7:34 MDT: Bill Clinton did ok. He beat the spread. But this was no home run. Hillary Clinton's speech was much more emotionally connective. Her question, "Why were you in it?" is an on-point question and the central question posed to her supporters reluctant to rally behind Obama. By comparison, I am not sure I can identify the emotional core of Bill's speech.
7:25 MDT: The money shot. (Sorry, had to.) Bill does what Hillary didn't last night, which is to explicitly address the experience question and say Obama is ready to be president. It was a good moment, but not much more than a declarative statement without what Bill typically does best in speeches, make an argument. Is the sound bite enough? "Sound familiar?" Yeah, Bill, it sounds like January through early June, 2008.
7:21 MDT: I caught a replay of Michelle Obama's speech later the same night on CNN. On the replay, allowed to appreciate the gestalt of the speech, I found it much more compelling than when I watched it in a room full of people. I wonder whether I'll appreciate it more with a little distance. It's definitely getting better, though.
7:17 MDT: Changed the time of the post so Nate's is up top. Nate is in the pocket of Big Twitter.
7:11 MDT: In the spirit of Clinton psychoanalysis. One other thought on Bill I've been thinking for awhile, now's an organic a time as any to mention it. I think Bill sees in Obama an authentic version of the best self Bill knows he had inside of him the potential to be. I think it bugs him to no end, the "I coulda been a contender" spirit. Alternatively, you could say Bill truly thinks Obama is a fraud and "a fairy tale" and feels like he and Obama - gifted, young, charismatic prodigies whose promise was to rebrand the Democratic Party. Bill did not do what Reagan did, give his ideological fellow travelers the language to go forth and win elections for a generation, the way Reagan did with "Government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem." Bill Clinton did not grow the party or leave it a lasting legacy. Obama seems like the first politician in the Democratic Party in recent memory to give the party a blueprint for how to win with an easily understandable and transferable language. Obama's seems to be "I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper." Whether Obama can accomplish this is an open question, obviously. But a real part of the enthusiasm among his supporters is a sense of that potential realignment. Bill didn't realign the political playing field during his tenure, and indeed the country lurched rightward under his tenure, and he knows it. He won twice, but still... he coulda been a contender.
A few minutes into the speech and I'm not feeling it, to be truthful. The words are there, but I don't feel it. Maybe it's my personal filter. Feels tepid. Still more to come...
6:53 MDT: With Bill Clinton coming up in a few minutes, the key is to beat the spread. In politics, it's about beating the expectations, and the spread right now is fairly low for Bill. For Hillary, most people expected a consummately professional speech, no less impressive that she delivered. For Bill, the question is, will he talk about his own legacy, or will he become Barack Obama's #1 Fan? Or somewhere in between? The more Bill speaks about Obama and the more he beats the spread, the more of a home run he can be. If Bill spends 30 minutes or however long speaking and recites his legacy, it's ironically not going to wear well with a large number of Democrats (who remember the 90s and don't need a history lesson), particularly those who feel strongly that Bill has been behaving badly this political season. If he wants to take his cleanest shot at repairing his legacy in the eyes of African-American voters (and even corn-fed white Midwestern guys like me), he'd be wise to swing for the fences in an Obama endorsement tonight. I believe he cares deeply about his image in an African-American community that genuinely loved him. What will he do? That's the big question.
6:43 MDT: Hump Night at the DNC, and we're trying something a little different tonight, with me in the Big Tent and Nate twittering from the Pepsi Center. Bear with us if there are any technical issues.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Guy I Worked For) came into the Big Tent not long ago, so that was a personal highlight. Also Maya Soetoro-Ng came in earlier and randomly planted a kiss on my cheek, which I suppose means I may be marrying into the Obama family soon. I'll run it by my girlfriend after the convention to see if that'll fly. Quinn/Schweitzer 2016, eh? Don't worry, in the interest of objectivity I will try and be kissed by a member of John McCain's family in St. Paul next week.
Evan Bayh is speaking, the sound died in the Big Tent, and nobody seems to have noticed. With the sound off, I am more persuaded by the speech.
8.27.2008
Wednesday Night Liveblog #1: Bill
@ 8:30 PM
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40 comments
Isn't that being a bit presumptuous? Shouldn't it be Schweitzer/Quinn in 2016. I mean, I know that your stature is rising, but the governor helped his national stock quite a bit last night. Way to aim high though!
Waiting for Bill to give a real barnburner...
Hoping he is getting FIRED UP & READY TO GO !
Schweitzer really boosted his stock. Why wasn't that the keynote? Far better than Warner's speech.
Even after what we've already witnessed tonight, CNN is still at it with relentless concern trolling, in particular, Wolf Blitzer, John King, and the unbelievably insufferable David Gergen. They just won't give it a rest. They also deliberately snub non-primetime speakers. Evan Bayh was on the VP shortlist for fuck's sake. I'd also like to have heard Patrick Murphy & Veterans. CNN and FOX have been a disgrace all week.
TIME POLL (pre-convention):
Colorado: McCain 47 - 46
Nevada: Obama 49 - 44
New Mexico: Obama 53-40
Pennsylvania: Obama 48-43
BTW, Brian Schweitzer was an absolute joy as a guest earlier on. His command of the CNN interactive electoral map was mesterful.
Like Hillary last night, I think Bill fully knows the expectations and the need to exceed them at least a bit, and so he'll do it.
To underline my point of CNN's biased agenda, even the usually sullen James Carville's got a huge buzz about him.
@PorridgeGun if you want to hear the speeches put on CSPAN.
I like the use of "Don't Stop" to introduce Bill. Now, on to the speech.
"We love you Bill! Don't f*** us over!"
- Every Democrat in that hall
"Everything in my experience as eight years as president has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job!"
There it is, for everyone who doubted, the ringing Clinton endorsement.
Only a few minutes in, he's already delivered the knock-out.
Bill is looking old. He's still ridiculously talented, but being president really takes a lot out of someone, I guess. That said, the guy can just flat out give a speech. Apparently he heard the critiques of Hillary's speech about not crossing the commander-in-chief threshold, because he flatly stated that Obama was ready to be president.
I think the speech is great, though he's not one to talk about the well-connected getting personal favors.
"Yes he can, but first we need to elect him."
Oh, and McCain loves his country, he just happens to believe in a failed extreme philosophy.
Love. It.
OBAMA/BIDEN 08!!
"They want us to reward them for the last eight years with four more years.
Thanks... But no thanks."
That was a good line, I forgot that Bill could be a little sarcastic sometimes.
No hedging, no beating around the bush, no ambiguous language -- that was another awesome speech. The Clintons are two for two. The Obamas are one for one. The last guy at bat isn't a bad speaker.
I feel pretty good about how this convention is progressing.
It's enough for Bill to declare that Obama is ready and capable to lead the country. He needn't make the argument, that's for Obama to do.
Sedi Said:
No hedging, no beating around the bush, no ambiguous language -- that was another awesome speech. The Clintons are two for two. The Obamas are one for one. The last guy at bat isn't a bad speaker.
I feel pretty good about how this convention is progressing.
Really? I'm pretty new here so I'm trying not to be partisan but I feel like Michelle did what she needed to do but it didn't really matter. She's the wife, she did her job, "held serve" if you will. Clinton last night disappointed. She endorsed but didn't embrace Obama. Didn't attack McCain. I do think tonight that Bill hit it out of the park and made the first real speech of this convention. As a republican I had been fearing something like this and tonight it finally came. Lets see how Biden and Obama do. Can't wait until next week!
-Republican and McCain supporter
anyone else notice him getting a bit pissed off at the start when the clapping went on slightly too long?
Overall pretty good I thought. He dwelt slightly too long on McCains being a "good man, pow" etc. And most of the attacks were generic against Republicans rather than specific against McCain. But he did tie McCain into quite a bit of it.
Still, he gave a strong endorsement of Obama and whether he thought Obama could be President and what he thought Obama could bring to the Presidency. And a big attack on why the Reps shouldn't stay in. I especially liked the hit on their philosophy.
Overall...8/10. Did the job, and exceeded expectations I thought.
A good speech, surprisingly low-key. I thought he specifically aimed at the "Bubba"-demographics who might fall for the muslim/radical/empty suit smears.
Just as Hillary´s speech was aimed towards older women, Bill called the white male working class people to support Obama - they know their audience! And they did a BIG job.
There wasn´t much oratory but he showed his gift for great one-liners. I feared the speech might be longer. Maybe the Clintons are leaving their old selves behind and are heading towards an elder-statesman-role.
I thought he about met expectations. It was fine, but not as good as Hillary's grand slam last night.
Actually, damn. John Kerry is giving a pretty good speech. He is tearing into John McCain. Very good rhetoric about Senator McCain vs. Candidate McCain.
"Talk about being for it before you were against it"
"Before John McCain debates Barack Obama, he needs to finish the debate with himself."
I bet the damn networks aren't carrying this speech, either.
watching this online btw. msnbc showing the speeches, washingtonpost constantly talking heads.
Kerry's doing quite a good attack speech now.
Tito,
The networks aren't covering it. All they have is John King talking about something he doesn't know about. Or something.
And Kerry is doing great, too bad no one will see it.
great touch with the great uncle, given the grief Obama got for saying Auschwitz
topshelf1205,
Well, I guess I've seen it quite differently. Michelle didn't really need to accomplish a lot, I'll agree, but it is a great and heartfelt speech from someone who is not a professional politician. Bill's speech was excellent, as he went beyond what Hillary said and almost vouched for Obama's competency.
Hillary had a much more difficult task. She had to make her supporters feel good, reflect on her candidacy, attack McCain and tell her supporters to reject him, and to throw her support behind Obama, all while not being so effusive as to seem phony. That is an incredibly fine line to have to walk, and I think her speech was absolutely brilliant. Better than Bill's, even. She DID attack McCain, though that was not her primary mission with the speech. McCain will be attacked repeatedly in other speeches in the convention and in the coming months. This was the only shot at Hillary trying to bring her supporters around to Obama. I don't think that she could have done much more. It was by far the best speech I have ever seen her give.
His great uncle was very sentimental for me. Reminded me of my grandfather.
Excellent speech by Kerry. I'd say as good as Bill's, easily. Damn the networks for not covering it.
I'm not in the hall, so it was a very different speech for me. On the teevee, it did what I thought nothing ever could: reminded me why I loved Bill, why he was "my first Obama." From my living room, it was an unequivocal endorsement and a total win for Obama.
I also agree with Alex S., this was primarily a speech for the "Bubba crowd." The first time I saw Clinton speak in person was in KY in '92 - and this really did remind me of that speech; same type of reasoned, point-by-point dismantling of a failed ideology. And he did a good job of credibly passing the torch to Obama. In many ways, I believed this endorsement more than I have a lot of his recent speeches on behalf of Hillary. He had less to gain from it personally (since he's obviously not getting back in to the White House himself this way), and so it read as a genuine appeal for the good of the party and the country.
Kerry has learned his lesson from 2004 - you just can´t stand "above" the attacks. Not in the current state of the country. And he was a case of a politican who excels in the background but just wasn´t made for the spotlight and only got thrown into it by chance (the best in a mediocre field, maybe Hillary should have run back then).
I thought Kerry started slow - not great delivery - but warmed up once he started ripping into McCain.
I would give it a 9/10. Better than Clinton (Bill), slightly behind Clinton (Hillary) & Schweitzer both at 9.5.
The others I've caught have all been poor bar Kennedy.
oops, apart from Obama (Michelle) who was also a 9.
MSNBC worse than Fox?? The first place for politics is really just the first place for mindless talk . . . as cnn/ pbs, etc actually cover the convention they are outside in a circle jerk of self praise and asinine commentary. . .good thing they were there to tell me what to think b/c I thought Bill was endorsing McCain until they told me all his references to Obama meant he really was a lifelong democrat . . . insane! I think fox may have actually covered more speeches than MSNBC, too bad I'm too scared to watch (NOT).
Never mind. . .Hannity just went nuclear on STUPID.
in the interest of objectivity I will try and be kissed by a member of John McCain's family
I recommend Megan McCain. (sp?)
Obama's seems to be "I am my brother's keeper..."
Ouch, poor choice of words. Where is Obama's brother these days, anyway?
Yuck. Megan McCain looks like a bleached-hair, younger version of her dad.
Also, nothing's wrong with Obama's half-brother-- he's just a Kenyan businessman who didn't meet his brother until they were both adults.
Any doubt about Willie is put to rest. Any doubts about Krusty are not.
I thought Bill Clinton's speech was great. As befits a former president, he laid out in detail how the Republicans have messed things up after he left office, and asserted that Obama will remedy these things and return America to the prosperity and respect it had under his presidency. And I loved the way he used his trademarked line about "A place called Hope." I do admit it's possible that my reaction to President Clinton's speech could have something to do with my being an academic/intellectual type, but I thought his endorsement of Obama was stronger and more conclusive than Hillary's - though I thought her speech was great, too.
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