Clinton Speech

She's not a brilliant orator, but in her better moments she has a way of making it work. Like tonight, she observes "politics isn't a game, it's about your lives and your problems." Then she goes off onto a whole list of kinds of people with kinds of problems that she's prepared to solve. In that context, she turns her very lack of rhetorical flourish into a kind of signifier of seriousness. She's speaking plainly and directly -- telling you what she wants to do for you if she wins -- and asking you to support her for clear-cut, concrete reasons. You don't vote for her because you want to hear from her at greater length, you vote for her because you want to see action.