The Night of the Coalition

Former President Barack Obama, delivering his first truly searing indictment of the Trump administration since leaving the White House, sought to appeal to the same diverse coalition that first propelled him to the presidency 12 years ago. He said he understood the political disillusionment shared among people like white factory workers, Black mothers, new immigrants and young people.

And he encouraged the young people who took to the streets this summer to protest racial injustice, telling them that “in so many ways, you are this country’s dreams fulfilled.”

The evening’s slate of speakers was filled almost completely by women; the only men with extended speaking time were Mr. Obama and Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Speaker Nancy Pelosi preceded the night’s two headliners.

Critics have noted the relatively small presence of Latino speakers at the convention, a shortage seen as particularly ill-suited for a party that is assailing the Trump administration over its immigration policies, including separating families at the border.

On Wednesday, however, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, one of the nation’s highest-profile Latina elected officials, opened a discussion on climate change. Immigrant families shared their stories of hardship. An open letter from immigrants included a blunt message: “Mr. President, you tore our world apart.”

Silvia Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant in North Carolina who appeared before the 2012 convention to discuss her family’s financial struggles, returned, this time with her daughters Jessica and Lucy, to talk about the need to extend protections for “Dreamers.”

Of course, the Biden campaign doesn’t just want to reward and fire up the most loyal Democratic voters of the Trump era; it wants them to cast ballots. There were many appeals on Wednesday to join the campaign’s texting operation with a single word: “Vote.”