But the display of unity didn’t come come without some of the same intra-party divisions that plagued Republicans at their convention in Cleveland last week.
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Over the course of her almost 60-minute speech, the former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, cast the election as a profound choice between Trump’s pessimism and a more forward-looking vision.
What else did she say about America and about her opponent, Donald Trump. That fear was nameless and unjustified Roosevelt went on to say. It is just as true now as it was back then.
“Americans watch this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities”. Even numerous Sanders folks seemed resigned, or, at least, not overly disappointed. The so called Islamic State is being tackled and its strongholds in Iraq and Syria under constant bombardment. You know, I was right there last night next to that stage and I’ve got to tell you it really looked like Hillary Clinton was trying to take all of this in trying to remember this moment in history.? The speech didn’t reveal much new about Clinton, who still needs to better connect with voters on a personal level.
A comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship to millions of immigrants, including Indians, is a major election promise of Clinton, 68, who is the first women presidential nominee of a major political party. Tim Kaine and their spouses, will focus on economic opportunity, diversity and national security, themes hammered home this week by an array of politicians, celebrities, gun-violence victims, law enforcement officers, and activists of all sexualities and races.
She set out to confront Donald Trump on his lack of specific policies and his unpreparedness for the presidency. “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons”.
Journalists have a tendency to measure political momentum, optimism and frustration by the size, sounds and rhetoric of crowds, but the truth is that none of these measurements reliably gauge the mood of the country. President Clinton right there but this time accepting a nomination for Hillary. “He thinks that he knows more than our military because he claimed our armed forces are ‘a disaster'”.
A question for the next several months is how many have heard her. The cadence of the evening, at least in the hall, was affected, in part, by the dissenters, small contingents of delegates, apparently Bernie Sanders supporters, who had worn neon-yellow T-shirts and sat together in sullen, highly visible blocs.
Again one can imagine Reagan shaking his head at such absurd slurs coming from a Republican candidate. Every point she made in a carefully constructed, if workmanlike, acceptance, re-emphasized something that had been laid out by speakers before her, reflecting careful coordination in putting this week together.
Trump attacked Allen, saying he “failed badly in his fight against ISIS”. (Khan’s father, Khizr, said that if Donald Trump had had his way, Humayun would never have been in America.) “We are not afraid”, Clinton said, in a section of the speech that rejected Trump and the wall he wants to build on the border. In some ways, the video about Clinton presented before her speech – including footage of her speaking in a relaxed, kitchen-table setting – was more effective than the speech itself.
The Clinton campaign believes Warren’s frame – that the economy isn’t working for everyone – is effective in threading the needle between a positive outlook and recognizing that people are pinched.
All week long there were petty slights, from turning off the lights above their California delegation when they vocally protested, to yanking a Sanders’ delegate’s credentials after she apparently refused to read a nominating script they drafted for her. “It’s just stupid as hell”. “No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance – looking for steady leadership”.
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The same Brexit voters, older and white are the base of the Trump coalition too. It is on. I don’t think it’s ever been off. 101 days until the election.
