Here’s what’s happened so far; here’s an explanation of the JJ. Hillary Clinton has taken the stage.
10:49 – Smack down of Obama! Here’s Clinton: “Change is just a word if you don’t have the strength and experience to make it happen. We must chose a nominee who has been tested and elect a president who is ready to lead on day one.”
10:51 – Clinton is emphasizing her experience in the White House. “As First Lady, I fought my heart out for health care.” She might not have won, she says, but she laid the ground work for the progress universal health care is making now. The Clinton crowd here is huge, and going absolutely bananas.
10:52 – “We love you, Hillary!!!!” shouts a girl behind me. The Clinton people have rally sticks, made popular at baseball games. They are very loud and very annoying.
More Clinton after the jump. Also, Obama. This is going to be good.
10:53 – This election, says Clinton, is about people who “feel invisible in their own country.” Clinton promises to wake up every single day and care about “every single one of us.” Behind Clinton, people are shining flashlights at a sign that says, “2013? 2013?” That’s a reference to the fact that Clinton said in a debate that she wouldn’t commit to having all troops home from Iraq by 2013.
10:55 – “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” Clinton says, in reference to the partisanship in Washington and the bitterness of presidential elections. “I feel really comfortable in the kitchen.” Huh.
10:57 – So the kitchen analogy is the explanation for the “TURN UP THE HEAT” slogan. Democrats are going to turn up the heat on Republicans on a number of issues. You see, Hillary has been through the fire. She doesn’t mind the high temperature of presidential spats. She can take the heat. In fact, she is going to TURN UP THE HEAT.
11:04 – Funny enough, Barack and Michelle Obama give Hillary Clinton’s “F*ck Bipartisanship” message a standing ovation.
11:08 – Barack Obama just took the stage and some dude screamed, “I LOVE YOU!” Obama responded, “And I love you back.” Huge cheers. People like love, it appears.
11:10 – “The same old Washington textbook campaigns just won’t do in this election,” says Obama. “Triangulating and poll-driven positions because we’re worried about what Mitt or Rudy might say about us, just won’t do.” Obama is finally breaking out the criticisms of Clinton that his campaign has been promising for so long.
11:16 – “A party that doesn’t offer just change as a slogan, but real, meaningful change. Change that America can believe in… That’s why I’m running for president of the United States of America! To offer change we can believe in!” Long, long standing ovation from the Obama folks. The crowd has ratcheted up the emotion in this speech to such a high degree that Obama has to shout his lines.
11:20 – Yikes. Obama just likened Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy to Bush and Cheney. Twice. The gloves are off. The gloves are officially off.
11:23 – An echo of the 2004 convention speech! “I don’t want to pit Blue America against Red America, I want to lead the United States of America.”
11:24 – Obama says that he is not in the election to “fulfill long-held ambitions.” Did I mention the gloves are off?
11:28 – The roof is on fire.
11:29 – Obama wraps up and the crowd, predictably, goes crazy. But for all the enthusiasm in the room—and there was A TON of enthusiasm—I’m not sure the speech actually earned it. It wasn’t his best. But that old 2004 convention speech set the bar pretty high…
11:140 – It’s over. Other than a handful of Edwards supporters who are still shouting, “Go, John, go!” everyone has left. Good night, loyal readers. All eight of you…
