nice to have a white guy who I feel represents me on the Democratic side. I mean, I love Josh Shapiro, but I'm no Josh Shapiro: Doug represents the schlubby wife guys who love their kids a little too much and play fantasy football with men who hilariously punish their last-place teams. The Try Guys kind of ruined wife guys for the rest of us a few years back, but Doug Emhoff is bringing them back! I think the part about how Harris makes Emhoff closer to his faith was probably the best part of the speech here.

1 (tie). Michelle and Barack Obama — I can't pick the better speech, although my wife insists that Michelle's was better (and I saw Anderson Cooper say it was the best political speech he's ever seen in his life). I just think that both of these people are the best political talents of our lifetimes, and I hung on every word of both of those speeches. I love that they give these huge, rousing speeches that make you applaud while you're watching on your laptops in your bed. But I also love that there's real intention behind those speeches.

Those were speeches designed to register voters and encourage them to vote. Michelle gave a speech that was an undisguised plea to everyone to get off their asses and do the work. Not just to vote, but to drag your family members and friends to the polls, too. She made voting sound not just like a civic duty, but something we should be proud to do, like we'll all walk away from the ballot box feeling like we saved Democracy, each and every one of us.

It's important to note that Barack and Michelle both were also incredibly effective at making Trump look small — can you imagine the shellacking Trump would take if he were running against an Obama (as Jake Tapper reminded us, Obama won Indiana!) — but Barack's speech was designed to do what he does so well: Reach into the middle. To encourage us to give some grace to those who haven't yet caught up to the times instead of shaming them. Forty percent of the country may be out of reach, but there is another five percent that we can still bring into the fold if we just reach out instead of shutting the door.

They were remarkable speeches and as good as Hillary and AOC were the night before, there's a reason Barack Obama is the most popular President of our lifetimes. I have no idea how they're going to follow these speeches tonight. I just wish we could somehow bottle the feelings that those speeches elicited and inject them into our veins every morning.

Here are both speeches. Watch them both in full.