The New Republic

This is all true, and that would be a great ad-lib, but Mike Crowley points out that she still failed to say that Obama was READY to be president. I'm honestly not looking for things to complain about (I hadn't noticed it myself), but that was a glaring error in my view. An otherwise fantastic speech reallllly could have used that easy reassurance.

- rozenson

August 26, 2008 at 11:28pm

I agree, and am very relieved.

- psantillana

August 26, 2008 at 11:29pm

The "Twin Cities" line was an excellent touch.

- adaglas

August 26, 2008 at 11:31pm

That was far and away the best speech I've ever seen her give.  I thought she would come through in a big way, but she surpassed anything I could have expected.

- AlanSP

August 26, 2008 at 11:33pm

she finished that thought with "for that future worthy of our great country."

- a_long

August 27, 2008 at 12:05am

Most of the criticism I'm hearing relates to Clinton's perceived failure to say, in essence, "I was wrong in some of the things I said during the campaign."  This is always a bad idea in politics, not only because it would provide bait for the media to once again raise the very issues the Obama campaign has been trying to move beyond, but because it weakens the speaker's authority and makes them less persuasive.  If you were wrong about Obama, why are we listening to your endorsement of him now?

I've read the desire of a lot of Obama supporters in many posts on these very boards to see Hillary Clinton humbled and forced into public contrition or penitence for her perceived sins, but I think you have to remember that this would not have served the purpose of getting Barack Obama elected president.  The speech Clinton gave was all about uniting the party because there are hugely important reasons that we are all Democrats, all "family," to use her word.

That was her central purpose, and she handled it very shrewdly.  Asking her supporters to vote for Barack Obama because he's the second coming of Abraham Lincoln (as some here have, in essence, demanded) would have rung false in their ears; they have already decided that he's not, and that discussion is closed.  But asking them to vote for him because as Democrats we have a shared duty, a mission that goes beyond the name at the top of the ticket and speaks to our personal convictions about what is right for America -- that's a message that allows those supporters to feel the way they are already invested in feeling about Obama, but reminds them of the values that separate all Democrats from all Republicans...and, most critically, the potential consequences should they fail in their obligation to follow her example and support Barack Obama for president.

It was the right speech, well-written and well-delivered.  It stuck to her strengths: her passion for domestic policy and her willingness to throw punches at the other side.  For me at least, the "hard to tell apart" riff was a killer.  Explicitly equating McCain with George W. Bush, and deftly playing off the GOP's impending convention in the Twin Cities to underline that point, does far more damage to the McCain campaign than the words she didn't say could possibly do to Obama's.

- austinexpat

August 27, 2008 at 12:24am