Well, Bill reminded us tonight why he was a master of the political game. A terrific speech, incredibly well delivered, and seemingly calibrated to slap down every bullshit meme perpetrated by the McCain talking point spouting media today with respect to Hillary's equally compelling speech of last night. (See Sara's post below for an example.) The Obama campaign should watch it a few times -- Clinton really showed how one can attack McCain aggressively and yet remain "presidential."
I eagerly await the body language analysis of the Big Dog.
Wow. Just watched it on TPM. The guy is good, I must give him that. He makes it look effortless.
Also, I think he took the right strategy with the speech. He basically ditched any attempt at mea culpa or argument against past statements, as well as the attack dog approach from the primary, and reverted to a more statesmanlike, ex-president of the party approach, commenting on events from the position of Wise Elder. This of course, entailed relating Barack's coming presidency to his own, positioning it as something between a renewal, a continuanc, or maybe a progression. This was probably a suble way to rebuke the thing that probably pissed him off the most about the primary, which was when his administrations shortcomings were criticized. Other than that arc, References to Recent Troubles were basically limited to random, pregnant turns of phrase. I felt a subtle suggestion that, well, that shits done, on to Winning. I thought the "Sound familiar" line towards the end, in response to the fact that he was criticized in '92 for being too young and inexperienced, was deftly done. It managed rebuke McCain's campaign and make fun of the Clinton's campaigns own attacks on Obama. Like he had said, "Yeah, we tried that one; it won't on this guy. It has never worked. Silly of us to try it, really." But without having to say all that.
That said, I liked Kerry's speech more. Ouch. Now that is an attack dog. In fact, attacking is something Kerry's demeanor is actually really well suited do. His sobriety lends his attacks weight: these aren't just criticisms; these things matter.
And did anything else thing that Kerry got the Senator McCain/Candidate McCain bit from The Daily Show? (Everyone knows the bit I am talking about, right?)
Posted by: Corvus9 | August 28, 2008 at 01:30 AM
Oh, and in terms of body analysis, I predict a special focus on his habit of sticking his tongue against his cheek. I don't know what they will conclude (well, I have one slightly dirty idea) but to me it was the kind of look I would expect to see on a Chess Grandmaster while considering a game with a novice.
Posted by: Corvus9 | August 28, 2008 at 01:33 AM