Hillary and the Magic Speech

Last night at the DNC Hillary took the stage to deliver what could be the most important and likely the most difficult speech of her life. Several things about the event were striking as a spectator having never seen one of her appearances in person before.

After witnessing speech after speech by representative from congress, state governors, committee chairs and ordinary individuals who represent the Democratic Party, I can say that after the raucous applause died down, within the first two minutes of the speeches the din in the hall grew and grew and it was clear the crowd was absolutely not listening.

The most striking thing about Hillary was the way she was able to own that stage. She literally took up all the space in the entire Pepsi Center, with grace, style, tremendous appeal and fantastic charisma. Between uproarious applause and tear-streaked faces, you could hear a pin drop. She presented herself as the powerful image of what is possible to achieve for women in our country now, that was fundamentally not so before she began her candidacy.

What’s important to note about the speech is that she struck the perfect tone to help convince her supporters to come back into the fold. She did not try to laud Barak Obama with personal praise for the man he is. She did not fawn over him and do what would have been insincere and not plausible; to tell her supporters that she likes him and thinks he’s a great guy. I know she is receiving lots of criticism from talking heads the morning after for not doing just that. But if she had, it would have been obviously inconsistent and not believable. Giver her some credit for knowing, understanding and respecting her “sisterhood of the traveling pant-suits.”

What most needs to happen now to retrieve those disaffected, heart-broken Hillary voters is not to try to convince them that Barak Obama is the bees-knees. The real game is in helping them understand who John McCain is, and why it would be an absolute disaster for them to vote for him. That’s what she did, and did masterfully.

She reminded them that John McCain votes consistently against, and is committed to defeating every single solitary issue that is important to women; equal pay for equal work, poor children’s health-care, women’s reproductive freedoms, gay rights, economic fairness for the middle-class, support for military families and quality education for children.

For those who are left without a compass now that Hillary is out of the race, these are the issues that should guide their new direction. It does not have to be about “YES Obama.” That might be unrealistic. What it does have to be about is a resounding, “NO McCain.” That’s what will convince them that a vote for McCain will not make the “we’re angry Hillary didn’t win” statement they long for. It will, in fact, provide the republicans with the chance to demolish every single issue that Hillary has long fought for, and that she will continue to champion in the Senate.

This may be the most savvy political message of the general election that Obama would be smart to adopt. Since republicans would just love to make this campaign be about Obama and his characteristics, rather than about McCain and what he plans to do, Hillary gave the democrats a gift not to be minimized.

Hillary’s speech brought home the point that it’s not about “Yes We Can,” it’s about, “No McCain Can’t.”

- Janet Joyce