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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

DNC '08: Senator Hillary Clinton

First off, credit where credit is due: I think this is the best speech Hillary has ever given. This is as good as she gets.

Like Neil, I initially found the speech wanting. I thought, was her speech about Obama or about her? Then I realized that was the point: by emphasizing what she stood for and that Obama stands for the same priorites, she's telling her followers "take it from me, Obama is okay. We can trust this guy; you can support him for the same reasons that you supported me."

As John Dickerson points out:

Tuesday night, the Democrats celebrated Ted Kennedy. He was in Clinton's shoes in 1980, after his hard-fought battle with Jimmy Carter. When he gave his convention speech, he mentioned Jimmy Carter once, congratulating him only in passing. Ronald Reagan never mentioned Gerald Ford in 1976. Hillary Clinton named Barack Obama more than a dozen times. Kennedy's famous speech declared that the dream will never die. Clinton's pitch was that the dream cannot live without electing Barack Obama.

Considering her criticisms of him during the primary, it was a tough balancing act for Hillary throwing her support for Obama without sounding hypocritical, but I think she pulled it off.

Continued...

Besides, her speech was only the beginning. She'll be campaigning on the stump for him and she'll have plenty of chances to address those criticisms. I'm hoping she'd say something like, "experience without judgment isn't worth much. John McCain proves that with his unwavering support for the policies of George Bush". Or how about "Bill Clinton was the new kid on the block when he ran for president. But with his priorities in order, he set the nation back on the right track. So will Barack Obama".

Lastly, Hillary's speech was brimming with great sound bites that led to generally positive reactions all around. That alone was a big plus for Obama.

Here again are those quotable sound bites:

No way. No how. No McCain...

Tonight we need to remember what a Presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you -- the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures...

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

...we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last...

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart...

And the very powerful:

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.