Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “Let me ask you, if you have read the US Constitution?” A new Trump ad says the billionaire businessman offers “change that makes America great again” – while Clinton-Kaine say he’s offering “empty promises”.
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In typical Hillary fashion, Clinton hammered the issues, building a case not just against Donald Trump, but for a better America.
Making a bold play for the political center ground in an election year that has seen the hard right and the hard left become louder and more shrill, Clinton vowed to “be a president for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents”.
Along the way, the Clinton campaign is loudly accusing Trump and running mate Mike Pence of offering a gloom-and-doom vision, what Clinton on Thursday dubbed “midnight in America”.
He endorsed 68-year-old Clinton, who had served as the secretary of state under his presidency, for having a first-hand knowledge of the challenges that come with the job and contrasted it with the lack of experience of the Republican nominee. According to the tech company, online conversation during the last night of the Democratic National Convention was 22 percent less negative and 44 percent more positive than it was a week earlier when Trump spoke. Look for Clinton, whose speeches are laced with policy details, to give liberals a concrete list of policies to rally around.
Selling that message will depend on whether Ms Clinton can reach voters walled off by longstanding distrust.
Polls find that most Americans question Clinton’s honesty.
“No one has worse judgment that Hillary Clinton – corruption and devastation follows her wherever she goes” and “Hillary’s wars in the Middle East have unleashed destruction, terrorism and ISIS across the world”. But critics who are hoping she speaks about Benghazi and her private email server will likely be disappointed; there is little upside for Clinton to dwell on her biggest weaknesses with voters at a moment like this. But criticism of a man less popular even than she is not Clinton’s chief need for the next three and a half months. Her speech last night-as much of it as we heard-was a blend of boring, generic content and mediocre-to-poor delivery. “It was a journey through Donald Trump’s mind, and that’s a very frightening place”. Several male Fox pundits and New York Times columnist David Brooks commented on the Democratic presidential nominee’s “annoying vocal inflection” and “combative manner”. Chelsea’s soft focus apparently reflected the Clinton campaign’s conviction that, after decades in public life, Hillary still needs to be “humanized”. Her speech on Thursday is a ideal opportunity to explain why they should vote for her.
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Ahead of the Clinton speeches, the conference saw a series of speeches from ordinary supporters, with Democrats – many of whom supported rival candidate Bernie Sanders – urged to set aside differences. “And this country, if they choose her, this country will not be in good shape”.
