Gathering for their convention in Philadelphia, Democrats struggled to shake lingering bitterness among supporters of defeated rival Bernie Sanders and dealt with the aftermath of a leadership shakeup at the top.
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Taking aim at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, she said Hilary Clinton, “is someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters”.
He has been a popular ex-president and his wife clearly considers him an asset to her campaign – so much so that, in addition to deploying him on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton happily indulges in speculation about what life would be like for him in a potential second tour at the White House. Some of his backers are reluctant to get behind Clinton, seeing her as a member of the Washington political elite who pays lip service to their goals of reining in Wall Street and eradicating income inequality.
Trump accused Democrats of avoiding talking about the Islamic State group “because they grew it”.
Outside the convention hall, protests turned more heated late on Tuesday. Thousands of protesters gathered near a subway station close to the convention center although a heavy police presence and barricades kept them far from convention guests. Among the protesters were Sanders supporters and Black Lives Matter activists.
At least three people clambered over perimeter fences and were arrested. Some set up a candlelight vigil, sang songs and chanted “Election fraud”, in apparent reference to leaked emails that showed the Democratic National Committee tried to undermine Sanders’ campaign.
Earlier on Tuesday, delegates from South Dakota had given Clinton 15 votes, formally ensuring that she had more than the 2,383 votes needed to win the nomination.
As Julie Hirschfeld Davis pointed out at New York Times about last night’s speech at the Democratic party convention, “the first lady’s assertion was met with derision and disbelief by some, who questioned whether it was true and said her choice to mention it amounted to an attempt to divide the country on racial lines”. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters – and all our sons and daughters – now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.
Her critics caricatured her in 2008 as angry, unpatriotic, outside the mainstream – and she told Democrats that America was “the greatest country on Earth” and deserves “a leader who is worthy of that truth”. “Most importantly how she put off making money to serve the people, the public”, said Bobbie Richardson, a state legislator and delegate from North Carolina. She’s been a huge draw at fundraisers in elections past.
The convention this week is, in part, an effort to reintroduce Clinton to American voters, more than half of whom view her unfavorably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
The Clinton campaign portrays Trump, a former reality TV star whose campaign style has been freewheeling and whose remarks have been peppered with insults, as temperamentally unfit for the White House. “Cartoons are two-dimensional, they’re easy to absorb”.
And, says Anthony, even though a male person as first spouse would be unprecedented, the fact that he’s been in the White House before could make his new role not so big a change after all.
“I am proud to be part of Bernie’s movement”, Silverman said as the crowd roared. Events would seek to contrast Clinton’s approach to national security with Trump’s “unsteady, unfit and unsafe approach”, said Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. “Smart move by the Democrats to have Pres. @billclinton play a key role in their convention”, he wrote on Twitter. She followed by saying the only person she trusts with that responsibility is Hillary Clinton, touting her experience as a mother who has raised her own daughter Chelsea “to perfection”.
With his own approval ratings near 50 percent – higher than either Clinton’s or Trump’s – Obama could be a crucial supporter for this year’s Democratic nominee, especially if he’s successful in mobilizing the young and minority voters who twice helped propel him into the White House.
Obama’s husband, President Barack Obama, for years has drawn praise for his oratorical skills.
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Still, Hillary Clinton sees her husband as an asset.
