CQ’s Craig Crawford thought this about Hillary Clinton’s speech last night:
Many of Clinton’s supportive words seemed almost tacked on as an after thought. Several times Clinton listed various things she believed in, and then almost parenthetically noted that these were her reasons for backing Obama. In other words, she’s for Obama because he agrees with her.
She basically said that Democrats should vote for Barack Obama because they agree with him. But here’s what Bill Clinton said yesterday about "Candidate X" and "Candidate Y":
Suppose for example you’re a voter. And you’ve got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don’t think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom would you vote?
I have no doubt that Bill knew what was in Hillary’s speech when he said that line.
As Ben Smith noted, "Clinton did little to sell Obama’s personal characteristics, his qualities or ability as commander in chief."
There is still no audio-visual rebutal to Hillary’s Not Ready" statements that she made in debates that has become the Republican communications rallying cry.
She and Bill did their duty as Democrats, but are leaving enough out that Republicans, Hillary supporters, and independents have something to chew on.