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Guest Essay

By New York Times Opinion

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Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rate the evening on a scale of 0 to 10: 0 means the night was a disaster for Kamala Harris; 10 means it could lead to a big polling bump. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought of the event, which included speeches by Oprah Winfrey, Josh Shapiro, Bill Clinton and Tim Walz.

Kristen Soltis Anderson, contributing Opinion writer Younger voters may not realize how powerful Oprah Winfrey is as a voice. I wrote about this in May, and her speech tonight targeted precisely the voters both sides hope to persuade this year.

Binyamin Appelbaum, member of the editorial board Oprah.

Charles M. Blow, Times columnist Tim Walz’s intense, locker-room-pep-talk-style acceptance speech.

David Brooks, Times columnist First, the tone of lavish American patriotism that permeated the evening. But my favorite quirky moment was when Gus Walz burst into tears after his dad gave him a shout-out, telling his neighbors, “That’s my dad!” Walz is one relatable American.

Jane Coaston, contributing Opinion writer Thousands of people chanting “Bring them home,” as the parents of one of the hostages in Gaza stood before them.

Michelle Cottle, political writer for Opinion O-prah! O-prah! O-prah! Damn, she’s good.

Liam Donovan, Republican strategist Walz was on brand, and Oprah brought the star power, but the methodical buildup of Kamala Harris’s record as a tough border-state prosecutor is a reminder of what this race will boil down to when the speeches fade.

Michelle Goldberg, Times columnist Walz made me wish I understood football metaphors.

Matt Labash, author of the newsletter Slack Tide........

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