Former President Bill Clinton’s speech last night at the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina went well over its allotted time, but no one at the convention seemed to notice. Using his effortless style of strong statistics and southern (liberal) charm, he made clear the difference between Democrats and their counterparts: all for one vs. every man for himself.
Clinton pointed out the economic differences during his presidency and Bush’s, where the economy saw huge gains during his tenure and collapsed under Bush. There are some technicalities to his claim, however, the dot com bubble famously burst in March of 2000, before Bush had taken office, and the repeal of Great Depression era banking laws arguably caused the type of risky profit seeking that created the recession of 2008.
Either way, Clinton’s speech focused attention away from critiques of Obama’s governing and onto the bigger picture. Facing stubborn unemployment, rampant discontent, and diverging political ideologies, Clinton portrayed the right as being divisive and the left as made up of everyone else. This is absolutely true. The conservatives have blocked change at every turn, preferring instead to expend all energy to try to preserve the status quo, even when it doesn’t work for everyone, instead of using our massive brain power to continue to advance our society.
When Obama joined Clinton on the stage, the crowd erupted in cheers of support. They felt a connection to the two men.
