This past week, the Democrats convened in Philadelphia to officially nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as their party’s standard-bearer for the general election of 2016. In a convention that started out disjointed in upheaval due to realization that the suspected stacked deck against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was indeed a reality, Bernie zealots sought to commandeer the balloting in a last-ditch effort to nominate the independent socialist.
After their quest was eventually quelled, a succession of speeches – some stunning, some propaganda – was delivered. And more so than usual for a Democratic convention, the forum was peppered with patriotism. Thus, the proceedings were more reminiscent of the 1980 GOP convention that nominated Ronald Reagan than anything we have seen in the Democratic realm since the 1940s. With flag-waving positivity, the Democrats created an atmosphere of hopefulness not present in Cleveland a week earlier with the Republicans.
Of course, the effort was not just to officially nominate a candidate. The goal was to convince America that Hillary could be trusted, which is a monumental climb indeed! With a public record that belies any sense of veracity, Secretary Clinton cannot divorce herself from her penchant for prevarication.
In speech after speech, First Lady Michelle Obama, Hillary’s husband former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Sanders, and vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) tried to ignore four decades of deception by Hillary and paint a portrait of a tireless public servant.
Also, an unexpected, heart-wrenching speech from a grieving Muslim father of an American hero stood out as an admonishment of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Whether or not the residue of those speeches will serve to exculpate Hillary from her insincere past is perhaps the most important question hanging like a specter over this presidential race. If she has a ghost of a chance, she will need to dissuade the nation from the widely held opinion that she is chronically deceitful.
Without that sea change of public opinion, it is unlikely she will overcome her unpredictable and castigating opponent.
The weekend prior to the start of the convention set an uproarious and rebellious tone when leaked Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails revealed a blatant preference for Clinton’s nomination during the primary season. The backlash incited by this disclosure caused the DNC’s chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), to resign on the night before the convention. The next day she foolishly tried to preside over a morning meeting and was heckled and booed by delegates who felt their candidate, Sanders, was cheated out of the nomination, which he may have been. Various state representatives challenged the rules committee to disqualify the “superdelegates” who gave Clinton an unfair advantage. They failed. Sanders supporters boisterously tried to get a floor vote where committed delegates would have the liberty to vote unbounded. They failed.
Bernie devotees’ cascading voices of derision and complaint filled the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. They were not deterred until their leader addressed the crowd later in the day and capitulated to the reality that he would never become the nominee. Like most endeavors where Hillary is involved, duplicity prevailed.
Yet, the convention participants attempted to capitalize on the abject negativity of the Republican convention by counteracting the slogan “Making America Great Again” with “America is the Greatest Country in the World.” Optimism and hopefulness, not dissimilar to the 1980 Republican convention that nominated our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, were successfully thematic for the Democrats.
Case and point, Michelle Obama illustrated America’s greatness by pointing out that a descendant of slaves now watches her daughters play with their dogs on the White House lawn, in a house built by slaves. She went on to explain how our country is a beacon of opportunity for people from across the globe. That truly anyone can become anything in America was her most poignant message.
In an obvious diminishment of Trump’s shallow knowledge of issues, she said the following: “I want someone with the proven strength to preserve, someone who knows this job and takes it seriously, someone who understands the issues a president faces are not black and white.”
The following night, Bill Clinton made an odiferous speech about the four-decade-long “love story” of he and the nominee. Clinton’s quizzical descriptions of Hillary’s physicality were confounding if his objective was to be complimentary or romantic. Further, his expressions of ongoing devotion are belied by his long history of serial adultery. As always with the Clintons, the projected reality is nothing close to actuality.
In a similar hokey move, once Hillary was officially nominated, an optical effect of glass breaking on the large video display screen over the podium simulated the glass ceiling being broken for woman. What was supposed to be great dramatics comically appeared like a pitcher of Kool-Aid breaking through a wall in a vintage commercial.
On the contrary, Panetta made a convincing argument on behalf of Hillary’s fitness for office. He enumerated bullet points of Clinton’s professionalism as Secretary of State. His stellar reputation vouched for Clinton’s credibility. However, he did not address her habitual lying and her email breaches of security protocol.
Equally uplifting to the perception of Clinton and the atmosphere of positivity the Democrats were attempting to create was the speech of President Obama. In his usual oratory fashion of a southern Baptist preacher, the president extolled the virtues of the country and his chosen successor: “I’m asking you to join me, to reject cynicism, reject fear to summon what is best in us and elect Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States.” This line in particular defines the variance between the Republican and Democrat conventions. Also, similar in gravity, the president said: “America is already great. America is already strong.”
Inappropriate was the speech of Kaine, who tried to be self-deprecating in his humanizing talk of fatherhood. He also made the argument for his running mate in a lackluster manner. Unfortunately for the Democrats, he came across as cartoonish.
Most surprising was the speech of a grieving Muslim father who lost his son, a captain in the United States Army, in 2004. Khizr Khan lamented the loss of his son, Capt. Humayun Khan. The father directly addressed Donald Trump that many Muslim American citizens have served heroically in the armed services. He implored Trump to read the Constitution in an attempt to get Trump to understand that religious plurality is one of the integral components of foundation of our country.
Without question, the Democrat convention was more successful in projecting the idea that their party is more assuring in regard to American promise. Whereas the Republicans portrayed a nation in descent that could only be saved by one man, the Democrats spoke of the United States as being the greatest country on the globe. The problem is that both projections are illusionary.
To the extent that we have chronic problems, the GOP is correct. However, the notion that a vacuous real estate developer is the answer is ridiculous. Our situation is difficult as a nation but not necessarily dire. Competent stewardship of the executive branch and reasonable compromise in the Congress can right the sails of our ship.
Similarly, to hail Hillary Clinton’s governmental experience and simultaneously not mentioned her documented deceitfulness is unfair to the electorate and an omission of conspicuous truths about her chronic falsehoods.
Unquestionably, the 2016 Democrat convention was reminiscent of the GOP convention of 1980. If only Ronald Reagan was this year’s nominee. Then we would have something to cheer about!
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