Democratic National Convention: Day Three - - UPDATE XII
Day two of the Democratic National Convention concluded with Hillary Clinton’s much anticipated speech. The pundits have applauded the speech including John Fund of the Wall Street Journal who describes it “as the best speech of her career.” Joan Walsh of Salon says that Clinton “hit all of his targets.”
But Clinton’s speech may not have healed all of the wounds among her supporters. Margery Eagan of the Boston Herald writes, “This mess just won’t end. And if it doesn’t end soon - like today - the Democrats will lose in November. Again. The mess I refer to? Hillary supporters’ continued up-the-ante demands for respect and validation, for hurt feelings to be soothed, voices to be heard, etc.”
John Dickerson of Slate notes a glaring omission in Clinton’s speech: “But there was one big flaw in the pitch: Clinton never made the case that Barack Obama was ready to lead as commander in chief. That was her strongest argument against Obama during the primary—so strong the McCain campaign is recycling her ad about the president answering the phone at 3 a.m. Maybe Joe Biden is planning to address that issue for Obama, and Clinton needed to stay focused on convincing her supporters. Still, it felt like a hole.”
This is further complicated by Bill Clinton’s comment yesterday. He said, “Suppose you’re a voter, and you’ve got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don’t think that candidate can deliver on anything at all,” Clinton said at a forum covered by The Call. “Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?”
David Maraniss of the Washington Post has a must-read story about the complex Obama - Bill Clinton relationship.
Flipping channels, the Clintons have dominated the morning news coverage. Mike Murphy on “Morning Joe” asked this question: “Can Barack Obama dominate Barack Obama’s convention, or will it be dominated by the Clintons?” It’s also widely agreed that Bill Clinton’s speech wasn’t written as of last night.
Hillary Clinton’s speech last night went a long way to unifying the Democratic Party. It was a great speech. Tonight, Bill Clinton can continue that unification effort when he speaks just before Joe Biden, in primetime.
UPDATE: There have been lots of e-mails this morning about why Obama gave so much attention to the Clintons during this convention. Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times: “Obama’s pacification of Bill made his supporters depressed and anxious that he was going to be a weaker candidate than they had hoped and fearful that, as in Obama’s favorite movie, “The Godfather,” every time Democrats try to get away, the Clintons pull them back in.”
My view is this: Clinton pulling in 18 million votes was something that had to be recognized at the Convention. She deserved, like Mike Huckabee on the Republican side (who received far less votes, but who captivated an influential arm of the Republican Party), a primetime speaking slot. She’s a force in the party. And by not picking her as his running mate, it was imperative that Obama give her the opportunity to quell all of the lingering animosity that many Clinton supporters (i.e. the PUMAs) dragged with them to Denver. I believe her speech did that.
The conundrum for Obama wasn’t how to deal with Senator Clinton. It was how to deal with President Clinton. First, he’s a former president and that in and of itself is tricky (In 1988, Ronald Reagan spoke on the first night of George H.W. Bush’s convention; this year George W. Bush will speak on the first night). Second, he’s a successful former president with a track record, most notably on economic prospecerity, that both parties envy, especially when you considered what followed.
Most Democrats want the kind of results (absent the Lewinsky drama) the Clinton administration provided. The nostalgia factor is real in American politics. If you don’t believe me, just ask the Republican Party. They’ want nothing more than a return to the era of Reagan. I think Obama has to address that, because he’s still struggling to win over Democrats. At last count, a little less than 70% of identified Democrats in Arkansas supported Obama (compared to more than 90% of Republicans supporting McCain).
There’s no Democrat more capable of moving rural white voters to Obama than Clinton. Thus, there is plenty of politics to justify putting him in a primetime speaking slot. As I noted above, if Clinton wants to bring his A game, he’s as good as it gets. A speech that is all about Obama would complete the party unification process, pass the torch and cement Clinton’s place in American political history.
Most importantly, it would go a long way to electing Barack Obama the next President of the United States. Obama’s campaign - the smartest of the modern era - has to know that.
UPDATE II: In the comments section below, you’ll see one that I’ll respond to here. LT writes, “Given how the rest of week shakes out — Biden speaking tonight but overshadowed by Bill’s address, and Barack Obama finally taking the stage Thursday — that leaves Obama maybe a day of maximum impact before attention turns to McCain, his running mate and the GOP convention.’
An accurate observation, which means that not only does Clinton have to come through tonight, Obama needs to give one hell of a speech tomorrow night. If you look at the shots of Invesco Field you’ll see that the Obama campaign has put substantial resources into it; it reminds me of a halftime show at the Super Bowl.
The party that goes second always gets the last word, so that does give McCain an advantage no matter what had happened with the Democratic National Convention. Still, Obama and Biden are going to be out on bus tour which will bring back memories of the successful Clinton-Gore bus tour after the 1992 convention. That will generate substantial press nationally as well as in battleground states.
Again, my view is that the Democratic National Convention had to shake out this way. If Clinton delivers tonight and Obama tomorrow, I think it will be viewed as one of the most successful conventions in the modern era. But we still have 2 days to go.
UPDATE III: Earlier today I was riding to a meeting with a friend and we were talking about the convention. I suggested that if Clinton and Obama both did what they needed to do, that Obama would see a big jump in poll numbers in a a few battleground states, including Colorado. In polls that were conducted August 24-26, Obama maintains leads in key states, but trails in Colorado. All polls were conducted by CNN/TIME.
NEVADA - Obama 49% McCain 44%
PENNSYLVANIA - Obama 48% McCain 43%
NEW MEXICO - Obama 53% McCain 40%
COLORADO - McCain 47% Obama 46%
UPDATE IV: I’ll be back on Twitter tonight. blakerutherford is my Twitter name so come on and follow if you want instant thoughts. I’m having a difficult time getting my Twitter feed linked to the blog homepage. I’ll be posting here as well, probably after each of the speeches.
UPDATE V: “That makes two of us.” Bill Clinton gave exactly the speech he needed to give. Another home run. I’m watching the pundits now, but my view is that this was another A plus. “Thanks, but not thanks.” As I said, if Clinton brings it, he can do a lot to lead Barack Obama to the presidency. He did it.
UPDATE VI: I need to interrupt this thread to celebrate the birth of Mary-Kathryn Royce Irby who was born yesterday. She’ll vote for the first time in November 2026. Here, she’s watching her first baseball game. Many more of those to come if I know her daddy well.
UPDATE VII: Republican strategist Mike Murphy says that the Clintons will end up voting for McCain. Is it possible that Republicans expected something else tonight? Harold Ford Jr. happy to challenge Murphy on MSNBC. Sen. Joe Biden up next.
UPDATE VIII: Pat Buchanan of MSNBC said McCain “got off skate free.” Is that fair?
UPDATE IX: Joe Biden was just nominated by the Democratic Party to be the Vice President.
UPDATE X: I thought Biden’s speech was what it was expected to be. I liked Obama making an appearance at the convention. The Obama-Biden ticket moves to Invesco Field for the finale tomorrow.
UPDATE XI: Hurricane Gustav may wreak havok on the Republican National Convention. Informaion suggests that McCain will inform his running mate tomorrow. Chris Matthews of MSNBC says it is Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
UPDATE XII: Back in the early a.m.
