Bill’s speech was not only his usual masterful self, but it was also a good rebuttal to the oft-repeated claim that Hillary has done nothing but ride his coattails her whole career. The Right likes to paint her as a former First Lady with delusions of grandeur, a carpet-bagging one-term senator from Wall Street and a failed Secretary of State who personally murdered the ambassador to Benghazi while providing state secrets to Russian email hackers.
Bill did a great job of not only humanizing her as an idealistic young college student and activist, but someone who has fought for families and children and poor people her entire career. I don’t have any trouble believing she’s the smart on in the family. And I say all this as someone who has never liked her at all – I had a much more favorable opinion about her after Bill’s speech.
Trouble is, the Hillary Haters won’t ever see or hear this. They will rely on Trump’s filters to tell them what went on at the Democratic convention. I think they’re afraid that if they actually watched for themselves their faces would melt like that guy who peeked at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Even if they had, the chairman would have had the vote taken electronically (the days of every vote being a state-by-state roll call are long past us - I think 1976 was the last time there was a roll call for anything besides President or VP), and announced that the ayes prevailed without giving any specific numbers.
A long time to end the campaign, or end the roll call vote? They have to go through every state at least once in the roll call. (The VP vote, on the other hand, and this assumes they don’t do what the Republicans do and get rid of it entirely, can go something like, “Alabama” “Alabama yields to Virginia” “Virginia” “Virginia moves to suspend the rules and have Tim Kaine nominated by acclamation.”)
I was a bit surprised that Rachel Maddow seemed quite offended by the early part of the speech, bristling at the reference to Hillary as a “girl”. I didn’t see that as anti-feminist, I saw it more as a boy meets girl story.
I agree with the comment about the states cheering their mention as being distracting. I also thought it juvenile- we know your state is there . ALL the states were there. Now shut up.
I thought his speech was quite informative. She seemed to be as determined in her early years as she is now. I think a lot of people learned a lot about her and like her more as a result of it- I know I did. The hard core Trumpians won’t be moved by any of this but that isn’t important. What’s important is to re-introduce Hillary as a caring and compassionate person, and I think the mission was accomplished.
I could have sworn they did something similar in 2008 with the presidential nomination rather than running through all the states. I remember Clinton early on asking for a voice vote after it was yielded to her. But that was also eight years ago and my memory might be faulty.
That was quite the fantastic speech! I know some people thought it was too long, but Bill was being a raconteur, telling the story of Hillary, all the work she has done, and their courtship and marriage. As said by Skammer, it was a masterful counterpoint to the whole “What has she really done” thing I’ve seen here and there. And the whole ‘cartoon’ Hillary vs. ‘real’ Hillary thing was just fantastic.
Probably the best “spouse speech” (which it was supposed to be) that I’ve ever seen.
I think Maddow’s problem with the speech was the “boy meets girl, girl puts her own political aspirations on hold for boy’s political career.” It was meant to appeal to married white women, and I thought it did a good job of humanizing Hillary. But I can also see how younger women would see it as anti-feminist - especially given Bill’s infidelities.
Totally agree. I was a somewhat reluctant Hillary supporter until I saw Bill’s speech, but I went to bed last night thinking I should buy an I’m With Her t-shirt.
I’ll add that I wasn’t crazy about the Change Maker tagline, but I’m hard put to come up with a better two-word phrase. Any suggestions?
Thank you, That Don Guy, for posting that audio clip of Carson introducing Bill Clinton back in '88. I’d not only never heard that, but I’d never heard of it. Laughed my rear off.
Clinton himself has attributed the over-length of that '88 speech to him not factoring in applause time and the fact that some of his applause lines generated longer reactions than he had factored in. I did see him damp down applause last night, saying words to the effect of “We have to keep on schedule.”
I actually remember seeing Bill Clinton on TV when he spoke at the Democratic Convention in 1980. They cut away from him, but I had a real, “Wow, who is this guy?” moment. (Would love to see that speech in its’ entirety or at least read a transcript.)
The following November, I heard the news that he had been defeated in his reelection bid (of course, so had a lot of Democrats that year). I thought to myself that we’d never see this guy again who seemed to hold so much promise.
Needless to say, I was wrong. But when, in later days, people seemed to be counting him out, I’d tell them that I’d counted him out before most people in the country had even heard of him, and that I’d never do it again.
The campaign. I had no problem with the roll call, and in fact, watched it for the first time since (I think) 1976. As soon as Vermont passed, I knew Sanders was going to move for acclamation at the end, and I think that was very good of him.
Here’s what this week has done for me, a reluctant Hillary supporter: The convention (speeches, videos, etc) has shifted my thinking from “Hillary has a relentless drive for power and the presidency that I can’t imagine any other human being ever having” (a negative perception) to “Hillary is a tireless public servant who has spent her entire career helping other people and sees the presidency as the ultimate position to do the most good” (a positive perception).
Perhaps I’m being naive and getting sucked into the emotions of it, but the convention has been successful thus far in shifting my perceptions of her.
Well said. I have a similar experience. Bill did a good job of letting us know of all the things she did to make a difference for decades with little fanfare or recognition. She’s a smart, hardworking policy wonk with good intentions. What’s not to like?
But I see her motivation as being more noble than before. The convention has successfully helped me see her as a tireless servant and not just a power-hungry masochist.
My impression of Hillary is of a very smart and capable, extremely ambitious, and compassionate person, with a large ego and a lack of humility, a good bit of paranoia, and a tendency to be sloppy in her personal work habits, as well as a politician’s tendency to say what she thinks her audience wants to hear.
I’m not sure I’d go as far as “noble” but she certainly understands the principle of enlightened self-interest (as opposed to Trump, whose self-interest is as unenlightened as you can get).
Not keen on changemaker, I can see the republicans coming up with something along the lines of “Hillary - Change maker - turns your dollars into pennies”
