The Lion in Autumn

The roll call of the states promised to be very boring. Everyone knew that Obama would be the nominee. Hillary Clinton had released her delegates. As states where Hillary had won the primary began to vote heavily for Obama, the result was clear. So why was the auditorium nearly full? Why were people in the very top section of the Pepsi Center fighting for seats? The story was out that when the roll call got to New York, Hillary herself would call for the Obama nomination to be made unanimous. Illinois had passed during the alphabetical roll call. We were listening to state after state tell us about their wonders, and their favorite Democratic politicians. We learned that Montana stretches from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains, backbone of the continental divide! We were mentally trying to figure out how many states there were alphabetically between Montana and New York. Finally we got to New Jersey. Was there a state between New Jersey and New York? But New Jersey yielded to Illinois, and Illinois yielded to New York, and the enormous presence of Hillary Clinton entered the hall. She came in from one of the entrances where the Denver Nuggets players come in. The area went entirely crazy. It was actually exciting. Why was it exciting, with people screaming, and crying? Really crying. Try to explain the dynamics of a crowd. It was “a moment.”

Then came a series of speeches from various notables. There was really no need to recount what the nominee will do. Be a good commander in chief, leap tall building with a single bound, be a good commander in chief, take care of our wounded warriors, be a good commander in chief, give health care to every American, be a good commander in chief, etc. But the speakers did so anyway.

Then the arena gradually became attentive again. There were no seats. People were seated in all of the aisles. The fire marshall must have been asleep. We were told that people with legitimate entry passes were denied entrance unless they already had a seat in the arena. Bill Clinton was due to speak, and the Democrats were getting ready for him. Bill Clinton is one of the two native born Americans over 35 years old who cannot be elected president of the United States. The other one is George W Bush. The other two living presidents, Jimmy Carter and George H W Bush, were not elected to two terms, and could, in theory, be elected again. The ovation for Bill Clinton, when he finally appeared, was incredible. It greatly exceeded the ovation Hillary Clinton had been given the night before. And he could not get them to stop. The cheering stopped and restarted several times. If only Bill could be the nominee one more time! But he can’t be. And Bill Clinton, the lion in autumn, loved every minute. And the more he loved it, the more the crown loved him back. This lion, with all of his accomplishments and flaws, was their lion. They loved him.

If this was “Casey at the Bat”, this slugger hit the very first pitch over the fence. And to deep center field. When this Clinton said that Obama was ready to be commander in chief, the assembled believed him. They hoped the rest of the country would believe him as well. And probably, aside from the diehard Clinton haters, they will.

That was a tough act to follow. It was well followed by Joe Biden, the nominee for vice president. He gave a great speech. The aisles were no longer full of sitting people. Bill Clinton has taken the air out of the auditorium.

We have been told, by the experts and by the former president, what the candidate will do when elected. Now, for me at least, I need to hear it from the candidate himself. I need to hear it from the “lion in summer.” There is another “lion in winter” who still thinks he can roar.
He will be trying next week.

—Jerry Sallo