[h=3]By Gary Strauss, David Jackson and Richard Wolf, USA TODAY[/h]Updated
CHARLOTTE – How does President Obama top the rousing speech by former president Bill Clinton to close the Democratic National Convention?
Delegates hold up signs during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Wednesday.
He probably won't. And may not have to.
Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of the Democratic convention and mayor of Los Angeles, suggested Thursday that Obama's track record would suffice, especially after first lady Michelle Obama's prime-time speech Tuesday and Clinton's oratory Wednesday.
Clinton delivered an often folksy, often eloquent argument for Obama's re-election, burnishing Obama's muddled track record on the economy and laying out a road map for the future. The former president was an adversary when his wife, Hillary, was Obama's chief rival in the 2008 race for the Democratic nomination. Wednesday, Clinton appeared more like First Friend, receiving several standing ovations and raucous applause from a packed Time Warner Cable Arena crowd making a compelling case for Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Over the past two days, there's been plenty of Romney bashing by a stream of politicians, former CEOs, even former employees of Bain Capital, the private venture capital firm that made the GOP contender a multimillionaire. But Clinton made the convention's most compelling case for Obama.
Villaraigosa predicted Obama, scheduled to take the stage after 10 p.m. ET Thursday, would be positive, hopeful and optimistic.
Speaking of the convention appearances by the first lady and former president, former Democratic Party chairman Ed Rendell said: "The beauty of Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton is they stoked the base.''
Obama's campaign is previewing Thursday night's convention speech with a video entitled "Promises Kept."
"From cutting taxes for middle-class families to bringing about comprehensive health care reform to re-investing in education and infrastructure, President Obama has kept his promise to rebuild America for millions of families," said the Obama campaign in an e-mail including the video.
Obama senior adviser David Plouffe said the president would give voters "a very clear sense of where he thinks the country needs to go economically, the path we need to take."
Appearing on morning talk shows, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said Clinton's speech had set out the economic choices, "so now the president can talk about the future having some of that underbrush out of the way."
The president's speech was moved from cavernous outdoor Bank of America stadium to the much smaller Time Warner arena due to forecasts of severe weather, disappointing thousands of Obama supporters who expected to attend.
In a Thursday afternoon conference call, Obama expressed regrets to supporters who will be shut out from his acceptance speech.
"The problem was a safety issue," Obama said. "I couldn't ask you, volunteers, first-responders … to subject yourself to the risks of a severe thunderstorm."
The president also noted that many of the supporters, who earned tickets by volunteering for the campaign, may have traveled long distances to Charlotte at significant expense.
"My main message is we can't let a little thunder and lightning get us down," said Obama, who encouraged displaced supporters to join convention-watch parties throughout the region. "We just got to roll with it."
Contributing: Aamer Madhani and the Associated Press
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CHARLOTTE – How does President Obama top the rousing speech by former president Bill Clinton to close the Democratic National Convention?
By Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Delegates hold up signs during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Wednesday.
Delegates hold up signs during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Wednesday.
He probably won't. And may not have to.
Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of the Democratic convention and mayor of Los Angeles, suggested Thursday that Obama's track record would suffice, especially after first lady Michelle Obama's prime-time speech Tuesday and Clinton's oratory Wednesday.
- [h=3]MORE: Full coverage of the DNC[/h]
- [h=3]PHOTOS: Top images from Charlotte[/h]
Clinton delivered an often folksy, often eloquent argument for Obama's re-election, burnishing Obama's muddled track record on the economy and laying out a road map for the future. The former president was an adversary when his wife, Hillary, was Obama's chief rival in the 2008 race for the Democratic nomination. Wednesday, Clinton appeared more like First Friend, receiving several standing ovations and raucous applause from a packed Time Warner Cable Arena crowd making a compelling case for Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Over the past two days, there's been plenty of Romney bashing by a stream of politicians, former CEOs, even former employees of Bain Capital, the private venture capital firm that made the GOP contender a multimillionaire. But Clinton made the convention's most compelling case for Obama.
Villaraigosa predicted Obama, scheduled to take the stage after 10 p.m. ET Thursday, would be positive, hopeful and optimistic.
Speaking of the convention appearances by the first lady and former president, former Democratic Party chairman Ed Rendell said: "The beauty of Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton is they stoked the base.''
Obama's campaign is previewing Thursday night's convention speech with a video entitled "Promises Kept."
"From cutting taxes for middle-class families to bringing about comprehensive health care reform to re-investing in education and infrastructure, President Obama has kept his promise to rebuild America for millions of families," said the Obama campaign in an e-mail including the video.
Obama senior adviser David Plouffe said the president would give voters "a very clear sense of where he thinks the country needs to go economically, the path we need to take."
Appearing on morning talk shows, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said Clinton's speech had set out the economic choices, "so now the president can talk about the future having some of that underbrush out of the way."
The president's speech was moved from cavernous outdoor Bank of America stadium to the much smaller Time Warner arena due to forecasts of severe weather, disappointing thousands of Obama supporters who expected to attend.
In a Thursday afternoon conference call, Obama expressed regrets to supporters who will be shut out from his acceptance speech.
"The problem was a safety issue," Obama said. "I couldn't ask you, volunteers, first-responders … to subject yourself to the risks of a severe thunderstorm."
The president also noted that many of the supporters, who earned tickets by volunteering for the campaign, may have traveled long distances to Charlotte at significant expense.
"My main message is we can't let a little thunder and lightning get us down," said Obama, who encouraged displaced supporters to join convention-watch parties throughout the region. "We just got to roll with it."
Contributing: Aamer Madhani and the Associated Press
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to [email protected]. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.