Well, that was quite a performance by Hillary Clinton, was it not? Unlike the Mark Warners of the world, she managed to talk about herself and use that in a compelling way to transfer her personal message to Barack Obama. Also, for the first time this week the Democrats were drinking the blood of their enemies. And loving it.
I never would have imagined when Clinton first ran for the Senate eight years ago that the stilted public speaker of that campaign could grow into the accomplished, and even moving, figure that she is today.
Not to get carried away. She was not this good while she was running for president. Not even close. Like Ted Kennedy and Al Gore, to name two other examples, defeat seems to have brought out the best in her.
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O-FISH-L
I thought Hillary mailed it in, at least as far as her enthusiasm for Obama. The bare minimum, nothing more.Aside from the clever line about the appropriateness of the Republican convention being held in the Twin Cities because Bush and McCain are identical, the rest of it was canned Democrat rhetoric with Obama as an afterthought.The closeness of her vote tally with Obama’s allowed a rare opening for her to speak from the heart about how they are close in other ways, even if just ideology. Instead of using that open door, I thought she slammed it shut. It was a missed opportunity to tell her supporters that “Barack is just like me, just like us.”She might also have said that 18 (or however many) months on the campaign trail with Obama showed her a lot about the man, his toughness under pressure, his mettle, his compassion for the common man, his support of the troops, whatever. I didn’t hear much, if any of that.Also, I couldn’t help notice that she said Michelle will make a great first lady while never saying Barack will be a great President. Telling.Lastly, Hillary’s choice of the orange colored pantsuit [Drudge showed her handlers carrying in 5-6 different colored pantsuits before the speech] was a direct slap in “Irish Catholic” Joe Biden’s face. Anyone familar with the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland knows that since at least 1795, the color orange and the Orangemen organization have been loathed by Irish Catholics. It’s like waving a red cape in front of a bull. To this day, most Irish Catholics call the colors of the Irish standard “green, white and gold” even though the gold is clearly orange. As soon as I saw her in that outfit, I could almost hear her saying, “Here’s what I think of your Irish Catholic VP choice.” Priceless.
Bellicose Bumpkin
I couldn’t disagree more with the “fishy” comments of the last poster. Hillary didn’t mail it … she nailed it. Chelsea did a brief but great intro and made me remember the (in)famous McCain “joke” about her – which was so wrong on so many levels.Seeing her whole-hearted support of Obama reminded me of the media uproar over the primary. I thought the whole “controversy” of the prolonged and dirty Democratic primary was so over played by the media. I think it was pretty tame and respectful overall.But back to topic – Hillary definitely nailed that speech.
Steve
Fish – did you write that after listening to Bill Kristol? It sounded very similar to his remarks after the speech. What was surprising for me was Brit Hume’s reaction to Kristol’s reaction – “Really?”
Doug Shugarts
Might HRC’s orange attire be a subtle way of saying she’s half red (Commie) and half yellow (Chinese)? Or perhaps she’s expressing solidarity with road construction crews? Maybe it’s a big wink to migrant fruit pickers? Maybe she likes carrots?Doug ShugartsPlanet Earth
tvoh
Where is David Brudnoy when we need him? He had a word for such political bloviating. BOMFOG.It meant the invocation of the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God that is inherent in most election speechifying except for president of the National Association of Misanthropic Atheists.It was just another cargo cult speech typical of the Dems. Well delivered, but more of the same.
Esther
Actually, I thought the orange was a shoutout to Syracuse University. They love Hillary upstate! And I thought her speech was pretty forceful. She made a case for Obama while alluding to the historic nature of her own campaign.
Nial Liszt
Unfortunately, this is the closest that we will get to see either Clinton doing 10-20 in an orange jumpsuit.
zadig
tvoh: It was just another cargo cult speech typical of the Dems. Well delivered, but more of the same.Not to point out bias or hypocrisy or anything, but when Republicans give speeches like that, everyone calls it “staying on-message” and it’s a good thing.nial liszt: this is the closest that we will get to see either Clinton doing 10-20 in an orange jumpsuitAs it should be, unless you have evidence that either of them has committed a crime worthy of 10-20 years in jail. Or any jail time, for that matter. Or any crime outside of lying about a sexual affair while under oath. Honestly, you’d think it was still the 90s and people were still irrational about the Clintons or something.
O-FISH-L
Steve, asking a Republican if he watched the convention on FNC is a little bit like asking a Sox fan if he watched the game on NESN. Is there anyplace else for us to watch? That said, Kristol isn’t one of my favorites and not someone I would want to parrot. My indifference toward him was renewed after his recent claim that Colin Powell would address the DNC and endorse Obama. I think many Republicans, including me and perhaps Kristol, feared Hillary would deliver a blockbuster, bringing down the house and uniting the party like velcro. She was adequate, but nowhere near what I had feared. If my post was similar to Kristol’s analysis, it’s probably more out of ideology and definitely not by intent since I don’t pay much attention to him. FWIW, Charles Krauthammer M.D., a former MGH staffer and unabashed Red Sox fan, is my hero on the FNC panel.
tvoh
“As it should be, unless you have evidence that either of them has committed a crime worthy of 10-20 years in jail. Or any jail time, for that matter. Or any crime outside of lying about a sexual affair while under oath. Honestly, you’d think it was still the 90s and people were still irrational about the Clintons or something.”The bombing of Serbia will do fine as justification for a long stretch. It was said when Bill was going wobbly, Hil told him to screw his courage to the sticking point.Oh Zadig, So you don’t feel the need to go partisan, I’m all for them doing the time with Bush and Cheney. A lot of time.
mike_b1
I imagine that would be the same Charles Krauthammer who once wrote in Time, “It’s OK to slay your dragons one at a time.” Which is hardly the imperialist approach espoused by the Bush/Old Man McCain faction of the GOP.
Dot Lane
As soon as I saw her in that outfit, I could almost hear her saying, “Here’s what I think of your Irish Catholic VP choice.” Priceless.Why o-fish-l, I do think you’ve found a new career for yourself. You can be a clothing analysis on cable tv, joining the body language analysts, graphologists, and phrenologists.