Reelection in this economy will be a tall order for the president. Too-weak job growth, however understandable, will throw cold water on the better nature of many voters. And sadly, racism stoked by the Right in ways both subtle and not will have other voters succumb to their ignoble natures as well.
Still, Democrats have to feel pretty good coming out of the DNC. Every night killed with the base. Every night seems to have played well to the center. Every night was tightly messaged in such a way that both citizens and the media can both digest and convey it. The proof will be in the pudding, however, as polling tells us whether the president -- and perhaps Democrats as a whole -- will receive a significant bump and whether any such bump will be lasting. Governor Romney received a blip of only a single point, something almost unheard of after a national convention, although his favorability did creep up a bit. The Republican convention was seen in political circles on both the Right and the Left as a complete failure. There is little chance that the DNC will prove such, but there are still sixty days until the election and the president faces the twin headwinds of the economy and unlimited money on the Right.
Vice President Biden gave a good, solid speech again attempting to connect the president to voters in a personal way, following in the steps of Mrs. Obama two night prior. His focus was different from the First Lady, but his goal was the same.
Senator John Kerry gave the speech of his career, focusing on the myriad foreign policy triumphs of the administration and highlighting how weak the Republicans are on what used to be their cornerstone. This election may be about domestic issues, but any reasonable person who gives thought to American standing abroad can only count the president as a blessing. (And where was this Kerry in 2004? Would that he had spoken this way then!)
The word on the street is that former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm gave what may have been the speech of the evening. I wasn't able to see it live, but will post it here to watch later today.
Finally, two fun bits surrounding the speech of President Clinton. The first is how very much Clinton departed from his written text, something that mast have given his teleprompter jockey fits! (Thanks to my sister for pointing me to this wonderful illustration on The Atlantic Wire. Amazing!) The second revolves around a meeting between Sandra Fluke and the president just before he was about to take the stage. Cute. (What wasn't so cute -- at all -- was Ann Coulter's new comments about Fluke. Fluke's speech and Coulter's vitriol tell you all you need to know about this young woman and her attackers.)
I will also post a bit of humor, giving Jon Stewart the last word on the convention... or at least on Clinton's speech.
President Barack Obama
Vice President Joe Biden
John Kerry
Jennifer Granholm
Jon Stewart
7 September 2012
Addition: I will throw out two more additions to watch, folks who acquitted themselves well.
Scarlett Johansson
Gabrielle Giffords
And it was a stroke of genious to feature The Boss in relation to the president and the convention as a whole.
We take care of our own indeed!
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