Hillary's Best Line: Were You In It For Me?

Email Print posted by Cenk 08/27/2008 04:16:41 AM EST

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This was a night with a lot of great lines. Even Bob Casey, Jr. who is not known as a rhetorical wiz had a couple of zingers. The four more months chant was terrific. And his line that McCain isn't a maverick, he's Bush sidekick was also really well done.

I was expecting to be annoyed at how little Mark Warner went after Republicans, but instead I thought he laid out a good case for how Democrats offer every person a real shot at the American Dream. He showed that the Democratic Party wants you to succeed, wants you to be rich -- which is important and a message you hardly hear from Democrats (you often hear that they want you to do better, but aspiring for real wealth has not been a Democratic staple and it is in fact the real American Dream).

Deval Patrick borrowed from Barney Frank effectively when he talked about government being an extension of the American people and how that is what we choose to do together. His line about having a stake in one another was great. It gave a sense of a community sticking together, which is what lies at the core of the Democratic Party.

But despite all of this, Hillary Clinton stole the night. I have been a vocal critic of Hillary Clinton throughout the primaries and a skeptic of her intentions to unconditionally support the Democratic candidate. But she put all those doubts to rest tonight. She delivered. It was an A+ speech.

The Twin Cities line about McCain and Bush being like twins was genuinely funny. And now every time they mention the Twin Cities during the Republican convention I'm going to think of Bush and McCain as twins.

I am embarrassed to admit that the Harriet Tubman story actually gave me a chill down my spine (at least it wasn't up my leg). I loved it. I think everyone in the building loved it.

But the best line in the speech was buried in the middle. Addressing her supporters, she said, "Were you in it for me?"

What a great and poignant question. Did you really think this was all about me and not about the issues? Don't you remember that this was all about getting the people who need help the assistance that they desperately need? Did you forget that we started down this road because we wanted to provide Americans with a hope for a better future? That we wanted to make sure the rules weren't stacked against them? Did you think this was all about me?

That is the winning line. That's the one that showed me that she genuinely did her best to actually convince her followers that they had to support Barack Obama. That's not a half-hearted effort. That's a line designed to win people over to her argument not over to her personally. Ironically, that's exactly what it did for me though. At the end of this long, contentious battle, Senator Clinton won me over when she was finally not trying to win me over.

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Hillary's Best Line: Were You In It For Me? | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden)
Were you in it just for me? (none / 0)
I agree -- this comment sealed the deal. As soon as I heard her say it, I turned to my wife and said, "Clinton supporters-- myself included -- can't legitimately counter this argument for accepting the inevitable." It was the perfect rhetorical thrust and I think it will work for her and for the party.

by Dond on 08/27/2008 09:09:08 AM EST

I agree (none / 0)
I was surprised that Hillary's speech was so good.  It is now clear that any of her 'supporters' who continued to oppose Obama are either posers or, as Rachel Maddow says, post-rational.

by craigjjs on 08/27/2008 09:34:58 AM EST

The necessary question (none / 1)

It absolutely was the necessary question to pose to her supporters.  &nbs p; It divides the true Democrats who want change from those who merely wanted a woman in the White House and really have no allegiance to any party.

 Unfortunately there are some women who did not tune in to her speech last night; I know one.   Her logic was that Hillary was just going to praise Obama and tell everyone to support him.   She now says that she is going to boycott the election.   She is really pissed because for her, it was about getting a woman President.   This is no undereducated person, she is a teacher and in our circle of friends there are several more just like her, female teachers who ALSO plan to boycott the election.   They can't bring themselves to vote for McCain, but they won't support Obama.

Her reason for not supporting Obama?   "I don't trust him.   I just have a feeling that there is some ulterior motive of his to be President;  I have a suspicion that it has something to do with his being secretly a Muslim."

When challenged she admits she has not read his books nor viewed any lengthy interviews of his, nor watched the BBC video entitled "Revealing Obama" which contrasts his and McCain's life stories.  It is as if she is putting her fingers in her ears and saying "la la la, I can't HEAR you!"    Irrationally childish.  Willful ignorance and there are many like her, I'm afraid.   

 

 

by azyuwish on 08/27/2008 10:34:21 AM EST

There are indeed many like her. (none / 0)
And the Republican Party has its arms wide open.

by KenTX on 08/27/2008 01:13:34 PM EST

[ Parent ]
As they do what they do best (none / 0)
Welcome and encourage ignorance. Inarguable point there, Ken.

by Weapon X on 08/28/2008 12:12:12 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Cenk, What were you smoking yesterday? (none / 1)
Cenk said, "I was expecting to be annoyed at how little Mark Warner went after Republicans, but instead I thought he laid out a good case for how Democrats offer every person a real shot at the American Dream."  Whoaa!!!!???

We were listening to different speeches on different planets. Warner is a corporate tool and his speech reflected that 100%.  George Carlin nailed that "American Dream" crap when he said, "The owners of this country know the truth: its called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

Hillary Clinton didn't deliver a damn thing.  Her speech couldn't convince anyone that she personnally supported Obama. It was clear that she was making a speech because she had to. She was under duress and she showed it.  Just look at the video at TheHill.com to see the Hillary supporters squirming to say something nice about Obama becasue they know it is expected of them.

I lost count how many times she said "me"!  So even though she had that line "Were you in it for me?" it was apparent that she was in it for her and still is. Her supporters made it that they were in it for her as they were interviewed as they left the convention.


And the Harriet Tubman imagery was a complete failure as it made her sound like she was saying she is Harriet Tubman leading Obama the poor and desperate slave to his freedom.  What hubris!

Basically, it was her warmed over stump speech that was merely tepid in its added support of Obama.  Her speech was a "C" at best.

by Gregory Wonderwheel on 08/27/2008 12:08:06 PM EST

The text is better than the delivery (none / 0)
Here's Hillary's words in context as quoted on the Democratic Convention website.

"Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.
I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

As I read the text of her speech, I can warm up to it more.  The text reads much better to me than Hillary's delivery did. I think the feeling she conveyed was that she was giving the speech only because she had to and not because she really cared about it and that turned me off competely.  

by Gregory Wonderwheel on 08/27/2008 12:28:48 PM EST

oh come on you bubble people (none / 0)

She never once said anything complimentary of Obama during the entire speech.  I hope enough of her supporters (who are a very very small minority of the people who voted for her) will buy into her half-assed party unity line.  On the other hand, the low information voters who were voting for her all along up to the end of the primaries aren't necessarily going to get the memo.  They need a well-laid out and simple reason why Obama Good and McCain BAD.  IMHO the somewhat supportive lines in this speech were simply too subtle. 

She did have one great line--the Twins/Bush/Mccain line seems to be sticking.   

by schmoab on 08/27/2008 12:40:23 PM EST

Why I didn't like the speech (none / 0)
I'm listening to Hillary's speech again to try to get some insight into why I didn't like her speech.

Basically, I don't like her style of oratory and she didn't say what I wanted to hear.

I don't hear her as a passionate person. I hear her performing a speech, not speaking from her heart.

For example, just after she says "No way. No how. No McCain." she says, "Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President."   ; 

This is passive voice. She didn't say in the active voice, "I'm voting for Barack Obama, and you should too."  Instead she makes is sound like a bitter pill that must be swallowed. She communicates this to her followers who walked out saying just that.

I wanted Hillary to say, "I have seen people claiming to be my supporters and saying that they are considering voting for John McCain because they think I should have won the nomination or been selected for the Vice President. Let me tell you, I'm disappointed I didn't win the nomination too. But no one who says she would vote for John McCain because she can't vote for me was ever really a supporter of me and what I stand for."

I give her credit for trying to deliver a speech with historical reverence and relevance.

Her speech got some shourt rousing applause at the mention of some issues and clap trap, but I didn't really feel the juice.  The sauce was lukewarm, not exactly weak, but also not hot.

by Gregory Wonderwheel on 08/27/2008 04:02:53 PM EST

Hillary won you over??? (none / 0)
Are you kidding?  Don't drinnk the koolaid Cenk.  Please see my blog post on this one; just too much to put into a comment.

Hillary spoke to her supporters, and she didn't cling to them or pat herself on the back too much, but she never said anything important about Barack as a man.

by DigitalDave on 08/27/2008 04:06:17 PM EST

Hillary's Best Line: Were You In It For Me? | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden)
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