Written by Raoul Davis

There has been much criticism of the Clinton’s over the last 16 years.  Perhaps they have been the two most criticized people in America over the past two decades.  They lost their standing with the African-American community over the last 6 months of the primary campaign and Bill Clinton had begun to be seen as a bitter and irrelevant figure by much of the country.  He looked fatigued on the campaign trail and has been reported to be infuriated about his wife’s loss, while Hillary seems to have taken it better.

This week one Clinton took herself to a whole new standing in American history and the other reminded us all of why he had over 53% opinion ratings throughout his presidency despite scandals and an impeachment trial. 

What Hillary Clinton did with her speech on Tuesday was marvel the world.  Republicans and Democrats both have given her unprecedented praise and more importantly she has carved her place out in history as one of the most key women leaders.  Beyond that, her message was unifying it wasn’t for women, it was for the country and it was an excellent and practical way to hand her supporters off to Barack Obama.  Clinton said “did you do this for me or did  you do this for the issues?.”  Some criticized her for not being more specific in how she spoke about Barack Obama and that her speech was self-serving.  I have to disagree, the speech was for her supporters in many ways and she said what they needed to hear to turn their support towards Barack Obama.  This speech was an A+ and if Hillary had performed at this level through the primary, the election would have been even closer.

When I saw Bill Clinton speak last night I had chills, he looked as youthful and optimistic as he did during his finest moments in the presidency and his two campaigns for president.  This wasn’t the fragile pessimist we often saw campaigning the past 12 months.  What Bill Clinton did for Barack Obama was frame a specific and strong argument  for his candidacy.  It is the strongest argument to date.  Clinton was bold in speaking about how Obama’s background makes him uniquely qualified to lead a diverse America in the 21st century.  He spoke about his readiness to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.  That he would make a great commander-in-chief and his ability to restore the image of America. 

I most took note when Clinton brought up how when he ran for President the Republican’s tried to say he was too inexperienced.  Bill Clinton wasn’t generic, he was specific in the case he made.  Clinton did the Obama team a favor last night by not following what was reported as their instructions of leaving his comments to about 10 minutes.  In fact, Clinton could have easily went on another 10 minutes and riled up the crowd even more.  This was Clinton’s finest moment since leaving office.    

This sets the stage nicely for Obama to deliver the speech of his life Thursday evening.  VP nominee Biden did a good job closing out Wednesday night.  Now all eyes are on Obama and if he delivers he will get a very large bounce out of Denver and give the Republicans fits. 

If you have any question or comments please e-mail slloyd @columbusblack.com.