Oprah spoke at this year’s Democratic National Convention. So did Amy Klobuchar, whose memory as an also-ran in the 2020 primaries is fading to the point where only the most dedicated political obsessives could tell you much of anything about who she is. Lil Jon had a slightly surreal turn under the DNC’s spotlight. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will be on tonight. And of course they’ve found time for several Republicans. Any reasonably prominent member of the GOP can get a speaking slot, no matter their positions on abortion rights or labor unions or anything else, if they’re prepared to say the magic words: “Donald Trump is dangerous.”

But the Democrats have told antiwar “uncommitted” delegates that allowing even one single Palestinian on that stage to humanize the victims of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza is a bridge too far. The delegates offered them a list of possible speakers the DNC could choose from, and even said that, if they didn’t like any of those names, they could suggest one of their own. They offered to let the DNC vet the full speech in advance. The answer was still no. Dispirited and disgusted, Muslim Women for Harris disbanded in response.

We can’t know what’s going to happen this November. Maybe Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will win big. But if it’s a tight race, and they lose Michigan, and Democrats play their usual game of blaming everyone and everything except themselves, remember this moment.