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[Omaha Steve]

This message was self-deleted by its author (Omaha Steve) on Wed Aug 19, 2020, 09:23 AM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. Some people can get a lot said in 5 minutes. Bill Clinton is one of those people.

[badhair77]

2. 5 minutes was a decent amount of time fir this virtual convention.

Headline seems disparaging.

[Scarsdale]

8. Do you suppose

being disparaging was intentional? Of course it was. Bill has his faults, but he was a GREAT president, loved worldwide. Nothing like the orange clown in the WH right now.

[Democrats Ascendant]

3. Without a live crowd, the shorter speech time worked as well as it could for him.

Anyhow, it's been a whole generation (several life times in politics) since he was president, so I think it's OK to leave space for more recent and newer voices.

A pity that Gore and his climate change message isn't given a nod this time given the existential climate crisis of our day that he warned us about....

[onetexan]

4. +1 K&R

President Clinton did a fine job, as he always does, condensing into few sentences whatever complex issues we face as a nation. His lambasting of the Idiot was perfect.
There's no diminishing this man. Rather, after Clinton there's been a crop of new & effective Dems leaders. This should be the way it is. Clinton is and continues to be one of our stalwark figures. But there's plenty of room under the Big Tent. Just goes to show how inclusive & diverse the party is. And THAT to me is a beautiful thing!

[Democrats Ascendant]

6. Couldn't concur more!

Plus to diminish him is to forget that he helped usher in a whole new generation of Dem politics after over a decade of R rule. Sure he wasn't perfect (who is), but he helped open up the way for and inspire all that great talents of the Obama era and today - including here on DU!

[ananda]

12. Now, that is really a shame!

Hard to grok, but climate change is THE most important
issue of our day ... that's why we have to deal with this
virus in the first place!

[Aviation91]

5. Awesome!

Bill Clinton is an awesome speaker...always have been! I don't care what anyone says about the Clintons...they are a powerhouse duo! Too bad people believed all the non-sense in 2016 about her! So, to all those folks that didn't vote, cast a protest vote or voted for Donald Trump, you can take credit for the piece of s**t sitting in the Oval Office and all that this country has suffered because of him!!! We wouldn't be going through this with a Hillary Clinton Administration!

[Scarsdale]

10. AMEN!

Worlds apart. We know Hillary would have read everything put in front of her, especially the PDB's. Her administration would have had ADULTS, experienced, intelligent people in her administration. The tRump crime family and hangers on are in charge right now. None of them are too bright. No democratic president would tolerate this incompetence. Why should citizens have to tolerate this level of STUPIDITY?

[betsuni]

13. +1

[samnsara]

7. i love the shorter speeches... but i could listen to bill all day..

[Grokenstein]

9. I remember when they tried to diminish Jimmy Carter to "nobody" status.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. Bill Clinton is the best strategist, politician

and orator the Democratic party has. No offense to Obama fans. He uses the language of every day Americans and makes complicated issues easy to understand. Howard Dean and AOC also have this gift.
Pres Clinton should have been on in the 10-11PM hour when more Americans could hear his speech. Instead we get yet another appeal to Republicans. I'll surely take R votes for Biden, but on Day 1 of his prospective administration, they better be told this is the Democratic agenda, if you want to get on board, we are happy to have you, if not, see ya.

Just my 2 cents...

[marble falls]

14. If ... IF ... the big dawg seemed diminished, its only because he seemed diminished ...

Last edited Wed Aug 19, 2020, 09:23 AM - Edit history (1)

because of the limits Covid has placed on a Convention, and because how many more really vibrant and effective younger leaders we have these days.

Bill Clinton is well worth listening to even if they only gave him a slot of 25 words or less. He's been out of office 20 years fer pete's sake and he's still a go to guy. What presence do you suppose GWB will have at the GOP convention next week?

[DeminPennswoods]

15. Big Dawg's still younger than both

Trump and Biden. I've seen him speak in person 4 times (early in his first campaign, at his inauguration, at his first appearance after heart surgery and when he came to my hometown campaigning for Hillary in 2008). He was great every time. I also heard Obama speak in 2004. It was an ok speech, but not on Clinton's level.

[marble falls]

18. And curiously enough, he will always be younger than Biden and Trump. I remember Bill ...

absolutely swamping Joe in '92.

[karynnj]

20. The comparison with Obama is subjective and most people are biased one way or the other

My opinion, Clinton is a good speaker, but not close to as eloquent as Obama. They share an ability to move people, but Obama does it with conceptual calls to address big cultural issues from a perspective based in his roots as an activist.Clinton excels at speeches that compare and contrast using well chosen contrast and compare examples. He did that in yesterday's speech and it impressed me that he did that while pulling in Biden phrases.

As to Clinton being diminished, look at how much time others got. From memory, few got more time. I think Carter got the same amount of time. I think his amount of time reflects that he is no longer someone who will be in the first tier of people advocating for Biden during this election.

Clinton is younger than Biden and Trump, but maybe due to poor lighting, he looks older than Biden, Kerry and even Bernie! who are all older. He does look better than Trump.

[Hoyt]

16. They've compensated for the loss of traditional convention excitement by short, concise, fast

moving speeches, made for an hour or two in prime-time.

I like it and think they've done a great job pulling it off.

[George II]

17. Does this belong in "Latest Breaking News"? It's more analysis and commentary. No "news" at all.

[JI7]

19. What a stupid article trying to make something out of nothing

[NurseJackie]

21. It was perfect! And he didn't need to filibuster.

I have yet to hear any complaints that he was cheated or that he deserved more time. In reality, his 5 minutes in an abbreviated virtual convention is the equivalent of 15 minutes in a "normal" convention.