10:45pm – Wow. That was one hell of a video introduction, & one hell of a reception, Clinton just got. & She wasted no time at all expressing her support for Obama.
No way, Nohow, No McCain.
10:53PM – She’s in fine form, coming off as both confident but humble. *sigh* Wish we’d seen more of that during the campaign. & Why oh why didn’t she ever give that talk about gender she should have given? Atlantic Monthly reported that she considered it, but never made up her mind to do it. She should have. We needed that talk as much as we needed Obama’s on race.
11:03PM – Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her give this good a speech. With a shout out to Seneca Falls: “My mother was born before women were given the right to vote. My daughter got to vote for her mother for President. This is the story of America.” Nice. & Then rousing Harriet Tubman’s “Keep going.”
Godspeed, Hillary Clinton. Well fucking done.
Yes! Hil rocked the hiz! Seriously, if this convention hasn’t shown what women have to offer, nothin’ has.
So many good lines. My Favorite: “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”
I’ll even let her lil Twin Cities line slide (I’m from the Twin Cities)
Word. She rocked it…
Great political speech for a convention in front of the “true believers”.
Lets see what the polls say later in the week. Frankly, as Mayor Dailey just said, conventions are now only big advertisements for candidates. Most voters are not “true believers”. The real voters were out sucking beer in their bowling leagues last night. So they probably did not see the speech.
So, Catrina, are you saying that people who watch conventions don’t vote, or are you saying they aren’t real?
Leah B… of course not. However there is a difference between people who take politics very seriously, or are political junkies and those voters that don’t watch politics very closely.
Perhaps I should have used a more accurate word to describe those voters that “don’t” watch and they are myriad. They find politics boring. Maybe “typical” voter might have been better. They are overwhelmingly more numerous than those that closely follow political issues. As a caveat, that also doesn’t mean that the typical voter does not have opinions. It does mean they prefer to “go bowling” than watch Hillary’s speech.
These comments are just observing a political pragmatism by realizing that vast Americans are not as engaged in these debates – issues as those that find them intriguing. Needless to say, those that watch conventions or go to them are strongly political.
Political advocates, like those of us, including myself, that intensely watch politics, read politics, etc. are not a large enough group to swing polling numbers. Thats my point.
Those of us involved in politics are the MOST influential of the populace. We donate and volunteer. We get in comverstations, inform people, and maybe even change minds. We organize and pressure candidates. We’re not easily placatedeither. True, we’re not likely to switch positions — our convictions are strong, but enthusiasm can make the difference between simply voting and going all out.
Hi Leah B……
Absolutely right, agree fully. Influence is important. But each activist only has one vote in each election…. well maybe not here in the “wunnerful city of Chicagah”. 🙂
As agreed advocates and political junkies do make a difference. With that said though, most political activists usually preach to the choir. Most of us live within cocoons of a social life that generally reaffirm our political perceptions. So when we discuss issues, there is usually consensus. Democrats go to Democratic dinner parties. Republicans go to Republican dinner parties where most of the people are of one political perception or another. People live in distinct cultural worlds. There is not really much mix sociologically, culturally, class wise, race or by sexual orientation. (Of course there are exceptions)
The strategists know this. As an example, if it was up to the feminist community or the LGBT community, Barack would probably get 90% of the vote. However, when elections results come in and candidates that some communities assume to be the “obvious candidate” doesn’t win. most everyone in that community will say, “I don’t understand that. I don’t know anybody that voted for …. fill in the blank.” This happens both left and right.
There is a mass of people that do vote but aren’t activists, or in the case of Barack, don’t belong or participate in politically engaged progressive communities. Those are the people that determine the polls. Talking to them might help change 1 vote out of 10,000. They will vote what they think.