Womp Womp: Nobody’s Cheering for Philly at the DNC

Photo by Jared Brey

One of my favorite things about big crowds is that you can sometimes make them scream and wave their arms around just by saying the name of the town they happen to be in at the moment.

Touring musicians do it to great effect. Politicians usually do, too. It’s not such a complicated thing: People like to have their location acknowledged. Even if you have nothing else in common with the rest of your crowd, you can all agree that you are in the same place, and that’s something to celebrate.

But the delegates gathered at the Wells Fargo Center for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia seem to be malfunctioning in this regard. Since the convention officially began at 4:30 p.m., there have been virtually no spontaneous outbursts of applause at the mention of our fair city.

Earlier, New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey leaned into the microphone to emphatically enunciate, “The City of Brotherly Love.” She left a healthy pause afterward for the inevitable cheers. But no. Nothing!

Mayor Jim Kenney began his remarks with a hearty “Yo, Pennsylvania.” There may have been a few feeble huzzahs from the Pennsylvania delegation, but most of the audience stayed silent. Stone-faced.

Maybe the delegates haven’t had the chance to drink in Philly’s charms just yet. Or maybe they’re anxious about the Bernie Sanders speech tonight, considering the Vermont senator got booed by his own supporters for stressing unity earlier today. Or maybe they’re just getting warmed up!

So far, the crowd has been slow to boo Republican presidential nominee  Donald Trump, too. The biggest outburst of the night so far, from what I can tell, was when Susan Sarandon was pictured on the Jumbotron.

What gives? Mindlessly applauding every mention of your whereabouts is a time-honored tradition. Get with the program, Democrats.

Follow @JaredBrey on Twitter.