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If the third night of the convention were a film, it would win both best comedy and best drama, writes John Casey.
"Hope, Gus and Gwen: You are my entire world, and I love you.”
You can measure a man in many ways, but the true measure of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz lies in the love and devotion of his family. He’s not a celebrity or an athlete, but someone who has touched lives through his teaching, coaching, and the ordinary roles he’s played in everyday life.
His true legacy was seen in the tears of his wife, Gwen, and their children, Gus and Hope, last night as they watched his convention speech, moved by his words and their shared journey. When was the last time you could say that you cried watching a political convention?
Witnessing them being overcome by the fact that the man they call a husband and a dad was accepting the nomination for the vice presidency of the United States. They must feel as if they are living in a dream. A few months ago, he was just the governor of the state where they lived. Now? He’s the man of the moment, and then some!
When Walz spoke about his wife’s experience with fertility treatment that brought Hope into the world, the camera caught the family sobbing, a testament to their infinite love for him. And I sobbed too, along with probably everyone else. It was the most emotive and authentic moment of the convention.
You would have to be a harsh, mean, stone-cold, and unemotive person, i.e. Donald Trump and JD Vance, not to be moved by Walz, his family, and the joy and pride they are experiencing as they relish their moment in the sun.
A few minutes earlier, we all received a rush of “wow” when Walz’s state championship football team made a surprise appearance on the stage before he spoke. I use the word “wow” because I just kept repeating, “Wow, wow, wow!” I felt the same way I do when I see reunions of the 1970 four-time Super Bowl champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s how special that moment was!
The Walz part of the evening, coming at the very end of a very entertaining night three, was like watching an underdog movie play out. It had tears, joy, laughs, and love.
It was like watching a version of the classic football film Rudy, about a guy who had been knocked around during his life, and who ended up playing one game, and one play for his revered fighting Irish. It was a dream come true. In a lot of respects, Walz is like the often-passed Rudy, who is living his unheard-of dream.
Walz’s speech contained many football references, and they all underscored the message he was trying to convey. "I coached high school football long enough to know ... when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they're going to use it," Walz said, summing up the danger of Project 2025 - the extreme right, literal playbook, that would eviscerate our government.
"It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal. But we're on offense. We're driving down the field. And, boy, do we have the right team," He’s right about that. He and Harris are both MVPs in their own right. I wrote about the fact, earlier this week, that that dream team is now a runaway train.
Years ago, and for a gay man of a certain age, it would have been unimaginable to see someone like me speaking from the convention podium, in prime time, right before the party's vice presidential nominee. And in a way, the charisma and character of Pete Buttigieg transcends time and space. If there is a deity in the LGBTQ+ community, it’s Pete.
As he spoke last night, the crowd was filled with images of Pride flags, hats, and bracelets, a testament. That visualization was stunning. It was another “wow” moment for me. He makes us all feel incredibly proud – that’s why the Pride flags flew, well proudly last night.
He is sort of a modern-day Bill Clinton, able to distill issues, ideas, and complexities down to understandable prose. He’s also got a great sense of humor. “I’m Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News,” he began last night.
He can also be dead serious, with one of his comments directed at JD Vance.“You know, Senator, when I was deployed to Afghanistan, I didn’t have kids. Some of the men and women who went outside the wire with me did not have kids. But let me tell you, our commitment to the future of this country was nothing if not physical.”
“At least Mike Pence was polite,” he said to many laughs as he compared the nasty Vance to the, well, nasty Pence. By the way, as a gay man giving Pence a compliment just shows what a gentleman he is.
And speaking of Clinton, last night he delivered yet another captivating speech at the convention, reminding everyone of his enduring importance to the Democratic Party. As a former president who has long been a defining figure in American politics, Clinton's words carried significant weight, and the realization sunk in last night that he has been around for a long time.
He looks good, but his voice seemed low and a bit raspy and he addressed his advancing age at the outset. “Two days ago, I turned 78. The oldest man in my family who is still living. And the only personal vanity I want to assert is that I'm still younger than Donald Trump.”
Clinton’s speech blended his signature charm with his legendary effortless ability to connect with the audience. What made it particularly special was how natural and spontaneous it was. He has a history for ad-libbing rather than sticking to a strict script, and that was on full display last night.
Clinton is also a very funny guy. “I will be so happy when [Kamala Harris] actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald's.”
He said that Trump “is like one of those tenors opening up before they go out on stage like I did, trying to get his lungs to open up by saying ‘me, me, me, me.’” That particularly resonated with me — yes, I see the contradiction — my signature career advice to people that have worked for me all of these years was never to use “I” or “me” in an email.
Then, there was Oprah! Her appearance at the convention last night, her first at such an event, was a momentous occasion. As one of the most influential and beloved figures in the history of media, she electrified the crowd with her genuine warmth and compelling narrative, weaving together personal anecdotes and broader societal themes.
Her message of unity, hope, and the power of collective action was not only important but also inspiring, leaving a lasting impact on everyone present, and she may have delivered the best line of the night: “When a house is on fire, we don’t ask whose house it is. If the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too.” Did anyone else double over with laughter?
Yet, the funniest moment last night may have been when Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson appeared with an oversized book of the 900-page Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's master plan for institutionalizing Trumpism. He interviewed real people, an LGBTQ+ married woman, a diabetic woman who uses insulin, an obstetrician and gynecologist, and a federal employee at the Department of Education.
After he asked each of them what they did, he pointed out how unfortunate they were under the Republican plan, and how all of these people's lives would drastically change.
"Everything that we just talked about is very real. You can stop it by electing Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.”
Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
