“This was about the eighth most dynamic speech of her convention”, Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity said dismissively, criticizing Clinton for offering Democratic bromides and a lack of specifics, only to draw an incredulous look from across the desk.
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Bill Clinton-and I say this as a Hillary supporter-is the likable one.
Grabbing the spotlight at a news conference in Miami, Trump urged Russian Federation to find and release tens of thousands of emails that Clinton did not hand over to US officials as part of a probe into her use of a private email system while she was secretary of state. But, once in office, Obama offered no break from Clintonism: it was Clinton 2.0, with the veneer of hope that he’d be better on race.
Obama’s robust support for Clinton, his political foe-turned-friend, is also driven by deep concern that Republican Donald Trump might win in November and unravel the president’s eight years in office. In a first-past-the-post system, where there is no silver medal for taking second place, anyone whose views are not a centrist muddle is going to have to vote for a party with which they have substantial disagreements, or resign themselves to having no voice in politics at all.
“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 told the convention in Philadelphia in a video message.
The good news for Clinton is that nearly every nominee gets at least a six-point bounce, so she should be back in the lead by next week. She relied on a more traditionally female approach to leadership: creating coalitions, finding common ground and winning over allies. “It’s great”, Bill Clinton said. “I figured her out a long time ago”. In this case, whatever the reasoning, Bill Clinton made a decision to play it safe.
GOP holdouts included many top leaders – former Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, past nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain, defeated rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
First lady Michelle Obama gave a heartfelt endorsement of the candidate who engaged her husband in a fierce struggle for the nomination in 2008. And that resume painted a picture of a high-achieving woman who doesn’t crave the spotlight.
While the political power couple irons out these particulars, Bill has a new task to complete in the meantime. In this narrative, it was other people who were constantly saying she had political potential, not Clinton herself. “I think this is symbolically important and something we should think about”, he said. “But I’m going to keep trying to convince people otherwise”. I can’t tell you how crushed and angry I was to discover the Tribune has marked this awesome moment in history with a picture of her husband! Delegates rose in an emotional standing ovation for the mother of one of the victims in last month’s Orlando nightclub shooting, who asked why “commonsense” gun policies weren’t in place when her son died. People have often made the case that people don’t like ambitious women, or – more specifically – that Clinton’s ambition makes her less likable.
Pam Gardner, 57, traveled with her daughter, Caitlyn Gardner, 19, about five hours from Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, to be part of the Sanders group attending convention-related events.
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In fact, her mere 38 percent favorability rating is the lowest it has been in 24 years, according to Zero Hedge. Those include her being investigated by the Justice Department over her use of a personal and unprotected email server to conduct business while she was Secretary of State. Overall, about half (53%) of voters in our June survey say Clinton won’t change the way things work in Washington much. He painted a picture of a person who is eminently dependable, with “an extra responsibility gene”. And whenever Obama has talked directly about Black Lives Matter, he has failed to deliver on changing police violence. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. But yesterday when she was nominated I never, ever thought I’d see the day. America is already strong. It may have therefore also helped counter the “untrustworthy” narrative that he didn’t describe her as wanting to join an institution that most voters don’t trust.
