The Note: A Night of Political Star Power at the DNC
— -- NOTABLES
--FIVE THINGS TO WATCH AT THE DNC TODAY: The Democratic National Convention is halfway over, and while there was a hefty dose of drama in the first two days, some serious political star power was saved for the final days. The convention heard from two former presidents last night (President Jimmy Carter by video and President Bill Clinton in person) and now tonight, delegates are going to be hearing from current and soon-to-be former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Both men have already publicly spoken about Clinton and supported her campaign, and Obama held a joint campaign appearance with Clinton in North Carolina earlier this month. Here are five storylines to watch out for today, courtesy of ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY: http://abcn.ws/2aJznu0
--WHAT OBAMA WILL SAY TONIGHT: The president has been working on his speech for the Democratic National Convention for the past few weeks, including late into Monday night, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said at Tuesday’s White House briefing. Wednesday also marks 12 years since Obama was introduced on the national stage in Boston, which he will reflect on, Schultz said. “I think he will talk about what the country has accomplished together since then. What the grit, ingenuity and determination of the American people have achieved over the last eight years,” Schultz said. “Whether that's coming back from the brink of economic collapse to the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in the nation’s history, or whether that's changing the way the world views the United States for the better.” ABC’s SERENA MARSHALL has more. http://abcn.ws/2a33PxI
--DNC LIVE UPDATES AND ANALYSIS: DAY 3, courtesy of ABC’s JULIA JACOBO and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI: http://abcn.ws/2apOrOm DNC DAY 2 FACT CHECK from ABC’s CHRIS GOOD, JOHN KRUZEL and NOAH FITZGEREL: http://abcn.ws/2adjaiQ DNC DAY 2 “IN A MINUTE,” by ABC’s TOM THORNTON and ALI DUKAKIS: http://abcn.ws/2acLC0r
--ANALYSIS: HILLARY CLINTON SEEKS FRESH START, WITH BOOSTS FROM BILL, BERNIE AND HISTORY. Hillary Clinton is trying to start over -- at a lower temperature, but with grander historical sweep, ABC’s RICK KLEIN writes. On night two of the Democratic National Convention, the now-official nominee sought a fresh slate. Her campaign did it by tapping into powerful historical forces, with the kind of direct appeals based on her gender that she famously avoided in her first run for the presidency. Clinton sought it by putting her primary feud behind her, finally if not fully, by brokering enough peace with Bernie Sanders to get him to unite the convention. And she accepted a big hand from her husband, in a dual role as former president and candidate’s spouse. He delivered a homespun, soft-spoken speech that leaned heavily on less-familiar parts of her biography –- and yes, it stayed focused on her. http://abcn.ws/2avCgT9
YESTERDAY AT THE DNC with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
CLINTON MAKES HISTORY. Hillary Clinton made history Tuesday night as the first female major party nominee in the country’s history -- after her rival, Bernie Sanders, threw his support behind her and nixed the roll call vote. The moment was marked with cheers, tears and anger from some Sanders supporters who were dissatisfied with the primary contest -- including the votes controversially given to hundreds of superdelegates -- and its outcome. More than 1,800 delegates -- short of the 2,382 needed to clinch the nomination -- cast their votes for Sanders. The final delegate tally was 2,838 for Clinton, 1,843 Sanders and 55 abstentions, ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN reports. http://abcn.ws/2afhvcu
NOTED -- CLINTON MAKES SURPRISE SATELLITE APPEARANCE: 'THIS IS REALLY YOUR VICTORY.' Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance via satellite at the convention on Tuesday evening, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. "What an incredible honor that you have given me," the Democratic presidential nominee told the crowd at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. "And I can't believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet." She added, "This is really your victory, this is really your night." Clinton, who made the unannounced, brief remarks, also said: "If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say I may become the first woman president but one of you is next." http://abcn.ws/2avVCo9
CLINTON'S NOMINATION SPARKS RAFT OF REACTIONS. Hillary Clinton made history last night as the first female nominee of a major party in the United States. Reaction in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and around the internet was immediate. Clinton herself tweeted upon crossing the threshold of 2,382 delegates, ABC’s ADAM KELSEY and JENNIFER HANSLER have more. http://abcn.ws/2a80G1h
SANDERS MOVES TOWARD PARTY UNITY. In an emotional moment, Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped the roll call vote at the Democratic Convention and pushed for his rival, Hillary Clinton, to get the nomination, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY reports. Sanders said he "move[s] that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States." Sanders appeared on the floor of the arena last night during the Democratic National Convention alongside the Vermont delegation to make the move. The Vermont delegation had cast its 22 votes for Sanders, before Sanders addressed the crowd from the floor. http://abcn.ws/2aoDxbN
BILL CLINTON TELLS DNC HILLARY IS THE 'BEST DARN CHANGE-MAKER.' Former President Bill Clinton offered up a spirited endorsement of his wife at the Democratic National Convention, calling her "the best darn change maker I ever met in my entire life" and saying that she was never satisfied with the status quo. In the speech, the two-term president recounted the beginnings of his relationship with the former Secretary of State, detailed her decades of advocacy work and extolled her drive in public service. "In the spring of 1971 I met a girl," the 42nd president told the crowd in Philadelphia, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY and MATTHEW CLAIBORNE note. http://abcn.ws/2athT9p
STARS COME OUT FOR HILLARY CLINTON AT DNC IN PHILADELPHIA. A trove of celebrities stumped for Hillary Clinton and slammed Donald Trump Tuesday night, including Oscar-winner Meryl Streep and "Girls" star Lena Dunham. Actress Elizabeth Banks, actor Tony Goldwyn, singer Andra Day, actress Erika Alexander, actress Debra Messing, R&B singer Alicia Keys and actress America Ferrera were among the other stars who threw their weight behind Clinton on the second night of the convention, following an emotional roll call vote in which she officially made history to become the first female nominee of any major party. Streep, donning an American flag dress, followed Bill Clinton's speech with an enthusiastic scream. She spoke about what it took to be the first woman to make history as a major party nominee, referencing Clinton's drive to become the first female president. http://abcn.ws/2aJ4hD4
LENA DUNHAM, AMERICA FERRERA SKEWER TRUMP: 'MAKING AMERICA HATE AGAIN.' Actresses Lena Dunham and America Ferrera joined forces on stage and accused Donald Trump of "making America hate again" in a tag team speech focused on Trump's rhetoric about women and Latinos. Dunham, famous for her HBO series "Girls," and Ferrera, the star of ABC's "Ugly Betty," portrayed Trump as a man who fostered divisions and demeaned women and minorities. "Look, Donald's not making America great again, he's making America hate again," Ferrera told the crowd, ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN notes. http://abcn.ws/29YhKtn
'MOTHERS OF THE MOVEMENT' MAKE EMOTIONAL PLEAS TO VOTERS AT DNC. An emotional moment during the Democratic National Convention came when the mothers of African-Americans who were the victims of gun violence or police-involved deaths made a plea to voters to choose Hillary Clinton in November because she "isn't afraid to say black lives matter." The women, called “The Mothers of the Movement,” took turns speaking of their anguish of losing their children. The crowd broke into chants of “Black Lives Matter” during the speech. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has more. http://abcn.ws/2avnBHA
SECRET SERVICE ON ALERT FOR CONVENTION CYBER ATTACKS. The alleged hack into Democratic National Committee e-mails has heightened vigilance against cyber-attacks at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, according to the Secret Service. “We are trying to be proactive in addressing the cyber threat,” Agent Kyo Dolan of the Secret Service told ABC News. The Secret Service is leading a multi-layered effort to block potential hackers and other potential threats to the convention. Secret Service agents took ABC News behind the scenes in Philadelphia to show some of the multi-layered, technological fortress that is in place to protect the convention’s critical systems, and computer networks. ABC’s PIERRE THOMAS, JACK CLOHERTY and JACK DATE have more. http://abcn.ws/2afBcRn
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
ELIZABETH BANKS PARODIES TRUMP'S RNC ENTRANCE. Actress Elizabeth Banks spoofed the WWE-style entrance Donald Trump made at the RNC last week in Cleveland -- and compared the RNC to the "Hunger Games" film franchise in which she starred. “You know, I don’t usually say this about Donald Trump, but that was over the top!,” Banks said after emerging onstage at the DNC in silhouette, in a fog of smoke and to Queen’s “We Are The Champions," exaggerating Trump's bombastic appearance last Monday, writes ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN. http://abcn.ws/2a3m0Ug
BY THE NUMBERS
DEMOCRATS SHIFT AWAY FROM TRUMP TALK, KEEP FOCUS ON CLINTON. Democrats shifted their strategy on the second night of the convention, drastically slashing the number of times they mention Donald Trump’s name in prepared remarks, focusing instead on the candidacy of Hillary Clinton on the day she officially became the first woman to be nominated by a major party for president. Trump’s name was spoken only 38 times on Tuesday. When featured speaker and former President Bill Clinton stepped away from the podium after a 45-minute journey through his personal relationship with his wife, he had not acknowledged Trump by name a single time, ABC’s ADAM KELSEY notes. http://abcn.ws/2a13awK
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
HOWARD DEAN REPRISES FAMED SCREAM AT DNC. He's back...yaaaaaahhh!!!! Former Vermont governor and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean reprised his infamous "Dean Scream" last night at the Democratic National Convention. "This race is going to be won on the ground, and it's going to be won in Colorado and in Iowa and North Carolina and Michigan and Florida and Pennsylvania and then we go to the White House!" Dean screamed in a self-depreciating manner, ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL notes. http://abcn.ws/2adpE0L
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