Originally Posted: July 27, 2016
The final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia is supposed to be all about presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, but she is in danger of being overshadowed by guests at her own party.
By scheduling former President Bill Clinton to speak on Tuesday and President Obama to address the convention on the eve of her acceptance speech, Clinton and her running mate, former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, must now compete with two of their party’s most celebrated public speakers.
“Hillary Clinton is not a good speaker,” political commentator Jon Ralston told the Washington Examiner’s media desk. “She has to worry about being overshadowed by two of the best speakers her party has ever seen.”
“She is just not a dynamic speaker,” he added. “I’ve seen her when she gives pretty good speeches. But generally she … is just not nearly as dynamic as either Obama or Clinton.”
J. Matthew Wilson, a professor of political science at the Southern Methodist University, agreed, and told the Examiner separately that the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential ticket stands a good chance of being outdone by guests at the convention in Philadelphia.
“Neither Hillary Clinton nor Tim Kaine is renowned as a particularly powerful orator,” he said, adding, “There is definitely a danger that Obama and Clinton overshadow Clinton and Kaine, particularly given that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are both regarded as good speakers.”
“Hillary Clinton does not have the rhetorical gifts of either the two former presidents. And that’s a comparison some people will draw,” Wilson said.
Bill Clinton spoke Tuesday evening at the Democratic convention, and delivered a lengthy address in which he praised the former secretary of state as a progressive trailblazer.
Though his prepared remarks drew some mild media criticism, they provoked deafening cheers and applause from the audience inside the Wells Fargo Convention Center. READ MORE