Oral Exam

PREVIEW: Hillary Clinton's Speech
Posted 4:30 p.m. ET, Aug. 26

MICHAEL GERSON

Hillary lost, in part, because she's among the worst communicators of her party—unable to distinguish between genuine emotional intensity and a hectoring tone. She would help herself with self-deprecation and graciousness, while summarizing the economic and social discontents of her union and feminist constituents, who feel steamrollered by Obama's coalition of minorities, the young and the affluent.

MICHAEL WALDMAN

Often, the runner-up gives the best speech: Reagan, 1976; Kennedy, 1980; Buchanan, 1992. Hillary's talk demands deftness. Her speechmaking improved enormously month by month. She wants to shine, but can't simply give another campaign pitch. Rather, she should give a de facto keynote boosting Democratic themes—no need for timidity this year.  If she links her fight for "invisible Americans" with a rousing embrace of Obama, she helps herself, and him.

Day One: Michelle Obama
Posted 12:30 a.m. ET, Aug. 26

MICHAEL GERSON

Sorry to disappoint on this initial outing, but I found Michelle Obama impressive—confident, fluent and appealingly personal. The sharp political edge she has sometimes shown on the stump was nowhere in evidence. Instead, she told a compelling working-lass story and rooted her own considerable accomplishments in the American dream. She clearly brings a liberal sensitivity to a variety of issues, but, in this speech, it was the soft liberalism of service and community, not the hard liberalism of anger and radicalism.

The Obama girls, by the way, would clearly be the cutest occupants of the White House in American history. And, as a father myself, I don't think there is any more meaningful, heart-melting endorsement than "I love you, Daddy."

The political purpose of these remarks was simple—to refute the notion that Obama is a cool, Ivy League elitist by demonstrating all the elements of an ordinary, admirable life. But this sets up an interesting contrast. Some will find Obama's story appealingly typical. Democrats usually win on the poll question: "Does he care about people like me?" This very ordinariness, however, serves to highlight that, only a few years ago, Obama was a rather obscure member of the Illinois legislature. And this will do nothing to reassure people concerned about his inexperience.

The biographical difference with John McCain could hardly be more dramatic. McCain has lived one of the most extraordinary lives in American politics—a story shocking in its valor. And "cares about his country under torture" is also likely to have some appeal to Americans.

By the way, I was also glad to see tonight that one plot of the vast, right-wing conspiracy worked out better than anyone imagined. Former representative Jim Leach was supposed to be a Republican turncoat endorsing Obama. Actually, he was a particularly effective Republican plant, acting the part of a lost, doddering uncle who can never quite get to the point. The code phrase announcing the plot, by the way, was "a kilter."

MICHAEL WALDMAN

The first night was emotional and powerful, more than I expected. And yet ....