Obama drew a direct line between her husband, the first black president, and Clinton, who would be the first woman to hold that position. “And I am here today because in this election, there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who is truly qualified to be president of the United States and that is our friend, Hillary Clinton”.
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The opening day of the four-day convention in Philadelphia was dominated by boos and jeers from disgruntled Sanders supporters nearly every time Clinton’s name was mentioned.
But Sanders’ self-styled “political revolution” appeared to have transformed into a revolt. “Bernie!” continued inside the convention hall throughout the evening, Sanders protesters outside tried to breach security barriers, leading to 54 people being briefly detained and fined $50 each.
“Clinton can’t beat Trump. Period”, said MI delegate Melissa Arab, a Sanders supporter. “If she’s nominated, people are going to end up with somebody bad for president”.
When Clinton didn’t win the nomination in 2008, “She didn’t get angry, or disillusioned”. All of that work, energy and money, and nothing to show for it!
“I think it’s fair to say Michelle Obama has been the darling of the fashion set”.
“Because of Hillary Clinton my daughters can now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States”, she said, her voice breaking with emotion.
“During our time in the White House, we’ve had the joy of watching them grow from bubbly little girls into poised young women”, Obama said.
Delivering a mother’s impassioned call to action, Obama offered Clinton to the nation as a woman with a heart and as a future president who never “buckles under pressure” or takes the easy way out. Clinton, she said again and again, will do right by our families. “No, our motto is when they go low, we go high”. The focus needed to be primarily on Michelle Obama’s words.
The first lady portrayed the seriousness of the repercussions of the election: Electing someone who understands the world is more complicated than “140 characters”. “Hillary did not pack up and go home”, Obama told the crowd.
“This election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives”, she said.
But the party is reeling from leaked Democratic National Committee emails which show nominally neutral party staff trying to undermine Sanders’ campaign and questioning his Jewish faith.
All that was the prelude to the prime-time program, and it was in those nighttime hours that Clinton’s team sought to begin to wipe away the bitterness of a year of conflict and competition with Sanders, and a weekend of embarrassment and hard feelings over the contents of the leaked emails, with a program that included four stars of the Democratic Party.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the “cyber intrusion”, which the Clinton campaign blamed on Russian hackers bent on helping Trump. Wasserman Schultz’s position as party chair became untenable at a convention already divided between the Clinton and Sanders forces.
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If you’re tuning in to the Democratic convention this week, expect to hear plenty about early and higher education, as well as pairing health services with academics, looking beyond just test scores in judging school performance, hooking schools up with the latest technology, upping federal resources for things like extended day and after-school programs, and supporting teachers professionally. “And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life”.
