Stunned.
I will admit that's how I felt when Senator Clinton, speaking before DemCon Tuesday night, admonished the crowd with "Were you in this campaign just for me?"
On. Point.
On fucking point.
All props to Hils. She swallowed her considerable pride and managed to make us believe that campaigning for her formal rival is her new and joyous life's work. That's what is known in politics as a class act. Take note. They do not occur often.
Which brings me to Bill.
I was not so impressed by Hillary's deus ex machina, wherein she orchestrated her own name to be submitted as a nominee behind the scenes, and then orchestrated its withdrawal on live television with NY Senator Schumer grinning maniacally over her shoulder. It was scripted within an inch of its life, and it smacked of Bill Clinton. Smacked. And not in a good way, readers.
But Bubba made a good speech, and hit all the right points. I particularly liked when he said "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of example, than by the example of our power."
Fuckin' A, Bubba. Right on.
Also well placed was the reminder that Clinton himself was widely derided as too young and inexperienced to be Commander-in-Chief when he ran in '92.
Of course, the talking heads, when reminded of this same point, defended themselves by saying that okay, they may have been wrong in '92, but Obama is WAY more inexperienced than Clinton was, and so they could not possibly be wrong again this time.
I'm sure there are a variety of people who find this convincing. I'm not one of them. I think the ability to function well as president can't be so easily quantified. Case in point: Bush, having spent 5 years as the governor of the second largest and second most populous state in the union, looked fairly good on paper in 2000.
Also, the heads keep talking about what various speeches weren't, what they didn't accomplish. But of course, no one speech can be all things to all pundits. Given the entirety of the first 3 nights, all points were hit quite nicely. The DNC made damn sure of that.
So go forth and unite, ye Clintons. The proof is in the pudding.
7 comments:
But where were they on Obama's big night, Thursday? Maybe they had pressing appointments elsewhere.
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My admiration for Bill as the consumate politician grew when I heard his speech. The man has charisma. What I especially liked was when he reminded us that the Republicans controled the White House and both houses of Congress and look what they produced.
Making good use of the Clintons is really important for the rest of the champaign.
I wonder how the Pumas are going now?
Larry: Look, I wouldn't expect my old boyfriends to come to my wedding, and I wouldn't expect the Clintons to sit through the actual acceptance speech.
Kiki: My email is in my profile, dude. You're on Blogger, aren't you?
DadE: The PUMAs are anticipating voting for McCain if he chooses the governor of Alaska as his running mate.
...and Obama thanked Hil and Bill (and Teddy) before thanking his family, which I thought was a cool way to acknowledge their efforts.
That was a fantastic speech that Obama gave last night. I hope that he can make use of the Clintons, and that they will really work for him. I wonder if there is a place for Hillery in Obamas cabinet if he wins?
GKL: Yes, I noticed that, too. Clearly they are deep into reconciliation mode. We'll see if Bill ever really forgives Obama, though.
SkyDad: Oh, I'd be pretty surprised in Hillary didn't snag, for her cooperation, a pretty high post. And Bill's been dying to head the U.N. for years.
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