As Bill Clinton gives the keynote speech I’m reminded that he’s one of the best orators of the current era. Against the background of years of Republic deprecation, he’s humanizing her in a wonderful way, by telling a story that gives her motivations, her accomplishments, and more importantly her self-doubts, and her successful efforts to overcome them. This understanding of how the human race, for the most part, adores a good story, the story of the underdog who fights for the good.
He makes canny mention of her working with such Republicans as DeLay and Gingrich, and the positive words they have, perhaps incautiously, spoken of her. This speaks to her ability to work with all sides to create solutions to problems, to ignore ideological problems – an implied condemnation of GOP recalcitrance over the last 8 years.
And, as her husband, he can testify to her with authenticity; but he also does it with humor that reveals both his and her foibles, that he courted a woman he found attractive, she was independent and refused to assent to his proposals and made him work for the marriage. This transforms the overall political narrative from a picture of a grasping, cold-hearted bitch who wants power for power’s sake, to the picture of a woman person motivated by the needs of those in need of help, whether it be veterans, women, or her favorite – children. The crowd is going wild as Bill now exudes, with sincerity, his observations and belief at her ability as a “changemaker”.
Now he mentions how he was sent to West Virginia, a state they knew she’d lose in primaries, to tell the coalminers that if and when she became President, she’d come to West Virginia to try to help them. This is to counter the opposition story thread of Clinton vindictiveness.
He finishes up with a laundry list of accomplishments, diverse and inspirational, if sometimes obscure and a little hurried, and then a final, perhaps slightly weak ending, an encouragement to vote for her.
Ah! An interview with an audience member makes me realize this also introduces Hillary to younger voters who don’t know the story.
Now Meryl Streep is telling the story of a woman in the Revolutionary Army who took a bullet for George Washington, and now tries link that woman (I didn’t catch the name) to a series of other famous ladies, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, to Hillary. It’s an appeal to emotion, as it does not reveal anything new personally or politically about Hillary. Just a rah-rah moment.
I didn’t get to see the other speakers tonight, but I daresay Bill was the big cannon in what may be his final major speech, and I’d say he more or less nailed it. It was aimed at the independents who may think they know about Hillary, but Bill set out to set them straight on their perceptions by giving the story – a real story, one that resonates with the classic elements of story-telling and with verifiable facts (I should think).
The RNC sought to resonate with their delegates, and to some extent they managed it – and the performance of Trump and his surrogates reflected the nature of those delegates. If you watched or read about the RNC, then you understand that it ran on a mythos unrelated to reality, or for that matter an understanding of the traditions of American politics.
The DNC, too, has tried to resonate with the delegates, and again it’s a reflection of the delegates. The boisterous booing of Sanders delegates looked bad, but the overt multiculturalism, the messages of hope, and the refusal to indulge in outright hatred of the opposition – contrast with the disgraceful calls for imprisoning and executing Hillary at the RNC – should be a message to the independents and moderate and ex-Republicans that the Democrats remember and hold sacred the best traditions of American politics.
