I listened to Hillary’s speech at the DNC in my car driving home from Strategic Planning class.  

First, I was struck by what a terrible speaker she is.  Without the art and artifice of the convention hall, choreographed cameras, and wide shots of adoring fans, speakers are left with only their tone, pitch, inflection, volume, thoughts, ideas, and syntax to carry the message.  Hillary Clinton lacked them all.

Her speech seemed short.  Not that I was pounding my steering wheel and yelling for more, but Chelsea’s preamble was about five minutes longer than the speech, and Chelsea’s voice was less grating.   

Hillary’s shots at McCain were predictable and weak.  She had a good line that ended with “and no McCain,” but she left a lot on the table by not reusing it.  Repeating that line would have given the speech a cadence it sorely lacked.

Her litany of 1960s era liberal Democrat “reforms” reminded everyone that the DNC thinks the Viet Nam war is still raging, Nixon is still in his first term, and Ronald Reagan still governor of California.  The party skipped the 1980s when America turned conservative by 60-40.  According to the Battleground States poll, question D.3., 58 to 61 percent of Americans have described themselves as conservative in 13 consecutive rounds of polling.  

Hillary’s “I support Obama” lines lacked any vocal sincerity, which is telling.  She was far more powerful in her description of the people she met on her campaign, her thanks to Chelsea for the introduction, and her recitation of her own curriculum vitae. When it came to Obama, she sounded . . . perfunctory.

The MSM will describe it as the greatest speech every given by a woman at Democrat convention.  They could right, but only if they didn’t hear Barbara Jordan’s in 1988.  

In reality, the woman with the highest negatives of any candidate for president in 2008 will do little to turn voters toward Obama.  Her graciousness and partly loyalty were admirable, her delivery unpleasant, and her sincerity lacking.  

Bottom Line:  In two nights, the Democrats have done nothing to improve Obama’s chances in November.