DENVER–It was close to 8:04 p.m. (EDT) when Bill Clinton, the last Democrat to win consecutive presidential terms as president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, spoke. When the cries of “Bill” “Bill” “Bill” died down, Clinton declared that he was “first here to support Barack Obama.” Unlike during the primaries, when he often wandered in his speeches and at times came across as caustic, his tone tonight was different. Still, while one felt instantly moved by Sen. Hillary Clinton’s speech last night, Bill Clinton offered up a poor sequel.
If Hillary Clinton’s speech was meant as a great unifying force for a fractured party, her husband’s follow-up was weighed down by everything he had done and said during that brutal primary season. Thus, while one heard Bill Clinton say, “Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world,” his words fell with a tremendous thud, lacking the conviction of his wife’s the previous night. His were words delivered to an audience that was no longer his, to a party who now belongs to a new young leader, a new hope.