Clinton Seeks to Unify Party at Convention

Last night, Bill Clinton spoke to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. Before the speech, Clinton didn't seem to be fully behind Obama as a candidate. This was partially because he had previously supported his wife, Hilary Clinton, in her effort to become president, and also because he had been unwilling to answer questions when asked if he thought that Barack was ready to assume the presidency. In fact, he avoided a question from an ABC reporter asking just that. He said, "You could argue that no one's ever ready to be president."

However, after the speech was delivered, there could be no doubt that the former president now stands behind the soon-to-be Democratic nominee. During his speech, he said "Clearly, the job of the next president is to rebuild the American dream and to restore American leadership in the world... [and] Barack Obama is the man for this job."

By setting aside the differences between himself and Obama, Clinton was trying to unite the party behind a single candidate in order to ensure that a Democrat was elected to the White House in November. This alone will not be enough to win Obama the presidency, though. According to Andrew Dowdle, assistant professor of political sciences at the University of Arkansas, "The Democrats need to win the independents and the undecided voters to take the White House, and those people likely weren't even watching this convention." Dowdle says that Obama will need to continue to tour the country and make the American people familiar with him and his policies if he wishes to gain the White House. A few electrifying speeches at the Convention alone will not be enough to push him over the top.

Clearly, Obama still has a ways to go, but the action at the Democratic National Convention was no small part of what will need to happen for Obama to win. The Convention continues tonight when Barack will formally accept the Democratic nomination and deliver a speech of his own.