The DNC asked: What if men led with empathy?

Tim Walz talked football, fatherhood and fertility at the convention, where a number of men took the stage to embrace empathy and emotion.

Originally published by Amanda Becker for The 19th

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Tim Walz was an admired high school football coach who also advised a nascent gay-straight alliance. The Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee wears outdoorsy flannel shirts but also sews his own buttons onto them. He is governor who made menstrual products available at public schools and, when conservative critics later dubbed him “tampon Tim,” didn’t balk as his supporters quickly reclaimed the moniker as a badge of honor.

The portrayal of manhood on stage in Chicago this week was a marked departure from the one conveyed when Republicans met last month for their convention. Walz on Wednesday both gave a football metaphor when talking about the state of the race and spoke emotionally about the formation of his family and his pride in them. His son, Gus, stood in the audience, tearing up and pointing at the stage while saying, “That’s my dad.”

In Milwaukee last month, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump walked out to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan ripped off a muscle shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance tank top, and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White spoke about the candidates as fighters. The RNC was about demonstrations of physical strength and masculine prowess. The speakers who softened the images of the men on stage were the women in their families or those who worked alongside them.

For Democrats in Chicago, on the other hand, it was Josh Zurawski who became emotional on stage as he and his wife, Amanda Zurawski, told their personal story about losing a pregnancy and not being able to easily access abortion. Ashley Biden introduced her father, President Joe Biden, as the “OG girl dad.” Walz shared a video clip of his children giving him bunny ears on national television the first night, saying they keep him humble. A video produced by Cole Emhoff to introduce his father and Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, noted how he left his law practice to support her. Cole Emhoff narrates that he was “so proud to watch him do it, an example of true partnership.” The video was co-produced by his mother—Emhoff’s ex-wife.

The men expressing empathy, earnestness, and support on stage this week—qualities that are rarely highlighted in the highest levels of U.S. politics—are also talking about issues such as abortion and caregiving that are traditionally seen as gendered. Taken together, the DNC’s programming has sent the message that when men stand with women, they can make history alongside them. If Harris is elected, Cole Emhoff noted that his father would “make history again as the first first gentleman;” there have only ever been first ladies. Emhoff is also the first second gentleman.