Clinton’s speech pleases Mid-south delegates
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Talk among Mississippi and Tennessee delegates was all about former President Bill Clinton’s speech, all agreeing he helped make a strong case for Barack Obama’s re-election.
“Perfect Clinton — scholarly, erudite,” said Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen, sitting next to actress Ashley Judd among the Tennessee delegates after Clinton finished speaking Wednesday night.
“It’s about the middle class and it’s about values. A man with experience and knowledge. And I think the American people will respond to that,” Cohen said.
Sitting on Cohen’s other side, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said: “It goes to show you that one of the most powerful, successful presidents we’ve ever had knows that compromise doesn’t mean weakness. It means security for the country.
“Here’s a man who brought us job growth, a strong economy and did it by cooperation. That’s what we need.”
Across the Time Warner Arena, Mississippi delegates were equally effusive. U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson said Clinton’s speech was “excellent.”
“He took care of all the issues that have been put forth by the Republicans and, you know, he still has the magic. From the reception he received, the stand- ing ovation, he connected and I think that’s very important,” Thompson said. long, if time-honored tradition of calling attention to a state’s famous leaders and role in history.
She managed to work in the home of Al Gore; Andrew Jackson, founder of the Democratic Party; ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote; the Grand Ole Opry, “the mother church of country music”; Jack Daniels sippin’ whiskey; “Elvis Presley’s fabled Graceland and Stax Records — we’re going to dance to some Otis Redding later”; breathtaking natural vistas; and the Smoky Mountains.
But that was just the warmup. She went on to talk health policy, reeling off statistics about the numbers helped by Obamacare, and working in “pre-existing conditions” and coining the puzzling phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care.” She eventually reached her peroration, with Tennessee “joyfully” casting 90 votes for the incumbent president. speaker of the convention was Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman whose loss before the Supreme Court led to the Lilly Ledbetter Act, requiring equal pay for women, the first bill signed into law by Obama.
“Everything has been inspiring,” Saleem, the Memphis Police Department’s legal adviser, said at Thursday’s delegate breakfast.
Of Clinton, he said: “He broke the policy down to an easily understandable difference between Barack Obama and the Republicans.”