After-the-fact DNC Blogging, Monday 7/26, Part 3:  In Which I Am Still Really Close to Very Famous People
 
Now, the junior Senator from the Great State of New York.  (Or, as was said on Election Night 2000:  Poor Chuck Schumer, the new junior Senator from New York.)  Hillary is a better speaker than I had thought, although she's only here to introduce Da Man, which she carries off with style.  Bill appears a few seconds before you're ready, because she skips a big windup of "here-he-is-the-forty-second-President-of-the-United-States-Bill-Clinton", and he just wanders out while she's still saying the last few words, and the sound system slams into his song, his "Thanks for the Memories":  "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow!" and damn, he is the first rock star President, and he looks great, and it seems impossible to believe that there was ever an instant in 1992 when it wasn't obvious that George H.W. Bush was dead meat.

And he gives the speech, and I'm following from the prompter again, and I realize he's not following.  He's riffing, adding, rewriting. One example:  the prompter has

Democrats and Republicans have very different and honestly held ideas about what choices we should make.

which Clinton changes to

Democrats and Republicans have very different and deeply felt ideas about what choices we should make.

Later, I realize that he had a paper copy in front of him as well, so he may have rewritten it before he spoke but after the speech went into the prompter; but Clinton's independence from the prompter is legendary anyway, so I'm going to insist on believing what I like.

Other than that -- you've probably already seen the speech, so you don't need me to tell you.

And then he's done, and here's Patti LaBelle, and my back is killing me, so I'm done.  A couple of pics to follow.


- posted by Don Porges @ 7/27/2004 02:35:00 AM |