Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hillary's speech - the liveblog
Bit of live-blogging here, until I cannot take it anymore.
First, the clothes. Something I've never thought before: You can have too much orange. Goddamn, not the suit I would have worn.
She's a "proud mother, a proud Democrat, a proud citizen of New York, and a proud supporter of Barack Obama." My uncle: "Pride is one of the seven deadly sins." Good point, Uncs.
The look on Michelle's face is priceless, watching Hillary's every move, every word, every facial twitch.
"You haven't worked so hard to suffer through more failed leadership. No way, no how, no McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president." Good lines, strong applause, she's firing up the crowd. Hillary is going to make a few people regret that she is not the nominee, which certainly helps her.
Now for the miserable-people-with-no-health-insurance anecdotes. I understand why they are required, but they are definitely weighing me down.
"Sisterhood of the traveling pant suits" is a good line, and a tip of the hat to Hillaryland.
I could do without the "green collar jobs" metaphor. It is just dumb.
So, she runs through a long list of struggling people -- "the mother with cancer raising tons of children" and so forth -- but then says we have to get optimistic again. How are we supposed to get optimistic when you are constantly bringing up metaphorical miserable people.
Apparently she thinks that we are "giving windfall profits to the oil companies." I was not aware that any gift was involved. Here I thought that when I delivered money to oil companies, I was receiving value in return. [UPDATE: I am like so saying what Jonah is going to say before he says it tonight.]
In goes the knife, with the tribute to Bill, followed by the tribute to Barack, followed by the vision of Obama signing into law a healthcare plan that will give insurance to "all" Americans, a key point of disagreement among them.
A strong Hillary speech, filled with yelling, bulging eyeballs, lots of feminism, but very few references to Barack Obama [UPDATE: Post-mortem reviewers disagree, counting "at least ten" references to Obama. It would be interesting to compare to the other speakers.]. And the periodic cuts to Michelle's facial expressions are beyond priceless.
That's it.
POSTMORTEM STUFF: David Gergen is spinning this powerfully for Hillary, calling it the greatest speech of her career, a dignified end to her campaign, and big for Obama. Ed Rendell, check. Paul Begala, a famous Clintonista, check. But I still love the look on Michelle Obama's face! [UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds noticed the same thing.]
7 Comments:
By 
JPMcT, at
Tue Aug 26, 10:56:00 PM:
The best example of "failed leadership" since WW II is our current congress....with approval ratings like Hockey scores.
What goes through their minds...Let me see...about 9% of the nation thinks they know what they are doing...so they grab all of their talking points over the past four years and run with them!!! These are the people accusing Bush of being an idiot!?
By 
, at
Tue Aug 26, 11:16:00 PM:
Darn, My hoped for sight of the riot police charging into the convention center -- hope is fading fast. darn
huhbqvmw was my word verification for this comment.
By , at
Tue Aug 26, 11:18:00 PM:
Change.
Def'n: what's left of MY money after some pud in Washington takes their piece to pay for worthless pieces of crap who haven't worked for it.
There's no "free" healthcare, and in a period of economic challenge, I personally believe that most Americans don't see the handouts as making it to them. Hence ... you might get wild enthusiasm for the masses of likely Democratic voters, but does it flush with the teaming masses of working folks who don't believe they get anything but less Change after comrade Obama takes from the working folks to hook up the unwashed?
By , at
Wed Aug 27, 12:04:00 AM:
Interesting in noting all the changes at the Democrat Convention this year:
Bill Clinton? Check
Hillary Clinton? Check
David Gergen, Paul Begala on CNN? Check
Health Care for all 24/7/365? Check
The rich are not paying their fare share? Check
You (or I) could of course, go on with this, but I am beginning to see Barack Obama as a younger, somewhat hipper version of John Kerry, immersed in the surity of his opinions and ideas, and unwilling to recognize that some Americans have heard this all before and just....aren't....going....to...buy...it.
You know, you could almost rewind to Bill Clinton's keynote speech in 1988 (as long and boring as it was) and find the same recurrent themes. And these guys are progressives?
The correct term would, I think, be left wing reactionaries.
-David
By , at
Wed Aug 27, 12:05:00 AM:
I gotta think she got a great smack at Hussein. The meter, the rhythm of "No how, no way. no McCain" is really, "No how, no way, NOBAMA>"
If McCain's folks don't launch that message, they've missed an opportunity.
By Charlottesvillain, at
Wed Aug 27, 11:08:00 AM:
I enjoyed Bill's lip biting. Always a treat.
What the hell is a green collar job, anyway? Does whisk help with that?
By , at
Wed Aug 27, 11:49:00 AM:
Senator Clinton failed mightily last night to bring the center to the Democrats or the Democrats to the center.
How many times did she mention unions? Too many to count, and today's WSJ editorial on right-to-work states and their successes should be required reading for those who support Obama but cannot articulate why. The groups she addressed by label don't include the center (and I doubt most small business people -- unless they are extremely wealthy -- can afford to pay for the programs the Democrats champion even if Hillary added them at the end of a string citation).
In 1992, I thought that Pat Buchanan pushed the center away from the Republicans. His prime-time speech about all sorts of religious and class wars, when coupled with boat-shoed supporters of Bush 41 yelling "hit 'em again, hit 'em again, harder, harder," when Bush 41 spoke, left me far outside the Republican tent and, yes, I voted for Bill Clinton (twice). The GOP was just too far to the right for me (as has been the Bush 43 administration).
This time, though, the Democrats are so far to the left that they risk losing the center across the board. They make no apologies in their wanting to turn the U.S. -- despite the horrors that unions have brought to the auto and steel industries, among others -- into modern-day France. Those who support Obama because they like his packaging or because he's younger and new should be very careful.
Because I honestly don't think they know what they wish for beyond someone who isn't named George W. Bush.
The center remains in play and for the Republicans' taking.
The Centrist
