Hillary must convince skeptics on trust

Tuesday night she made history. Tonight, as she officially accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton faces another daunting task — convincing the American public she has the leadership skills and trustworthiness needed to be president of the United States.

When the Democratic National Convention formally nominated her Tuesday night, Clinton became the first female standard-bearer for a major party in American history. She finally broke through the glass ceiling she was only able to dent during an unsuccessful run for the nomination in 2008.

In November, 96 years after the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, she will take on Donald Trump for the presidency, in a race involving two people hardly beloved by voters.

Nobody should question Clinton’s experience or qualifications. The problem for Clinton in the next few months is winning over an American public which, according to many polls, finds her untrustworthy and often just unlikeable.

Clinton’s acceptance speech tonight needs to start her on that path if she hopes to wind up in the Oval Office.

The speech also needs to accomplish a few other objectives.

Clinton needs to show her presidency will not simply be an additional four years tacked onto the Barack Obama administration. While she and Obama have similar views on many issues, Clinton needs to stress the differences. On foreign policy, in particular, she has been more hawkish than Obama. She should explain how she would handle the Islamic State and others who want to do us harm.

Clinton also needs to show the supporters of Bernie Sanders that she is the candidate most able to achieve many of their goals — such as on climate change, tougher gun laws, income equality, health care, college education and a higher minimum wage — if they unify behind her.

Sanders, who ran a spirited campaign against Clinton, has tried to calm his disappointed, passionate, boisterous and often bitter followers all week. He showed plenty of class Tuesday night, joining his Vermont delegation during the roll call of the states and motioning that Clinton be nominated by acclamation.

Clinton got the required number of delegates Tuesday night. That might be easy compared with changing perceptions on the trust issue.

Clinton had been bruised by the Benghazi tragedy and the ill-advised use of a personal email server. She has been investigated and re-investigated several times. She wasn’t helped last week when leaked emails showed the Democratic National Committee had been favoring her to beat Sanders. Add to that the folks who don’t like her simply because she’s a polarizing figure who’s part of the Washington establishment.

There are haters Clinton will never win over, but it will be important tonight for her to stress how she is extremely qualified to be president.

She was in the U.S. Senate for eight years, after spending eight years in the White House as first lady. But it is her foreign policy experience that stands out, particularly at a time when international terrorism is an overwhelming concern.

For the last four years, Clinton was the most well-traveled secretary of state ever, giving her a tremendous advantage over Trump. In addition to being a key figure in the Iran nuclear deal, she helped broker a 2012 cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. According to the State Department, she visited 112 countries as secretary and logged almost 1 million miles. She needs to let the public know about the advantages of all that experience, and the important relationships she’s cultivated with world leaders.

On top of that, Clinton would be welladvised to show people there is warmth and humanity behind that often-aloof exterior.

Clinton, for all her flaws, has much to offer the nation, with many accomplishments. What she’s done this week is right at the top of the list.