Reviews In: Hillary Grand Slam

SFGate: Politics Blog ^ | 8/26/8 | Carla Marinucci

[SmithL]

Denver -- It was powerful, it was passionate -- and from inside the hall here, it was one killer speech.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton brought the house down with her address tonight at the Democratic National Convention, where it looked to be about a 9-plus on the Richter scale.

The insiders had warned that Clinton had to deliver bigtime tonight -- for her legacy, and for her future, as well as for Obama.

Deliver she did. Republicans, of course, had their views -- that she delivered evidence that their guy, John McCain, is the only one ready to hit ground running at the White House. Here's some thoughts from critics and insiders:

*Phil Trounstine, Democratic strategist and Obama supporter: ''Sen. Clinton did everything she needed to do. She made it crystal clear to all of her supporters that it is their duty to fight on for her by supporting Barack Obama. If he becomes president, it will be in part because Hillary Clinton had the grace and strength to re-unite her party.''

*Ruth Sherman, author and communications consultant: ''I've never seen her this good, not even close. . . .

[shankbear]

Any MSM bozo would be ridden out on a rail if they said Hill sucked.

[Theodore R.]

Well, she should have spoke so passionately for herself earlier when she could have done so very easily, but she probably did not believe her own rhetoric in either event.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Yep. I thought the speech wasn’t that great an endorsement. She talked a lot about herself and her campaign, and the history of women getting the right to vote. But she didn’t talk much about Obama.

[WKL815]

100% fantastic.

Thank G-d, the Dems benched her!

[Revenge of Sith]

She could have given the same exact speech if the nominee was John Edwards.

[MNJohnnie]

Could they be any more nakedly partisan? Hillary quite possibly is the worse speaker of this generation. The notion that she can give a “powerful” speech is pure nonsense.

[NavyCanDo]

Lets hope that was her swan song and she and her husband will fade into the annals of has beens.

As far as her speech If I was one of the 3o% of the Clinton supporters who are voting McCain, there was nothing in that speech to change my mind.

[blackbart.223]

"Deliver she did."

She delivered the same old tired bullshit we have been fed for years. It is hard to tell who is the worst whore. Obama or Hillary.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Maybe she didn’t believe her own rhetoric earlier in her campaign. I never quite understood her rationale for running for president. She grew up in a middle class family in the middle of America, she wanted to renew the promise of America, take back America, provide socialized medicine, etc. And then Obama comes along with “change” so she says she’s been making change for 35 years. Her whole campaign was a joke. Her alleged qualifications and understanding of the middle class problems and all of it was all smoke and mirrors.

What really happened was that she and Bill decided shortly after the 2004 election that 2008 was her year, because there would be no incumbent president running. And since the party out of power sometimes gets an advantage after two terms of anyone’s presidency, the Clintons decided it was her time. Whether she was a good candidate or not didn’t matter, because she was “inevitable”. The hubris of Bill and Hill made her campaign crash and burn.

Given their history, it’s hard to believe anything that Bill and Hillary say at face value.

[MediaMole]

Every dem I know was pissed when Obama passed over Hillary for Biden.

DARN

[johnnycap]

I swear God looks out for this country. He (or She), sent Obama to slay Hillary...then sent Hillary to show up Obama...then sent Biden to show the measure of the man who wants to be president...then sent McCain to show what Qualified really means...I wonder whom God will send next?

[valkyry1]

She made a campaign speech for HRC, not nobama.

I dont know what if anything could derail nobama from getting the Dem nomination at this point, unless he gave it up himself.

[blackbart.223]

"Lets hope that was her swan song and she and her husband will fade into the annals of has beens."

Don't bet the farm on it. They are like heroin addicts. They can't kick the habit.

[nathanbedford]

Hillary did well.

She was more human and less shrill than previous efforts. She did herself more good than she did good for Obama.

Obama's objective was to convince Hillary supporters the they could conscientiously, even enthusiastically, transfer their support to Obama. I think Hillary delivered in the sense that her followers can now in good conscience transfer their affiliation to Obama. I do not think they will do so enthusiastically.

Hillary's objective was more nuanced. Her task was to propitiate expectations for party loyalty and to avoid criticism for being a sore head but not to generate enough enthusiasm to get Barak Obama elected. I think she probably succeeded in both of these objectives.

Despite Hillary's repeated exhortations to elect Obama. I did not get the feeling that the enthusiasm she generated was anything but transitory, without legs, and did not reach beyond the hall. In other words, television viewers, the only ones who count, will not have been moved enough to walk their precincts or even take out their billfolds.

Best case analysis for the Obama forces, Hillary might have moved sentiment a point or two but it is not a groundswell, it is not permanent, and will not have markedly improved Obama's chances.

[skinkinthegrass]

well, considering the source: SFGate.com... "the Karaoke Journalists are @ it again."

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I heard some of it on the radio and it sounded awful.

[Political Junkie Too]

Reviews In...

I wonder if, to save time, their GOP convention articles are already written.

-PJ

[Waco]

Kinda makes you want to go out and buy some cattle futures.