Michelle and Joe Looked Grim as Hillary Endorsed Obama in a Masterfully Minimal Way

As Hillary addressed the DNC, the unforgiving cameras kept panning back to Michelle Obama who was sitting with Joe Biden. Neither Michelle nor Joe managed to crack more than one smile apiece-well, perhaps two, even as Hillary insisted, over and over again, that the Democratic Party must unite behind Obama-not because he is an astounding leader, or The One, but simply because he is the Democratic candidate. During every ovation, both the future First Lady and his Vice-Presidential choice remained grim-lipped, expressionless, sometimes even angry-faced. (Joe Biden was caught on camera warmly embracing former President Jimmy Carter. So much for “change.”)

In a sense, just as Hillary stood by her man Bill, she is also, just as strategically, standing by her man Obama. But not exactly. In her speech, Hillary never described herself as a “wife” and she positioned herself more as a descendant of the early suffragists and as a fighter in the movement for women’s rights than as a from-the-gut supporter of Obama. She said that her mother was born before women had the right to vote but that her daughter had exercised that very right to vote for her own mother for the Presidency.

Hillary did not extol Obama as a fully vetted leader with an impressive track record but rather as the one the Democrats have chosen. She emphasized the Democratic party and her loyalty to it more than to its candidate. Nevertheless, it was a polished performance.

Hillary’s speech was professional, disciplined, a lawerly “closing argument,” but I do not believe her heart was in it. She cannot be faulted for anything that she said and yet the speech left everything to be desired. Perhaps that’s why Michelle and Joe looked so grim…Continue reading on Chesler Chronicles >>