A Wonk in Full- Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention.

Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention. Ezra Klein, who is known to keep his passions in check, did not have the right credentials to get into the arena. The Secret Service didn't recognize the New York Times' star "Opinion" writer and podcaster, but eventually he was able to figure out how to get in to where he belonged. This was, after all, as much his convention as any journalist's, since its high-energy optimism turned on the fact that President Joe Biden was no longer leading the ticket and, starting early this year, Klein had led the coup drumbeat.

- By Charlotte Klein

It was the second night of the convention, a few hours before back-to-back Obamas issued their impassioned calls to arms, and the famously sensible Ezra Klein, who is known to keep his passions in check, did not have the right credentials to get into the arena. The Secret Service didn't recognize the New York Times' star Opinion writer and podcaster, but eventually he was able to figure out how to get in to where he belonged. This was, after all, as much his convention as any journalist's, since its high-energy optimism turned on the fact that President Joe Biden was no longer leading the ticket and, starting early this year, Klein had led the coup drumbeat.

Klein was ready to bask in the spotlight. This was the first convention he'd attended since the Obama era. Now 40, he's had a bit of a glow-up. The bespectacled wonk, who's been an influential blogger since his teen years, has turned into a tattooed Brooklyn dad with a David Beckham haircut in Bonobos and sandcolored Air Force I's who goes to Burning Man-where he's headed next week.