Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, July 28, held a certain set of expectations not only for her supporters, but women around the world, and of course, the opposing Republicans as well.
Leading up to her speech, Americans saw a plethora of victims from inequality and violence and political figures speak out as to why Clinton is fit for presidency, but the real discussion was happening off stage as Americans truly wondered if we were finally going to see who the real Clinton is.
If we have learned anything at all from Clinton’s campaign trail and history in politics it is that Clinton is a private person. That privacy eventually led to an almost unanimous mistrust in her political agenda and her character after the catastrophic email scandal. Clinton had one job at the convention and that was to show the American people her true self, her motivations, and ultimately that she is trustworthy.
Her show began with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, introducing Clinton. Chelsea Clinton has been on the road with her mother before and has spoken out to many college-aged students about her mother’s candidacy for the 2008 election. Now, 8 years later, Chelsea Clinton can speak from a daughter’s perspective and a mother’s perspective as she recently welcomed her second child, Aiden, into the world. Chelsea recollects on Clinton’s presence in her life growing up highlighting her earliest memory of her reading Goodnight Moon to Chelsea to Clinton’s willingness to drop everything for her grandchildren. Continuing on, Chelsea comments on her mother’s heart for public service and the children in America. Chelsea addresses her mother’s determination even after failure because according to her, Clinton never forgets who she is fighting for and the fierce sense of justice that overwhelms Clinton’s heart.
Next, an introductory video played that explained Clinton’s background and gave some much needed insight into her childhood and her perspective now. When Clinton finally enters the stage, she waits patiently as the crowd “roared” (Katy Perry’s appearance anyone?) with excitement. Throughout her entire speech, Clinton focused on the very apparent theme throughout the convention of working together to further this country. She skillfully opened up to the audience explaining her past and the values instilled in her by her mother and the Methodist faith. Politically, she laid out her plans for presidency even acknowledging Sander’s campaign and his efforts toward the democratic nomination. Throw in some major shade to Donald Trump and you have Clinton’s acceptance speech.
For those of you who have yet to see her speech, I highly recommend watching it, so you can form your own opinion. To those who have seen speech, has Hillary Clinton given you a reason to trust her? Or has the speech brought upon more questions than answers?
