The DNC asks: What if men led with empathy?

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CHICAGO — 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 has already been 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 .

Walz spoke Wednesday night about the fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, turned to. “If you’ve never experience the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you know someone who has,” he told the DNC crowd.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told The 19th that the Democratic men in Chicago illustrate a “seismic shift in people’s attitudes, and it’s phenomenally positive.”

“The generation of men who are fathers today, who were raised with mothers who more likely worked than not, who understood that a man had responsibility at home, it’s a 50-50 proposition. The men you saw … helped raise kids, helped change diapers, helped find child care, helped buy the groceries,” Hochul said.

“For men to be able to stand up and talk about what it means when a woman is not able to get an abortion to save her life or the life of their child or future children, that’s powerful. That hits right here,” Hochul added, pointing to her heart.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand pointed out that when men focus on what have historically been considered “women’s issues,” it has tangible economic impacts on families — including men.

“Smart men understand that things like affordable day care, universal pre-K and national paid leave are fundamental to their ability to raise their family and have their children thrive,” Gillibrand told The 19th. “We’re an equality party, and I think the men in our party believe it, and they will talk about it, and they will explain why they value the women in their lives, and why they want to lift up a female nominee like Kamala Harris to be our commander in chief.”

The starkest contrast between Democrats and Republicans at their conventions has been on the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. Harris is centering her campaign in large part on restoring them in the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump, who nominated the justices who did it, has tried to avoid talking about abortion except to say he thinks the issue should be left up to the states. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, has historically backed strict abortion bans, though he now supports limited exceptions. Vance also voted against legislation to protect access to in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technologies and suggested getting rid of the Head Start early childhood program.

“It’s important to women to know that men are willing also to step up and talk about the stories of the challenges that as families, they go through, and we heard that on stage … and I think that’s hugely important,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told The 19th after an event on reproductive rights hosted by Think Big America, an organization he launched last year to support state ballot initiatives protecting abortion access.

Ryan Hamilton, a married father in Texas with an infant daughter, said it was a welcome change to see other men in the spotlight talking about abortion and other issues that disproportionately affect women. After his wife suffered a miscarriage during the 13th week of her second pregnancy, they struggled to find a hospital that would treat her given the state’s strict abortion ban. She nearly died . When he shared the experience on social media, it went viral, inciting both vitriol and support. He and his wife have since become friends with the Zurawskis. He said he is looking forward to watching Walz’s speech from home Wednesday night.

“It’s important that we get out there and talk about it and, just like Tim Walz has been doing, have these conversations and normalize them in a way because it doesn’t need to be a shameful thing,” Hamilton said of men talking about abortion and other reproductive health issues. “When did we kind of muddy the waters as to what it means to be a man? For me, and what I’m noticing at the convention, and it feels really good to see, being a man is standing up for the women that you love in your life, and being an example for your daughter.”

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