DNC Convention Day 2 – Hillary is Officially the Nominee, Bill is Funny

The primary purpose of the day was the roll call vote of the delegates, which (of course) nominated Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for the general election. A lot of cheering for Bernie, but I believe this was the last of Bernie for the 2016 Convention. 

Actor Elizabeth Banks was the MC for the day, she was funny and interesting, but the crowd was not always focused, it made for some awkward moments. Most of the speakers were not that interesting (as was the case with the RNC version), but speakers included many actors and entertainers, including a closing act by Alicia Keyes. Speakers included representatives from the disabled community, and a group of 10 or so Mothers of Gun Violence Victims (included Trayvon Martin’s mother).

Madeleine Albright was a good speaker and gave a charming speech, but she seems small and frail now (age 79) and has lost her gravitas. She did a small shoulder jerk when she emphasized a point, she may have been stamping her foot.

By far the best speaker of the night was Bill Clinton. He is still a fantastic story teller and he took us back to his courting days with Hillary. He described his and her character in detail as he spoke of their courtship and how they moved through the early days in law school and into the Arkansas Governorship. He gracefully inserted tales of her work n between timeline events to emphasize her dedication.  

As he continued through the White House years and beyond, the audience was rapt with attention. His hands were shaking in what has become a characteristic way (according to reports he does not have Parkinson’s disease), but otherwise Bill was in fine form and saved the day from an entertainment standpoint.

Excellent stories, but if you believe them her actions were responsible for every civil rights change that ever occurred. I’m not willing to spend time fact checking, but I suspect the tales of Hillary’s heroics were stretched somewhat. Again, as with Michelle, if I was not familiar with Hillary already, his speech would have made me think of her in a favorable light.

One point did stand out a bit. Bill said Hillary as Secretary of State founded a unit to fight global terrorism online. Can this be true? And still be so careless and irresponsible with her emails and sensitive government secrets? Hmmmmm.

Meryl Streep should have been a better speaker. I know she won an Oscar, but this speech was a study in overacting. It almost appeared that she was inebriated, but I couldn’t be sure.