TJ Walker breaks down Obama's 2016 Democratic Convention speech, giving it a C by Obama's standards. He praises the endorsement of Clinton and reflection on eight years in office, but notes the delivery was unusually relaxed and jaunty for the moment.
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President Obama addressed the 2016 Democratic convention this evening in Philadelphia. How did he do? Well, by the standards of President Obama, I would have to give it a C. But what I mean by that is it was his average speech, and his average speech at big events like this, whether it's State of the Union or political conventions, is great. It's an A by anyone else's standard. He did what he wanted to do and what he needed to do. He made a strong, strong, ringing endorsement of his own administration and that, in fact, he and his team had been good stewards of the United States over the last eight years, that Hillary Clinton had been a part of that, that the United States is better off than it was eight years ago, and there's no reason to turn back now. Stylistically, there were a few differences in his speech. President Obama typically does come across as relaxed, conversational, comfortable. But I've never seen him as relaxed as I saw him tonight at a big major event. If he had been any more relaxed, he would have had his feet on the table. He seemed that relaxed. It's kind of like seniors in high school who've already gotten into their college of choice and they just don't really care about their grades for the last. They're not going to do anything crazy. But there's just a complete relaxed attitude atmosphere. The smile on his face was bigger than usual. The jaunty tone of his voice just had a lot more fun in it. And you could tell he was having the time of his life and feeling no pressure. His name is not on the ballot. He clearly wants Hillary Clinton to win. He does believe that his legacy is dependent on it. That Donald Trump comes into power will completely eliminate and erase everything he's accomplished for the last eight years, essentially nullifying his presidency. So he does care, but there is definitely less pressure when it's not your name on the ballot. He came across as quite genuine and sincere with his endorsement of Hillary, who did not seem in any way perfunctory. There are those who, well, remember the bitterness of the 2008 campaign between President Obama, then Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. That seems like a distant. It seems more like 20 years ago and not eight years ago. They've patched things up. And if it's one thing that Obama stressed, you saw this from Senator Kaine and others, is that the people who work with Hillary really like her. They respect her. They all say the same things. She's incredibly hard working. She does more homework than anyone else. She listens better than anyone else. She is sincere. She's focused over the long term on big goals. That's not the kind of thing you can just write in someone's speech and have them say. That's not something you can just get from a messaging guru or a PR person. Can't just come up with that and have senior level politicians all hitting those same themes and have it come across as sincere. So President Obama did his part. Definitely. The Clinton campaign is extraordinarily happy with President Obama's endorsement. Will he sway many votes at this point? Again, like all of these speeches, it's too soon to tell. The real time to tell is going to be probably mid August after all the hubbub over both conventions has subsided. And of course, the real telling day will be on election day. I'm T.J. walker. Thanks for joining me.
