Hillary Clinton stepped up to the podium at the Democratic Convention tonight with a singular mission: to unify a party bruised by the long, tough, close primary battle. After she finished, it was difficult to imagine how she could possibly have done a better job making the case for her supporters to get behind Barack Obama. Her speech was not just a home run, it may have been a grand slam.
Clinton set the tone early. When she announced right off the bat she was a "proud supporter of Barack Obama," her husband the ex-president leaped to his feet and applauded from the gallery. She continued, "It is time to take back our country. And whether you voted for me or Barack the time is now to unite as a single party for a single purpose. Barack Obama must be our president."
Hillary went on to ask, "Were you in it just for me? Or were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?" She went through a litany of issues, from health care to crony corporatism to ending the war, drawing a parallel between her causes and Obama's, casting John McCain as a continuation of George W. Bush and anathema to everything Hillary herself and anyone who supported her believes in.
The New York Senator's remarks had a decidedly feminist cast. She didn't give an inch on her qualifications and made frequent references to glass ceilings, Harriet Tubman and the women's rights pioneers of the past-all code for reaching out to women. She then connected her candidacy to Obama's through the issues they share, coming close to handing him the Clinton mantle by declaring, "We Democrats know how to do this. As I recall we did this before under President Clinton!" She then implored the arena and the national audience, "We need to elect Barack Obama for many reasons-this is no time to sit on the sidelines!"
The address was peppered with enough memorable lines and digs at McCain to get a rise out of the Democratic partisans. One example was, "No way, no how, no McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate." Another was, "It makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days it's awfully hard to tell them apart."
Watching a speech like this, expansive yet with a personal subtext, full of content yet not wonkish, I was once again reminded what a formidable political personage Hillary Clinton is. Her ringing tones and successive points stood in sharp contrast to the parade of other Democratic notables who, though governors, senators and other people of substance, generally paled by comparison. Most of them served up yawners. She was riveting.
After tonight's performance I would imagine that Hillary's female followers who are persuadable will come over. A survey before the vote had Clinton primary voters at 70% for Obama, 20% for McCain and 10% undecided. These numbers should move further Obama's way. While Clinton mentioned a good many lunch bucket issues, the effect on her male working class supporters from this speech will probably be less than on women. I'd expect Obama to gain some, but we won't see a wholesale shift just from this. Joe Biden will be called upon to pry that open tomorrow but it will truly be up to Obama himself to close the deal on Thursday.
As for Hillary Clinton, after this she has set herself up in good shape. Tonight's performance did Barack Obama a lot of good and improved his chances for winning the election. After this, if he loses, she cannot be blamed, and she will have a reservoir of goodwill from the Obama faithful to start with should she have ambitions for 2012. If he wins, her convention performance and the hard campaigning she has been doing and will continue to do on his behalf will enhance her status in the party even more. Even 2016 is not too late for her. That year Hillary Clinton will be three years younger than John McCain is now.
3 comments:
It is so interesting to read different blogs and see how different people view the same thing. Another blog I read that's written by a friend of mine on the east coast, who is decidedly Republican thought Clinton's speech was very tepid. He felt that her speech set herself up for 2012, then really bring the Democrats together behind Obama.
That really is interesting. From the Democrats' perspective, the key was Hillary believably endorsing Obama. I don't think there was any way to interpret her speech other than an unqualified endorsement. Not only the words but also the seeming fire and sincerity were there, too.
Was it all just a good job of acting? You'd have to be a mind reader to know for sure. Certainly a Republican would so assume, and could be right in doing so. But if you've read blogs from the floor of the convention hall, the vast majority of Clinton delegates accepted her speech at face value, as you might expect her adoring fans to do. And that's precisely what Obama and the Party wanted.
HC killed two birds with one stone. By burnishing her credibility as a team player, she helped the current ticket and left the door open for a return somewhere down the road. That's quite a skillful job of tightrope walking. She is an extraordinary politician.
Well, she is married to one of the best politicians around.
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