Hillary’s moment of truth
After a Donald Trump coronation overstuffed with junk food — fearmongering, pessimism, the all-consuming egotism of the nominee — the Democratic National Convention offers Hillary Clinton the opportunity of her lifetime. The former First Lady and secretary of state has long labored to win the presidency only to reach this juncture as a candidate who is viewed unfavorably by more than half of the voters, largely because they don’t trust her, according to the polls.
With Trump viewed even more negatively, a strategically smart, well-run convention should highlight both the competence that is Clinton’s greatest asset and a platform that is credibly targeted to lifting the fortunes of America’s working and middle classes.
Feeding the American electorate protein in the form of well-crafted plans that could help real people improve real lives would powerfully put the vacuousness of the Trump show to shame.
Who knows, Clinton might even win over Republicans who are rightfully afraid of installing the unstable Trump in the world’s most powerful office.
First and foremost, Clinton must focus relentlessly on promoting the economic growth that would deliver more jobs and rising wages.
Meeting the challenge begins with an appraisal of the state of the American economy that is far less cheery than touted by President Obama.
Although true, his focus on 72 consecutive months of private-sector job growth misses one of the few valid points made by Trump. For 35 years running, the vast majority of American workers have seen their wages stagnate or drop — despite sharp increases over that period in economic growth and productivity.
Clinton must convince Americans that her economic prescriptions, communicated so far in forgettable policy speeches, can reverse that trend.
Meantime, she can tower over Trump with concrete strategies for lifting drags on American opportunity:
The rising cost of college has piled a debt load on students averaging $37,000 per borrower. Clinton has plans, aimed at middle- and working-class families who need the most help, to let students graduate debt-free.
American infrastructure is in dire need of updating, from basics like roads and water systems to the 21st century necessities of a modern electrical grid, GPS-guided air-traffic control and broadband networks. Clinton has ideas for that. They should be vivid.
From the opening convocation to her acceptance speech, the Democrats should be the party of the real — real fixes to Obamacare, real immigration reform that sets a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, real Wall Street regulation, real help for America’s public schools — which got nary a mention in the Republican convention.
Given her reputation for untrustworthiness, horrendously bolstered by false statements about her homebrew email server, Clinton’s best hope of regaining trust resides in reaching out to voters with realism and pragmatism.
Democratic conventions past have often devolved into a cavalcade of identity politics and push-button attacks on Republicans as anti-woman, racist, anti-gay, you name it.
Despite the divisive nature of Trump’s campaign, Clinton must resist the temptation to go too far down that road — and instead stay disciplined around a core message of economic competence, while communicating why she is the far steadier hand to lead America in a dangerous world.
Histrionically and repellently, Trump declares that the American sky is falling and emptily promises to deliver the stars.
Clinton would do very well to communicate that she sees America’s strengths and weaknesses clearly — and is all set to capably fix cracks in the foundation.