Mitch Perry
PHILADELPHIA- It wasn’t as strong a speech as others gave at the Democratic National Convention, but, to paraphrase an infamous line said to her in 2008, it was good enough.
Hillary Clinton gave an hour-long speech at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night, trying to make the case to the public that while she may not be perfect, she ain’t Donald Trump.
It was very much an appeal to independents and even to Republicans, estranged from the party for their selection of Trump, as unconventional a politician in modern history.
Clinton began the speech, which followed a short film biography narrated by Morgan Freeman and an introduction by daughter Chelsea, at exactly 10:30 p.m. Eastern time, by thanking a number of people, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who took Clinton to the very end of primary season.
“Bernie, your campaign inspired millions of Americans, particularly the young people who threw their hearts and souls into our primary,” she said. “You’ve put economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong.”
She then spoke directly to his supporters in the hall and around the nation.
“I want you to know, I’ve heard you. Your cause is our cause. Our country needs your ideas, energy, and passion. That’s the only way we can turn our progressive platform into real change for America. We wrote it together — now let’s go out there and make it happen together.”
And while polls show a majority of Sanders supporters will get behind Clinton in November, very few of them appeared to be in Philadelphia this week — either inside the Wells Fargo Center — or out on the streets. And they made their displeasure about Clinton known somewhat stunningly throughout the speech, which is why the crowd erupted at least 10 times to “Hill-ar-ee, Hill-ar-ee” as a way to drown out the dissenters.
Though the chants of her name were meant affirmatively, Clinton didn’t build that many natural pauses in her speech, and on a couple of occasions clearly disrupted her rhythm. It was somewhat shocking that Sanders fans couldn’t let it go for the biggest moment of her political career, but it exemplified the contempt of many Bernie enthusiasts this week in Philly.
All week long at the DNC, Democrats painted the Cleveland Republicans as the party of doom and gloom, in a flip of the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan ran against Walter Mondale. Clinton admitted that not everything is so great right now, saying, “There’s too much inequality. Too little social mobility. Too much paralysis in Washington. Too many threats at home and abroad.”
Just 24 percent of likely U.S. voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released earlier this week.
She also blasted Trump, though less so than in her speech in Tampa last Friday, the after the Republican convention ended.
“So don’t let anyone tell you that our country is weak. We’re not. Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes. We do. And most of all, don’t believe anyone who says: ‘I alone can fix it.’ Those were actually Donald Trump’s words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm bells for all of us. Really? I alone can fix it? Isn’t he forgetting? Troops on the front lines. Police officers and firefighters who run toward danger. Doctors and nurses who care for us. Teachers who change lives. Entrepreneurs who see possibilities in every problem. Mothers who lost children to violence and are building a movement to keep other kids safe.
“He’s forgetting every last one of us. Americans don’t say: ‘I alone can fix it.’ We say: ‘We’ll fix it together,’ which received a huge cheer.
Clinton’s trust numbers are horrible, and the speech won’t correct that with independents. She’s also been on the national scene for 25 years, which means she’s not the fresh new thing like Trump is.
But she may be good enough for the times. Obviously it would be a different dynamic if Clinton was facing a traditional Republican (i.e. anybody but Trump), but that’s not the election we are now facing over the next couple of months.
