"It's Worth Noting, Perhaps, What Was Missing from the Democrats' Appeal"

"Finally, the party that succeeds in American elections is usually the one that captures the great middle of the electorate: Jackson's party of the 'common man,' Roosevelt's 'forgotten American,' Clinton's 'forgotten middle class.' Trump and Nixon's 'silent majority.' You can usually measure whether a candidate has succeeded in this respect by how he or she scores on questions about whether the candidate 'cares about you.'
"The Democrats of 2000, 2004, and 2016 failed to make this case. The Democrats of 2020 have a candidate in Biden who embodies this appeal, but much of their rhetoric and the program itself, more clearly reflected the identity politics of 2016 that emphasizes difference and ignores, whether intentionally or not, predominately white, flyover America. The point is not to appeal, as Trump undoubtedly will, only to this America, but to present an image of a unitary American small-d democrat. It may be hard to do, but the party’s ability to sustain majorities depends on it."

John Judis at Talking Points Memo reacts to the Democratic Convention.