Hillary Hits Grand Slam
Steve Adubato, Ph.D.
CBS 2 Political Analyst

Hillary Clinton knocked the ball out of the park Tuesday night, no doubt about it.  She came with her game face on, except her smile was a lot friendlier than it was in her campaign.  Hillary gave a kick- ass speech, the kind that would have won her the nomination, if she could have pulled more of them off during her campaign.  She said all the right things and hit the right tone.  She showed deference to Barack Obama and attacked John McCain with grace.  She acknowledged Michelle Obama and said nice things about her husband’s presidency, while Bill Clinton smiled, bit his lip and feigned a few tears like only he can.   

But most of all, Hillary Clinton spoke to millions of women Tuesday night who feel a connection to her that is deep and emotional.  My mother, who is in her early 70s, feels it and said to me on the day Hillary dropped out; “I wanted to see a woman become President before I die.”  My mother is not alone; a lot of women feel that way.  And while Hillary did everything she could to tell those women and others that Barack is okay, the wounds from this past Democratic primary are deep and won’t be healed with just one speech. 

Don’t kid yourself, a lot of Hillary supporters want her to become President in 2012.  But if Barack Obama wins, that is going to be nearly impossible in 4 years.

The Obama people couldn’t have asked for anything more from Hillary Clinton, and everything would be fine if it ended here, but Bill Clinton has to speak tonight.  I have a funny feeling the resentment and anger he feels towards Barack Obama is even deeper than that of Hillary’s.  I could be wrong, but I don’t see him being as graceful and giving as his wife was towards the young Democratic nominee.  Obama has clearly become the Alpha male in the party, replacing Bill Clinton, whose star power isn’t nearly what it used to be. 

As theatre, the Democratic National Convention isn’t half bad, for one that was scripted from A to Z by the Obamaites.  Stay tuned for the Republican show next week, which shouldn’t be as lively or as much fun. But if John McCain can keep track of how many houses he has and come up with a new definition of what “rich” means other than the 5 million dollar figure he recently offered, at least the GOP will keep on message.  We’ll see.

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