Hillary's Redemption

OK, so I take back some of those nasty things I said about Hillary Clinton.

I have to give her credit for playing the good soldier on Tuesday night in her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She said everything she needed to say to help unite the party behind Barack Obama, and she said it with grace and sincerity.

After a contentious primary season in which her legalistic maneuvers often served to engender mistrust among Obama voters, Clinton showed a different side on Tuesday. She challenged her followers to look inside themselves to put aside any feelings of bitterness or spite and do what's best for the party and the country.

She spelled out the case for Obama and against McCain. And she did it early and often in her speech. It took a very big person to throw that much support behind a one-time rival, and she should be commended.

Furthermore, when she said the words "health care" -- after she was out of the running, with nothing politically to gain from it -- I understood for the first time how deeply she feels about this issue. I still disagree with her plan to fix it, as I think it is too heavy on theory and wouldn't work in the real world, but that's just an honest difference of opinion.

And maybe her role in the health care debate could be outside of government. Not everyone can best serve through elected office. Look at Jimmy Carter, whose greatest contribution to America -- Habitat for Humanity -- had nothing to do with his time as president. Perhaps Clinton's role in health care is to continue to focus a spotlight on it until it is fixed.

One more thing I have to give her credit for: Hers was the best speech of the convention so far. Mark Warner's keynote speech was well-conceived but flat on delivery. Dennis Kucinich's fiery oratory came four years too late to make him relevant to the presidential election process. Brian Schweitzer (no relation) was entertaining and Michelle Obama gave a strong speech, but Clinton takes top billing.

At least until Thursday. We all know that Barack Obama, in front of 76,000 screaming sheep, is going to set the sky on fire at Invesco Field on Thursday. And that's fine; perhaps he'll start to slowly pick up support from the former Clinton voters he needs so badly. But that task would have been much more difficult without Clinton laying the groundwork Tuesday night.