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August 27, 2008

DNC Night 2: Hillary Clinton has high bar to jump

Posted: 01:17 PM ET

News Correspondent Richard Lui

Many analysts say Senator Hillary Clinton has jumped and made it over a very tall high-bar after the second night of the Democratic National Convention. She had three major objectives to achieve in 25 minutes.

ALT TEXT

Sen. Hillary Clinton, with daughter Chelsea, receives a standing ovation from the Democratic delegates.

First, she had to thank delegates representing the 18 million votes she received during the long primary battle with Barack Obama. Committed Clinton delegates wanted to feel they were appreciated and not taken for granted moving in the nomination of Barack Obama.

Clinton also had to unify the party. There have been reports of a Clinton-Obama rift behind the scenes. Did Obama vet Clinton as a VP possibility? Did the Obama camp feel the Clintons were not giving their genuine support for Obama's nomination? Whether those were answered yes or no, poll numbers did seem to indicate unification was needed. An august 24 CNN/Opinion Research poll showed more than one in four Clinton supporters planned on voting for McCain.

Clinton's speech had a third objective, and that was to attack Senator McCain by comparing him to President Bush. Some analysts have said day one of the convention failed in that regard; that the speakers did not go for the GOP jugular strongly enough.

As insurmountable as these three objectives seemed to some analysts, they praised the results, giving Clinton an overall thumbs up. A group of CNN analysts gave Clinton high marks on their scorecard, the same grades they gave Michelle Obama on her speech the night before. They agreed her speech would end speculation that she had not fully embraced Obama as the Democratic candidate, noting that Clinton mentioned Obama by name a dozen times, twice as much as she mentioned the Democratic Party itself.

But mentioning him by name may not mean Clinton “felt it” according to one body language expert. Dan hill, author of "Face Time" which looks at the facial coding in the 2008 election, says her face didn't show emotion when she mentioned his name. He highlighted the "crocodile smile" she had each time she mentioned his name. The one point Clinton was passionate about, Hill says, was when she discussed women's right to vote. She brought up Seneca Hills and the women's march to the convention in 1848. Hill says that was the most intense part of the speech, when her eyes went wide and her eyebrows went low, showing anger and commitment. See full analysis of Clinton's body language during her speech.

One indication that Clinton's speech (emotional analysis and pundit grades included) was not enough to bring all camps together was this: as the lights went down on the convention after her speech some Democrats, namely those who would still prefer to have Clinton has their president, had heard enough and went home for good, not planning to stick around for when Obama accepts the nomination.

November is now some two months away. We'll have to wait until then to find out if that high-bar was indeed an easy clearing or just too tall for the Democrats this year.

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Filed under: Election Connection


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margaret montgomery   August 27th, 2008 6:21 pm ET

The one in four Clinton supporters who polls predict are now going to support McCain, ought to be ashamed! They obviously only want to vote for white people and that said, they have no alliegence to anything they formerly boasted about having. Another excuse used is that Obama is "inexperienced." No one could be as inexperienced across the board as the guy in the White House today. Again, these people will actually vote for McCain to the detriment of a party that holds such promise. They should be ashamed.

Daniel-Johnstown,NY   August 28th, 2008 7:02 am ET

There will almost always be some who may for the time being not follow her request..But i think that they will come around in November. Obama now has to keep them from crossing over to the republicans.

Fomer president clinton speach i believe helped. How much..That i we have to see in November.

Cory   August 29th, 2008 5:55 am ET

For margaret montgomery and your comment on people voting on race. This is crazy. Just because some people are changing their vote to McCain instead of obama does not make this a race issue. People are voting on a leader, not just what political party they're involved with. Besides you can't believe anything either of the two, Obama or McCain say. They change their minds more than anybody I know.

Cynthia McCoy   August 29th, 2008 10:50 am ET

I have been a life long Republican and was certain I would vote for John McCain, but after watching and listening to Borak Obama I am not so sure now. It was an inspirational speech...it gave me hope. I believe he really knows what the American people want and he will do everything in his power to get it done.

Linda Anderson   October 20th, 2008 10:09 am ET

As a long time viewer of CNN news channels, I've come to the conclusion that the hosts of all the various talk shows/forums that have been shown over the past several weeks have been in favor of McCain. As a person of color you would hope to see fairness at some point. There is so much negativity and things seem to be so one-sided towards Barack O'Bama that I can't bear to watch any of your channels anymore. Even though I happen to like the morning show with Robin Meade, which I'v really enjoyed. I will find alternative viewing for my mornings. I refuse to be counted as a viewer of such ridiculous behavior. And you ask why well by reason of "assocation". The vast majority seem to all be in favor of McCain and why perhaps because he is white. I wish people were honest enought to just come out and say that. I'm sure that you probably don't care about the loss of one viewer or perhaps what I'm saying but I felt a strong need to voice my opinion. But it just amazes me to how far we've come in history but yet have so far to go. I know I keep hearing about the "The Bradley Affect" when it comes to the real vote behind the curtain. Well you know my prayer is this that people will vote the way that God leads them to vote. Who is actually addressing the real issues that are troubling our economy and not based on "color". Does any one person have the answer no. It's time for us to put aside our differences, bigotry, sterotypes, biases, prejudices, etc. and vote for the individual that we truly feel qualified and with the assistance of a competent advisors can guide this country to getting back on track. We don't need any indivdual that is in there for a popularity contest, one who makes erratic decisions, one who has anger management problems, one with moral issues when it comes to marital issues, the list goes on. I know that no one is perfect; however, I don't think it's fair to base an individual's character on who he has associated with when it really doesn't matter and in part false accusations. It doesn't mean that the two are alike or that they agree with each other views. I myself had a pastor that I loved very much but I didn't agree with many things that he said that is why I was important for me to know the bible for myself and have a personal relationship with God. The comments that I am making may not go very far but I hope that it makes the person reading it think. We all have differences and we are living in an everchanging world. Just look around you. Rather we embrace it or not it will not cease to happen. If you would ask the question what I am driving at, I am looking for balance. Mere balance of the forums and the hosts/talk shows that you have on your channels. If you can't do that myself as well as others will simply not watch your channels. And I know for a fact that there are many others who feel the same way that I know.

Signed Frustrated Viewer in Minnesota LAA.

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