Having grown up in a Republican family, I was never a huge fan of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Having since become a Democrat, I had come to like them quite a bit more. I’ve been an Obama supporter from the beginning but didn’t have anything against Hillary Clinton as president. However, by the end of the primary season, I was fed up with both Clintons. It seemed they were willing to tear the Democratic Party apart in an effort to get Hillary elected, even after the delegate math made it virtually impossible (not impossible in the most literal sense but rather something of an absurdity).
That said, I was impressed with Hillary Clinton’s speech last night. As I tweeted before hearing any of the pundits’ analysis, Hillary gave the speech that Obama needed her to give. However, I was probably even more impressed with Bill’s speech tonight. While he didn’t really stick to his assigned topic, national security/foreign policy, he wove together concerns about the economy and foreign policy into a speech that recognized both the things about Obama that make him particularly suited to be President and the more general policy positions that he holds that will be good for Americans.
Perhaps most impressive was the way in which he characterized John McCain. The Democratic strategy has been to try to tie McCain to George W. Bush by saying that his policies will lead to a “third Bush term.” The idea of course being that Bush is so unpopular that if McCain is seen as just like Bush, then Americans won’t elect him. However, this is a difficult claim to make because of McCain is known for his tendency to break from his party. (I believe this was once but is no longer true of McCain, but that’s another discussion.)
In contrast, Bill Clinton simply recognized McCain’s status as a maverick; he embraced it. But what he did next was genius. He essentially said that yes, McCain is a maverick and does break with the Republican Party but that on the two most important issues of this election, restoring America’s leadership in the world and the American economy, he is just like every other Republican. Put in the context of Clinton’s speech, which was about these two issues, he made a very persuasive argument.
In short, I was impressed with both Bill Clinton’s policy discussion and his critique of John McCain. Combined with his strong statements of support for Barack Obama, this was exactly the speech that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party needed.
Watch an excerpt, hopefully the rest to come soon:
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