She did it. She said what needed to be said (mostly). Hillary Clinton not only declared her support for Barack Obama's candidacy for president--"Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President"--she implored her people to do likewise. It was, by most accounts, a very good speech, and one that will likely aussuage many of her supporters to accept the fact that her "inevitable" candidacy would not be successful, no matter how hard they hope for it, and no matter how stridently they declare their support for her.
But is what Clinton said last night going to be enough? Is it going to be enough to change the media narrative in sufficient enough degree to quell the dissent that the media appear hellbent to foment for the sake of a story? Knowing the way corporate media love to drive sentitments, rather than reflect them, the clear answer to that question "No."
She needs to do more.
Out of the box, the major news outlets have rather accurately described and highlighted the major themes and points Clinton made last night. The Boston Globe reported:
This was a Clinton speech that didn't require any parsing of words.
In a fiery call to arms last night, Hillary Clinton tried to clear up the one thing that hadn't been clear before: Her level of enthusiasm for making Barack Obama president.
In past speeches, she has offered sincere endorsements of Obama, but then gone on to extol the accomplishments of her own campaign. This time, perhaps sensing a greater urgency, she offered repeated appeals on Obama's behalf.
"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?" she asked, in what seemed like a question directed at the roughly 30 percent of her supporters who are resisting Obama, according to polls. "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?"
And from the New York Times:
Declaring herself to be "a proud supporter of Barack Obama," Mrs. Clinton urged Democrats to put aside their loyalty to her and unite behind Mr. Obama — or risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
"Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," Mrs. Clinton said, beaming as the convention hall burst into applause. "And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership."
She added, "No way, no how, no McCain."
The Washington Post reported the speech in a similar fashion.
But one speech does not a narrative-killer make. Clinton will have to repeat what she said last night--both publicly and in private gatherings--and do so in such a fashion that not only declares that "We must elect Barack Obama," as though such a simple imperative will cause it to happen, but she must go further; she must destroy the notion that she does not believe him ready or able to assume office--especially the "Commander-in-Chief" part. This was a narrative that she created, and one that only she can do something about. For make no mistake: the McCain camp will continue to press that line.
Tucker Bounds:
"Senator Clinton ran her presidential campaign making clear that Barack Obama is not prepared to lead as commander in chief. Nowhere tonight did she alter that assessment. Nowhere tonight did she say that Barack Obama is ready to lead. Millions of Hillary Clinton supporters and millions of Americans remain concerned about whether Barack Obama is ready to be president."
Two days ago, in speaking to the New York delegation, Clinton criticized the McCain ads that invoke her anti-Obama primary statements with the words, "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I do not endorse that message." Thus, a good second step will be for Clinton to pointedly and in the form of a campaign commercial pointedly and clearly indicate the message she does endorse. Campaign ads are the coin of the realm in which the media now trade. They play them repeatedly, discuss them incessantly, and analyze them for the slightest nuance in messaging and branding. One good ad (or even a controversial but horrible ad) is worth a thousand speeches--even one as seemingly sound as last night's.
Only if Hillary Clinton is just as strident, consistent and frequent in killing the narrative as she was in creating it will she have truly put to rest the friction/feud/he's not ready narrative. It will take a lot of gulping down of her pride and ego, but it is the only thing that will ultimately salvage her own political future.