Hillary Clinton, commentators agreed, needed to hit it out of the park with her speech last night. She went into her convention either tied with Donald Trump or perhaps even slightly behind. Stalwarts of her party like the Obamas, Cory Booker, and her own husband put three runners on base by giving great speeches that offered compelling reasons for independents, and maybe even some Republicans, to vote against Trump. If she could hit a home run with her speech, she could put this game away. If she didn’t … well, at the very least, we were in for a long slog.
She didn’t homer. Loyal Hillary Clinton fans praised her for … “saying what she needed to.” That’s not praise you give a great speech. That’s praise you give sixth graders who have just turned in their first five-paragraph essay.
