Boy, Bill Clinton is a good speaker. I haven't had much time to watch either convention but I squeezed in a peek at what the former president had to say…which reminds me: Is it true that this is the first time a former president has nominated someone else? Wolf Blitzer said it was but, you know, he's Wolf Blitzer. Wonder why the Republicans didn't bring George W. Bush out to place the name of Mitt Romney in nomination.
We don't get a lot of great orators in politics these days. I'm assuming there was someone between Reagan and Clinton who did equivalent magic at the lectern but I can't come up with a name right now. Clinton is especially skilled at somehow looking you right in the eye when he talks to you even when he's on TV and you're someplace else. He's also real good at explaining things without sounding condescending and doing so in terms that everyone can understand. Reagan to me always sounded like he didn't have a lot of respect for his audience but I know most listeners didn't feel that way. And both are/were good at sticking a stiletto in their enemies without coming across like bad guys.
I suppose Clinton will be criticized for going on so long but heck, it's the Democratic National Convention and they loved having him up there. If he'd talked less, the time would just have gone to someone more boring and less consequential. And it takes time to touch all those bases.