Hillary was the headline speaker at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. Her speech was multi-faceted, but centered on a general theme: Democrats must come together in unity and elect Barack Obama. She spoke specifically about her own campaign and the memories she has from that time. As she was listing the people she met during her campaign and the issues they faced, I wondered how she was going to link back to supporting Obama considering she opposed him during that time. But, she did so beautifully. After listing many reasons why she ran for President, she said, “Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.” Hillary also spoke directly about why McCain is not the man her supporters should support. She took the Obama approach of linking him with Bush and showing that he is out of touch with the plights of the common man. She supported these claims by giving specific examples of McCain’s stances on important issues. “John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.” She rounded out her speech by recalling the suffragette movement (it’s the anniversary this week and has been a common theme of this convention) and the mantra of Harriet Tubman, urging citizens to remember the past and make sure that “…the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.” Check out a full-text version of her speech here. Or, see the video here.
What do you think? Did Hillary’s speech do much to further Obama’s campaign?