BILL CLINTON’S MINI-MARATHON SPEECH

Yesterday, Bill Clinton stood at the Democrat National Convention podium and spoke for a long time.  Longer than he should have (Mr. Clinton is no stranger to overly long speeches).

His purpose was to sell Hillary Clinton…with the first part talking about his earliest memories, from the time they met in 1971 (more on that date later), through their pre-marital period, and then as husband and wife – during which Mr. Clinton detailed his explanation of what a great, talented, accomplished person she is.

Did it work?

Let’s start at the end:  no it did not.  It couldn’t.

No matter how persuasive Bill Clinton may be as a speaker (and he was very, very good last night) opinions of Hillary Clinton have been built so strongly over so long a time that, for most people, they are set in stone.

Did it hurt Ms. Clinton?  In one respect it probably did.  And the reason – maybe the biggest problem with that speech – was, ironically enough, a chronological reality:  they met in 1971.

There are young voters who will read that and say to themselves “holy bleep, my GRANDMOTHER was born about then.  She’s old enough to be my GRANDMOTHER.”

It’s not that this information is unavailable, and not that it is at all surprising.  It’s that a lot of people just don’t think about it.  To them, Hillary is Hillary, period.

But by going there, Mr. Clinton provided them a stark reminder of just how old Hillary Clinton is and just who her contemporaries are.

Is Donald Trump in the same age range?  Yep, he’s even a couple of years older (Trump just turned 70 this year).

But, for whatever the reasons, a great many voters – male and female both – think of a man’s age differently than a woman’s age.

A great many think of an older man as more seasoned/experienced/wiser…and an older woman as just plain older.

Is it fair?  Nope.  Is it ridiculous?  Yep.

That said, however, it is also the way things are.  And, for this reason, the reference to Hillary Clinton was, to a large segment of these voters, probably a strong negative.

Then there is the fact that most voters have never thought much about Donald Trump in any way until this past year.  So opinions of him are mostly new, and still at the stage when they can be moved in one direction or another.

By contrast, Hillary has “been there forever”, and opinions about her are formed, hardened and matured.

This is why Bill Clinton’s mini-marathon speech, however chock full of homey anecdotes and positive references to wife Hillary, went over so well inside the convention hall…and, most likely, had little if any positive impact outside of it.