This year, the First Lady speeches, even at the RNC, have been non-traditional, with Melania Trump giving a boilerplate look at Donald Trump’s home life, and Clinton giving a 52-minute biography lesson created to soften Hillary Clinton’s image and provide a stark contrast to what he called the “cartoon” version of Hillary, presented at the RNC.
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Former president Bill Clinton on Tuesday urged Americans to dismiss decades of political attacks and elect the “real” Hillary Clinton this November, in a deeply personal testimonial to his wife’s character and grit.
Hillary Clinton’s nomination was a milestone in America’s 240-year-old history. “I married my best friend”.
Hillary Clinton is expecting to trot out her vanquished Democratic rival – Bernie Sanders – to campaign for her in key battleground states this fall, including in New Hampshire, a top aide to the nominee said.
Despite calls by the liberal Vermont senator for them to support the nominee, thousands of activists have taken to the streets during the convention to voice support for Sanders and his progressive agenda.
A handful of diehard Sanders delegates fumed over their candidate’s defeat, but they were drowned out by ecstatic Clinton supporters. Several wept and embraced.
Still, in the convention hall itself, the party seemed much more united behind Clinton than it had been on the first day, when Sanders supporters frequently jeered any mention of her name.
Delegates thrust placards in the air, forming a mosaic of “H’s” across the arena.
Obama is the first president since Bill Clinton to deliver a convention speech in his final year in office – George W. Bush skipped his party’s 2008 meeting – and is expected to play a large role in the campaign this fall. “And I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet”. “And if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say I may become the first woman president but one of you is next”, she said.
Bill Clinton, a Democratic icon at 69, meanwhile reminded the audience why he is still considered such a spellbinding speaker.
The possible first gentleman made a heartfelt plea to voters: “Hillary will make us stronger together”.
Clinton has made gun safety a foundation of her presidential campaign, vowing to push for expanded criminal background checks and a renewal of a ban on assault weapons.
“I felt seen and heard for the first time in my life”, said the young man, Jelanie Freeman.
At that meeting, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison and the incoming DNC committeewoman in Nevada Allison Stephens committed to help mediate a meeting between Sanders supporters and the state Democratic Party. The stories came from classmates from sixth grade, college chums, US senators, and an impressive array of New Yorkers that included a September 11 survivor and a first responder from that day.
But then came the cruel sequel; the state cast the rest of its votes, its delegation leader would say, for “the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton”.
She was a law student at the time and Bill said he proposed three times – the first time on a visit to Britain – before she finally said yes in 1975. Change is hard and can be boring, he went on.
“The real one calls you when you’re sick, when your kid’s in trouble or when there’s a death in the family”.
“I have lived a long full blessed life”.
Gilda Reed, a Sanders delegate from Metairie, La., said she was holding out until the last minute and planned to vote for Sanders: “I’m not giving up”. But despite Sanders calling on his flock to get behind Hillary, his self-styled “political revolution” appears to have transformed into a revolt.
Tace Geesaman, a Nevada delegate and single mom, walked out after Sanders’s plea feeling betrayed. “From what I know now, looking back, I’m really not a big fan”.
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“He has some places where he wants to campaign beyond what we would consider battlegrounds”, Podesta said.
