Yeah, I'm going to disagree with Frances's take--although it was admirably snarky. I think this is the point where it diverged from Frances's characterization:
I want you -- I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me, 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 young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage?
Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?
If Clinton had left that out, the speech would've been a failure, but putting it in turned the whole thing around, tying up all the accomplishments she mentioned in the speech with the mission going forward, that being electing Barack Obama. The message to her die-hards was that they better elect Obama, or else everything Hillary stands for will go down the tubes. True enough, and I think the best approach to bring the so-called "PUMAs" into the fold.
And I thought the Harriet Tubman bit was the most inspirational:
My mother was born before women could vote. My daughter got to vote for her mother for president. This is the story of America, of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.
So how do we give this country back to them? By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her lives to bring slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.
On that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice: "If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going."
UPDATE: The only criticism of Hillary Clinton's speech that I thought had something to it was John Dickerson's criticism that Hillary didn't make an affirmative case for Obama as Commander-in-Chief.
Clinton never made the case that Barack Obama was ready to lead as commander in chief. That was her strongest argument against Obama during the primary—so strong the McCain campaign is recycling her ad about the president answering the phone at 3 a.m. Maybe Joe Biden is planning to address that issue for Obama, and Clinton needed to stay focused on convincing her supporters. Still, it felt like a hole.
And Bill Clinton just said, pretty emphatically: "Barack Obama is ready to lead America. Barack Obama is ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States." That fills the hole, yeah? Especially since Bill Clinton invoked his 'unique perspective' on the Presidency.
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