Minute by Minute: Clinton’s Concession Speech

9:30 - This was supposed to start at 9:00, i’m not sure what’s taking her so long.

9:50 - This is sounding a lot like John Edwards’ rhetorical style in that she’s telling individual stories that Obama co-opted but Clinton hasn’t really used much.

9:54 - It’s a good speech thus far, possibly the best one she’s given.

9:55 - Finally mentions Obama, endorses him strongly. The crowd is very receptive, but it’s not hard to get a 10,000 person crowd to cheer.

9:56 - She lost her mojo and enthusiasm for a spell. I have to imagine that this must be an emotional speech to give.

9:59 - This seems like it’s mainly a typical campaign speech in many ways. Not much mention of concession or Obama, though those two facts are the pink elephant in the room. Apparently now her experience in politics (which is actually only 7 years) has now swollen to “four decades.”

10:01 - The most notable thing about this speech is that it lacks many of her own rhetorical techniques. It’s not so much the substance that says “my campaign is ending,” it’s the style.

10:03 - Has started a refrain of “And that is why must help elect Barack Obama as president,” which shows shades of Obama rhetoric (he’s used a lot of refrains, “yes we can,” “that’s just not true,” “shame on them,” etc).

10:05 - She seems to be hinting at vp right now, the way she’s mentioning “Obama and I.”

10:08 - If Hillary spoke like this the entire campaign, Obama would have never had a chance. Clearly her speechwriters are capable of it, but I guess they didn’t think that optimistic/warm/friendly was an appealing campaign style.

10:15 - On the news-crawl, John Edwards, widely thought of as the best choice to be Obama’s vp, has ruled out being Obama’s running mate.

10:17 - Speech comes to a close. Nothing groundbreaking or unexpected in here, but it was probably the most memorable speech of her campaign. Now the question is whether she’ll go around and campaign for him.

No comments yet.

Leave a Comment

All comments are moderated. If your comment contains profanity or libelous content, please don't waste our time.

Name: Some basic HTML allowed

Your comment will be posted when it is approved.