Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pulling It Off

The talk of Tuesday's session of the Democratic National Convention was of course, Hillary Clinton. Would she do right by Barack Obama, or would her most ardent supporters still have reason to either sit out the election or vote for John McCain? We got our answer last night. Her speech was some of her best work, and she made a powerful case for backing the party's nominee. Those skeptics (myself included) who though she might not give it her all were turned into believers.

Hillary Clinton was fire and grace at the same time. she thanked her supporters, and invoked the images of several from the campaign trail. It was, in a word, masterful. Quite frankly, I worried she might slide right up to the edge of self indulgence. After all, she had 18 million people backing her. She didn't even come close. She talked about a veteran, a single mom, and yes, Harriet Tubman in making the case for unity. I don't think there were five people in the Pepsi Center last night who didn't think she made it work.

Barack Obama, who was in Montana with a family who had a number of unexpected guests for dinner, must have been both heartened and relieved. The stage has now been set for his acceptance speech Thursday.

If anyone ought to be nervous about having to follow Hillary Clinton's speech, it's her husband. He goes on tonight.

Let's hope he's as good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi. I didn't hear anyone comment that she didn't list "wife" as one of her roles.
Looking forward to another fab radio show. Last night's was SUPER. You interviewed two of my elected legislators and I wrote them "bravos".