Thursday, August 28, 2008

Yes They Can

On Tuesday night at the convention, Hillary Clinton reminded us all how competent she is, but also why she will never be elected president. The woman is utterly competent, she'd make one hell of a director for the Department of Motor Vehicles. But despite this being her best speech ever, she was still as calculating as ever. Her words of support for Barack were the minimum necessary. Especially grating was her question, "Were you in this for me?" Um, the audience was there to elect Obama. So, no, only a few were in it for you. It's audacious, alright, but not the audacity of hope.

Bill Clinton's speech, on the other hand, was Bill at his best (for better or worse). Whatever crack-ups he's suffered this campaign, and Lord knows there's been several, he came out in full support of Barack and reminded everyone why he, Bill, used to be the best communicator in the land.

A preview of tonight? Who knows, but here is an edited few minutes of Barack's convention speech from 4 YEARS ago, so he's been talking this talk for a lot longer than this presidential race:

8 comments:

Erick said...

First, I must say the orange pantsuit was not cool. I mean the had several to choose from so who said, "let's go for the obnoxious looking one."

Second, I concur that her speech was one of her best, but lackluster in its support. As Colbert said last night she was clear in her support of the candidate that is not McCain.

I did not watch President Clinton's speech, but I have always thought him to be an excellent orator. Everything I have read indicates that his speech was by far the best of the convention and was a full support (with some digs at McCain thrown in) of Barack.

LaurieJo said...

Did Barack use the term "tolerant America" in a positive sense? Yes, he did. Just sayin'.

DVD said...

Since we're being snarky, as unusual as Hillary's clothing color was, it was better than Michelle's choice from Monday. Michelle's was too similar to the background. She was a talking head and waving arms to some people I'm sure. Truthfully, in high definition, Hillary's color looked pretty darn good. Certainly kept your eyes on her no matter what the camera angle.

And, Laurie, he was referring to a) his parent's belief and b) 196o's America, when tolerance was the best they hoped for.

Unknown said...

Better late than never, eh?
I certainly did not expect Hillary to lick Obama's boots. I think she did fine. When she asked the crowd, "Were you in this for me?" I think that was a legitimate question. She was telling those that were so upset by her loss that you have to be pretty short sighted to purposely sabotage your country for an individual. She did what was required of her to get her party moving towards thursday night.
As far as her clothing, you have got to be kidding me. THAT is the glass ceiling. If you don’t were a black or blue jacket w/ a red, white and blue tie, you have opened yourself up for criticism because you stand out.

DVD said...

Sorry, Boots, I still disagree on Hillary's speech. To get more specific than what I posted, try listening to her list all the reasons she ran for president - then saying that's why she is supporting Barack. Is she saying that he didn't have his own positions or now he'll just run on his? Even more specific was her mention of "President Barack signing a health care plan that covers ALL Americans" (emphasis hers). If you followed the primary at all, that was a sticking point between the two and here in her speech she was directly saying a President Barack would sign HER plan. No one wants boots licked, that's just gross. And I don't think anyone would accuse Bill Clinton of that, but he gave direct and detailed support to Barack. I'm just saying.

Oh, and I disagree on the suit color thing. Call it shallow (if we were serious) but it's not sexist. Call it a distraction from what's important (if it actually affected a substantive opinion)but it's not gender specific. Just like John McCain can't come out next week in a t-shirt.

Erick said...

I wasn't a fan of Biden's and Bill Clinton's ties (or was it just tie) either. It looked like one of them forgot a tie and they just shared one.

Clothing is important no matter the gender on such a stage as this. If McCain shows up to the RNC in a tangerine suit, I'm sure people will talk about it.

As for her speech, it wasn't all lovey-dovey, but who cares. What matters from Barack's perspective is that she came out there and talked about unity. Even if she doesn't mean it, it was important to say it. Bill did the support thing and that was probably more effective.

DVD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DVD said...

I hope you can see see this picture:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6162/suitsir4.jpg