Hillary Clinton in Portsmouth
Joining the waiting crowd filling Pleasant Street felt like lining up to enter a Stones concert, straining for a glimpse of Bill and Hillary over everybody's heads, wishing I could tweak down the volume on the blaring music coming through speakers a few feet away.
Bill's introduction, so informal and relaxed that it was easy to pretend he was speaking to me personally, contrasted with Hillary's polished, businesslike, and carefully scripted material. This is not to say her words were ineffective, but she did present as less accessible than her husband, and less so than either Obama or Richardson (the other candidates I've seen).
The speech was full of reasoned rhetoric, some quotes too good to pass up, like, "We need to know when to stand our ground and when to find common ground," and, "We cannot expect to be the leader of the world if no one is following," both referring to America's loss of international respect and devaluing of diplomacy during the current administration. She proclaimed her "21st century progressive agenda" with an unsurprising list of 4 R's (restore America's stature in the world, rebuild the middle class, reform government, and reclaim the future for our children).
I found her speech to be predictably satisfying from my liberal perspective, yet lacking in substance, and left the evening wanting to know how she plans to achieve her goals. Perhaps I expect more from a stump speech than is normally provided. Needing to go to a web site to find out details left me frustrated and at the same time eager to research her platform further.
The thing that really gave me the shivers was something that I hadn't really anticipated. Near the end of her speech, Clinton mentioned hearing from parents that they come to rallies and lift their little girls up onto their shoulders, point to Hillary, and say, "Look at her! You too can do whatever you want in life because you are an American!" It truly is a great thing that we can have a female front runner for the American presidency. I'm not convinced yet that she's the best candidate, and remain undecided, but believe that Cinton has the chops to do the job.