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John Nichols: Clinton does his job with strong Obama endorsement

John Nichols  —  8/28/2008 8:15 am

DENVER -- Go figure.

On the night when Bill Clinton and Joe Biden delivered two of the Democratic National Convention's most anticipated addresses, the guy everyone was trying to forget delivered the strongest statement.

Former President Clinton got the warmest response yet for a convention speaker. And Clinton went right to the point of endorsing Barack Obama, the man who beat his wife Hillary for the Democratic nod.

Bill Clinton, whose relationship with Obama has been, uh, strained, delivered precisely the endorsement that was required after a bruising primary campaign.

"Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.

"He will work for an America with more partners and fewer adversaries. He will rebuild our frayed alliances and revitalize the international institutions which help to share the costs of the world's problems and to leverage our power and influence. He will put us back in the forefront of the world's fight to reduce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and to stop global warming. He will continue and enhance our nation's global leadership in an area in which I am deeply involved, the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, including a renewal of the battle against HIV/AIDS here at home. He will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort. But in a world troubled by terror; by trafficking in weapons, drugs and people; by human rights abuses; by other threats to our security, our interests, and our values, when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them.

"Barack Obama also will not allow the world's problems to obscure its opportunities. Everywhere, in rich and poor countries alike, hard-working people need good jobs; secure, affordable health care, food and energy; quality education for their children; and economically beneficial ways to fight global warming. These challenges cry out for American ideas and American innovation. When Barack Obama unleashes them, America will save lives, win new allies, open new markets and create new jobs for our people."

Biden landed some blows on Republican nominee John McCain.

"John McCain is my friend. We've known each other for three decades. We've traveled the world together. It's a friendship that goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John demonstrated still amaze me.

"But I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country. For example, John thinks that during the Bush years 'we've made great progress economically.' I think it's been abysmal."

But neither Clinton nor Biden offered rhetoric so edgy or so effective as that coming from John Kerry.

Yes, John Kerry.

The 2004 Democratic nominee for president -- who was bluntly informed by grass-roots activists that they did not want him to run again in 2008 -- might not have gained a prime-time speaking spot at the convention except for the fact of the Massachusetts senator's early and enthusiastic support of Obama.

But Kerry did more with his time at the podium than Clinton or Biden, who has seemed oddly constrained since his selection as Obama's vice presidential running mate.

Kerry savaged McCain.

"I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.

"Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it.

"Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what's more, Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same Rove tactics and the same Rove staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove/McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008."

But he also distinguished Obama from McCain more thoroughly, and effectively, than any other convention speaker.

"So remember, when we choose a commander in chief this November, we are electing judgment and character, not years in the Senate or years on this Earth. Time and again, Barack Obama has seen further, thought harder, and listened better. And time and again, Barack Obama has been proven right.

"When John McCain stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier just three months after 9/11 and proclaimed, 'Next up, Baghdad!' Barack Obama saw, even then, an occupation of 'undetermined length, undetermined cost, undetermined consequences' that would 'only fan the flames of the Middle East.' Well, guess what? Mission accomplished.

"So who can we trust to keep America safe? When Barack Obama promised to honor the best traditions of both parties and talk to our enemies, John McCain scoffed. George Bush called it 'the soft comfort of appeasement.' But today, Bush's diplomats are doing exactly what Obama said: talking with Iran.

"So who can we trust to keep America safe? When democracy rolled out of Russia, and the tanks rolled into Georgia, we saw John McCain respond immediately with the outdated thinking of the Cold War. Barack Obama responded like a statesman of the 21st century.

"So who can we trust to keep America safe? When we called for a timetable to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, John McCain called it 'cut and run.' But today, even President Bush has seen the light. He and Prime Minister Maliki agree on -- guess what? -- a timetable."

If Democrats are looking for a template to apply in the fall campaign, they could do no better than the one Kerry offered them Wednesday night. Indeed, had Kerry been as aggressive as this in 2004, this week's convention might well be nominating him for a second term.

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times.

John Nichols  —  8/28/2008 8:15 am