Ramesh Ponnuru thinks: "Obamaphiles can't reasonably complain about Clinton's speech." Wanna bet?
I'll amend this if I'm mistaken but on first read of Hillary's speech text I see no clear, flat assertion that Obama is qualified and prepared to be commander in chief from day one, which of course was always her central critique of him. That was something I had expected to see.
I agree with the rapidly-emerging conventional wisdom that she did everything he could possibly want, and I think Hillary's delivery is miles ahead of where she was when she began this race. She ate her Wheaties this morning.
I'd say that Sen. Clinton has had the best performance so far, by a wide margin, both in terms of attacking John McCain and the Republicans head-on and defining a nauseatingly comprehensive set of plans for raising taxes, getting mad at companies for "shipping job overseas," and pushing universal health care (or more accurately, even more expensive and less effective health care).
Most of this speech could have been given a year ago. It has nods to Obama, but it's almost entirely about her. It's not an attack on McCain, it's not a case for electing Obama, it's just nostalgia and platitudes.
Clinton did little to sell Obama's personal characteristics, his qualities or ability as commander in chief. She mentioned Obama 12 times, McCain 12 times. But Clinton's speech probably did what it had to, closing out ambiguity and putting Obama in a position to close the deal on Thursday.
After watching Hillary tonight I imagine the William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Reverend Michael Pfleger, Reverend James Meeks and Samantha Powers (ousted Obama advisor) wish they had backed her. This woman does not throw people under the bus. She is a person of integrity and sticks to her word. She sticks with people who, by their conduct, deserve to be abandoned. But she finds in herself the grace to forgive and look pass the sin. She promised to support the nominee, no ifs, ands, or buts. And she delivered. She gave Barack Obama everything he could want and much more than he deserves.
Maybe it's unfair to expect this of Hillary specifically, but what I want at some point during the convention is the equivalent of what Zell Miller did in 2004 with his keynote: vicious, personal attacks against John McCain. The kind of attacks that Obama can't do because of his image, and Biden can't do because of his friendship with the Macker.
It wasn't a speech about Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton, or even George W. Bush. It was a speech about being a Democrat, and what electing a Democrat will mean for the country. Tonight, she was the party's standard bearer. And she, and those of her supporters who aren't using her candidacy as a means to elect John McCain, deserved that.
...this was an immensely powerful delivery, and a richly woven together speech. The beginning seemed fine but not remarkable. But it slowly built into something very powerful.
(Photo: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty.)