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The difference between the video introducing Hillary Clinton and the speech she gave was palpable. In the video, seemingly shot in her house, she was natural and winning. In the speech — projecting into an arena, the eyes of the nation on her and occasional rude chants trying to interrupt her — Hillary proved, again, to be a fairly tense and clunky orator.
That’s just who she is. Despite or perhaps because of armies of speech coaches over decades, she’s not a communicator with the gifts of her former President husband, or the current vice president, or the current President. Never will be. She’s flat. Every reach for emotion feels contrived.
But, but, but. A lack of preternaturally impressive speaking skills is not the worst handicap a leader can have. Donald Trump, after all, has true charisma at the podium, honed from years gesticulating before pro-wrestling crowds and the like; he uses it to spew lies and fear and false promises.
Despite how her opponents portray her, Hillary Clinton actually is a human with drive and passion and values. She has real strength as a tactically intelligent politician who understands policy.
That was all on display in the most important speech of her life.
It’s a year when angst and upset are America’s biggest surplus. They are out of proportion to the actual condition of the country. This is not to deny that major problems exist in America. Incomes have been stagnant for decades. ISIS terrorism is scary, as are cop killings and spikes in crime in a number of cities. And some cultural changes have left people destabilized.
The angst is real; if it were not, Donald Trump would not be the force he is.
Hillary made clear, as she had to, that the country is far healthier than Trump’s sickly caricature. But she also spoke directly to that sense of unease and pledged to meet the moment.
She said her core task would be to create “more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States,” and rattled off how she wants to do it.
Importantly, she reached across the ideological spectrum, saying “whatever party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all. If you share these beliefs, this is your campaign” — and then listing a litany of ways the parties can work together.
The passage of her speech on national security, ripping Trump for saying he knows more about ISIS than the generals do and for calling the military a disaster, was powerfully effective.
Especially when she said, “He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. … Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
Also appreciated: Hillary did not shy away from addressing gun violence, pledging with visible emotion to fight for sane restrictions to save lives.
The one thing she didn’t do: Say anything to close the trust gap that continues to give many Americans, even those with reservations about Trump, pause about voting for her.
Perhaps that’s something she’ll get in a setting where she communicates more effectively, like one of the debates with Trump.
In this exhausting year, they can’t come soon enough.