But a “White House Letter” from Julie Hirschfeld Davis was more congenial to Democratic feelings: “Obama: A Character Witness and a Prominent Clinton Convert”.
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Obama told delegates and a national television audience that when she thinks of “the kind of president that I want for my girls and all children”, it’s someone who takes the job seriously – “someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and can not be boiled down to 140 characters”.
Even while absent from the action, she ended up at the center of the news last week when Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention turned out to have borrowed from her 2008 DNC speech, and the Trump campaign was forced to acknowledge that Melania is an admirer of Michelle’s.
“Right now, when we’re hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is so important to remember that our diversity has been – and will always be – our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States”, Mrs. Obama said at a Nowruz celebration at the White House in April.
But most of the first lady’s comments were reserved, directly and obliquely, for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“In this election, and every election, it is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives”, Obama said.
“Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and our daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States”, she said.
It was put to Ms Clinton in the interview, that if she won the election, there would be two presidents in the White House. It came at a crucial moment for Clinton’s campaign, on the heels of leaked emails suggesting the party had favored the former secretary of state through the primaries despite a vow of neutrality. “We don’t build up walls to keep people out”, she said during a commencement address at City College of NY this June.
Behind the scenes, Sanders and Clinton aides joined forces to try to ease tensions.
When Hillary Clinton was trailing in delegates to Barack Obama in 2008, she called her old friend Emanuel Cleaver. “The question is how much time she can and will devote to any campaign”.
But in the hothouse of American politics, where unhinged opponents spit bile (“Lock her up!” they chanted at the Republican Convention) and prosecute you as the anti-Christ, intellect and experience barely count.
Sanders spoke just after Massachusetts. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a favorite of liberals who has emerged as one of the Democrats’ toughest critics of Trump. While she has often avoided overt politics during her almost eight years in the White House, her frustration with Trump’s rise was evident.
“I trust Hillary to lead this country because I’ve seen her lifelong devotion to our nation’s children”, she concluded.
Her opening-night slot reflects more than just her steady popularity: Organizers also appreciate her unerring knack for making headlines – and capturing the attention of people who don’t otherwise follow the news cycle closely.
Clinton’s campaign hoped the nighttime line-up would overshadow a tumultuous start to the four-day convention. But now, the legacy of President Barack Obama’s administration rides on her victory.
Democrats have high expectations for what she will bring to this political moment, particularly after Clinton’s choice of mild-mannered Sen. “Crazy Bernie’s going insane right now”, he said.
That was a clear reference to Trump, the tireless tweeter.
Many of Sanders’ supporters weren’t appeased and jeered as speakers lauded Clinton.
“I am proud to be part of Bernie’s movement”, Silverman said as the crowd roared.
For Hillary Clinton, it will be harder.
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Clinton told the Democratic congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, that she knew he’d been taking heat from the black community over his decision to endorse her over then-Sen.
