There was high anticipation on the DNC floor on Wednesday, Sept. 5 comparable to the electricity present just moments before a prized boxing match. An anxiety-filled excitement permeated the arena hall in the hopes that former President Clinton, a gifted and charismatic orator, would bring the noise to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and set the table for an even more gifted speaker, incumbent President Barack Obama.
Well, according to critics and supporters alike, Clinton did not disappoint.
”In Tampa the Republican argument against the president’s re-election was pretty simple: ‘We left him a total mess, he hasn’t finished cleaning it up yet, so fire him and put us back in,’” Clinton said as the convention hall erupted in a prolonged and rousing ovation.
“I like the argument for President Obama’s re-election a lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a more modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses, and lots of new wealth for the innovators.”
To the cheers of tens of thousands of Democrats inside and outside the convention hall, Clinton said of Obama, “I want to nominate a man who is cool on the outside but who burns for America on the inside.”
Clinton accused Republicans of proposing “the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place” and led to a near financial meltdown. Those, he said, include efforts to provide “tax cuts for higher-income Americans, more money for defense than the Pentagon wants and … deep cuts on programs that help the middle class and poor children.”
