The lovely Missus and I watched almost all of the convention coverage this week, as we did with the republican one last week. Of course I have some thoughts, now that it’s over.
First off, if elections were won or lost solely on who can run a better convention, the Dems would own the White House permanently. Their optimistic and patriotic tone was in stark contrast to the doom and gloom we saw from the republicans. Some of that is to be expected from the party on the outside but even so, it can’t all be about fear. In addition to the tone, the Dems just know how to run a smoother convention. They had everything timed down to the minute. Also in the Dem’s favor was the quality of speakers they trotted out in comparison to the republicans. Every big star in the party came out and gave one barn burning speech after another. It doesn’t hurt to trot out big name celebrities as well. Poor Scott Baio.
In the video clip of Jon Stewart that I posted the other day, I highlighted a line that really jumped off of the page at me. He said to the republicans, “You don’t own patriotism”. I’m not sure I had ever heard anyone say that before. The republicans have tried to co-opt patriotism and make it their own for many years and were very successful in doing so. I think that what happened last night was the Dems took back their share of it. Never in my lifetime have I seen the display of patriotism we saw last night at a Democratic function. It was great to see.
Hillary gave a fantastic speech, filled with optimism while at the same time attacking Trump without mercy. She bloodied his nose pretty badly when she said this:
“A man you can bait with a tweet,” Clinton said, “is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
She then went for the jugular with this:
So just ask yourself: Do you really think Donald Trump have the temperament to be Commander-in-Chief?
Donald Trump can’t even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign.
He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. When he’s gotten a tough question from a reporter. When he’s challenged in a debate. When he sees a protestor at a rally.
Imagine, if you dare, imagine — imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
I can’t put it any better than Jackie Kennedy did after the Cuban Missile Crisis. She said that what worried President Kennedy during that very dangerous time was that a war might be started – not by big men with self-control and restraint, but by little men – the ones moved by fear and pride.
And some people are worried that she’s not tough enough? Puh-leaze.
Regardless of your political leanings, let’s not just blow by the historical significance of last night. We reached an important milestone in our country which should be acknowledged by all. For most women over 40, it was an incredibly special night. The presidency is the last glass ceiling. One thing that has surprised me from the start though is that younger women don’t seem to care as much. Will this week do anything to change their minds and bring them around to Hillary?
I listened to a young, female, minority, Sanders delegate from Texas who said she was definitely voting for Hillary but was not planning on campaigning for her. When asked what she thought of the “Bernie or Bust” people, she said that those are people that come from privilege and that she did not have the luxury to take that stance. If you’re playing along at home, by privilege, she meant white.
This goes back to what I wrote in an earlier post about the racism and bigotry that has come out of Trump’s mouth. If you don’t hear the racism and bigotry, you’re almost certainly white. If you hear it and it makes you slightly uncomfortable, but it does not automatically disqualify him from getting your vote, you’re almost certainly white. There’s much more on the line in this election for minorities, which is why they are going to vote overwhelmingly for Hillary.
These next 100 days are going to be very interesting, to say the least. More importantly though, they will shape the future of our country. The race is on.
thoughtsfromBlo 