Obama returned to torment Trump in ways that only a member of the Oval Office club can

Like bankruptcy, political influence moves gradually, then suddenly. On the penultimate night of this unconventional Democratic convention, the pace of that transition visibly accelerated.

For most of the last four years, America’s political conversation has been dominated by the foghorn squeezed night and day by a hair-dried troll. This has been an alarmingly loud, but increasingly tedious monologue.

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Without an appropriate adversary, Donald Trump has stalked and skulked the stage: alternately ignoring and inventing enemies, alienating friends and befriending alien forces. It has been a confusing and soulless spectacle. Like the evil genius Megamind, he desperately needs an opponent to define his own brand of mindless destruction.

On Wednesday, the animating force behind Trump’s animus reappeared on screen to declare the beginning of the end of the Trump era – or democracy as we know it.

Barack Obama has loomed large over everything that passes for a political thought inside the skull of his successor. If Obama enacted it or even liked it – from healthcare to a pandemic playbook to American democracy – it becomes, for Trump, a singular focus of his destructive powers.

Just the thought of a night’s speeches involving Obama and Hillary Clinton was enough to distract President Megamindless from his actual opponents on the ballot in just 11 weeks.

“Welcome, Barack and Crooked Hillary,” he tweeted in eager anticipation. “See you on the field of battle!”

Since we’re on first name terms, Donald, we regret to inform you that Barack and Hillary won’t be seeing you on any field. Joe and Kamala will be there instead.

In the meantime, Obama returned to torment Trump in ways that only a member of the Oval Office club can: “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe.”

Incompetence is one thing; impotence is another.

Beyond his own inability to do the job of president, Trump has no clue about what the job entails. That was the less-than-subtle message of Obama’s choice of location for his convention speech: in front of a Philadelphia museum about the writing of the constitution.

The former president accused of being a foreigner was detailing how deeply un-American his accuser really is.

All Trump could do was shout at his TV, via Twitter. “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT,” shouted the commander-in-chief on the field of battle that is the space between his remote control and his hypothalamus.

The political transition on show on the third night of the Democratic convention was not confined to the White House.

Political hacks like to talk about the passing of the torch, but party conventions rarely deliver on that promise. With the staging of Wednesday’s speakers – from Clinton to Obama to Kamala Harris – you could trace the party’s path over the last three decades.

For most of that time, the center of gravity in the center-left of American politics has been embodied by the Clintons and the many compromises they made to gain and exercise power. It is easy now to forget how skillfully they played the politics of white identity, from socially liberal sentiments to preserving middle class privileges.

This convention was effectively their last hurrah, as the last Democratic nominee warned the party faithful to avoid the fatal mistakes of four years ago. “For four years, people have told me, ‘I didn’t realize how dangerous he was.’ ‘I wish I could go back and do it all over.’ Or worst, ‘I should have voted.’ Well, this can’t be another woulda coulda shoulda election,” Hillary Clinton said.

It is hard to imagine another convention where the Clintons will be the same force in Democratic politics. And if Joe Biden’s poll leads become electoral college reality in November, it is also hard to imagine that the Obamas will exert the same magic hold on their party. Sitting presidents, and their chosen successors, tend to reshape the political landscape, to the detriment of even beloved and historic predecessors.

That is one of the many reasons why Harris is such a fascinating addition to this already epic election. Citing her Indian mother’s example, Harris said she was committed “to a vision passed on through generations of Americans – one that Joe Biden shares. A vision of our nation as a beloved community – where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love. A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity and respect.”

This used to be political motherhood and apple pie. But after four years of far-right nationalism, neo-Nazi coddling and human rights abuses at the border, Harris looks and sounds like a dramatic turn from the Trump era.

That’s why the two most impactful moments of Wednesday’s convention programming – beyond the keynote speakers – were two videos.

One was the painfully moving story of 11-year-old Estela Juarez, separated from her mother – who came to the United States as a child herself – because of Trump’s demonization and deportation of immigrant parents. The other was an anthem for the voters who are likely to decide this contest: a celebration of women activists and change-makers, on the centenary of women’s suffrage in the United States.

If anyone combines the spirit of fired up women and inspirational immigrants, it’s Kamala Harris.

Like Biden, Harris is essentially a centrist Democrat with an extraordinary opportunity to enact sweeping changes to rebuild after the twin catastrophes of Covid-19 and Trump. Like Obama, they may have a short window to pass legislation to set the nation – and the world – on a new course on the pandemic, the economy, immigration and the climate crisis.

But unlike Obama, Harris has arrived at a time when she can invoke Martin Luther King Jr’s beloved community and spell out what it will take to create it.

“While this virus touches us all, let’s be honest. It is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately. This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism,” she said, pointing to the chasm in education, healthcare and housing. “Let’s be clear: there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve got to do the work.”

Whether or not Biden and Harris can deliver for the movement for racial justice may be an even bigger test than whether or not they can lead America’s recovery from the pandemic.

At the end of her acceptance speech, Harris waved at a Zoom screen of applauding supporters, and pointed out imaginary fans in a crowd that couldn’t be with her.

Let’s be clear: we’ve got a lot of work to do before and after there’s a vaccine.