>> obama need to say to help seal the deal with the small percentage of undecided. our experts are back. good to see both you. james , let me start with you. last night we saw president clinton delivering a point by point take down of the romney/ryan ticket the night before the house absolutely went wild and i think a lot of the tv audience did as well for michelle obama . how high is the bar tonight for barack obama ?
>> i think, to my mind it's a mistake to think of this as some kind of a challenge. the sign of confidence in the speaker is he can ride on the accomplishments of his earlier acts. great to have bill clinton give a wonderful speech but he's giving it for barack obama . he should act entirely at ease about that and recognize the two big speeches two previous nights set things up. michelle obama talked about him as a person in way he doesn't have to do himself. bill clinton delivered the critique of the republicans in a way that takes the burden off the president. what he can do now is show he's confident, ready, has something in mind to do for the next four years.
>> here's what david axelrod said about what we should dmooikt.
>> you're going to hear the president talk about where we need to go and the things we need to do. the big case president clinton made last night there are things we need to do together to move this country along and create greater opportunity, to shore up the middle class .
>> from your perspective, jonathan , what does the president need to do tonight?
>> i think if you're looking for a model for what the speech might look like you might look to ronald reagan 's convention speech in 1984 . president reagan set up the election as a contest between two very different visions for america. one that would take america back to where it was four years earlier, one that would take it forward where president reagan was taking it. in recent months you've seen president obama setting up a very similar argument. the challenge is that while he can point out how fearful americans were four years ago, can he give them a reason to feel hopeful about the next four years and that's where it would be very helpful to say something new, something different that americans have not heard yet but, of course, at this stage in the presidency it becomes very difficult to say something new because americans already know president obama so well and already have such well formed opinions about him.
>> one of the things, james , about ronald reagan there were so many memorable lines he had in his speeches over the years and he delivered them so well. when you sit down to write a speech like this of this importance and when this big of an audience at this point in the campaign do you say this is the killer line, this is what people will remember, this is what the morning shows will play tomorrow, or do you look at the big picture and hope one of them clicks. where you go when crafting a speech like this?
>> it's a combination of those things and when you're writing a speech you do have a very clear sense what is meant. the applause lines. it's interesting president obama 's strengths as a speaker are usually in the long form as opposed to a sound bite . his speech about race was a powerful one but very few people can remember an actual line from it. the main line you can remember from his 2004 democratic convention speech that propelled him to national attention was not red states or blue states but the united states of america and he didn't even say those words in just that form. that's what we remember. for the president it's a matter of making the case, especially on the point of hope. maybe the most valuable thing that bill clinton did for him last night was saying hey we got this far. things are still tough but we're on the verge of programs that will pay off this coming four years, believe me president clinton said. that's the baton that president obama can pick up and carry.
>> jonathan , beyond those little phrases that can be so important and that people can talk about or can remember, there's a bigger feeling that people do tend to take away from speeches at least if they sit and watch the whole thing and one of the criticisms of mitt romney 's speech it was short on specifics. the president has said himself that he intends to tell the american people much more specifically what he intends to do. does he need to do that and if so how much perspectivity? -- specificity?
>> the most common criticism after any political speech it should have been more specific. no one will say that about president clinton 's speech last night. but in general is this a convention speech not a state of the union . it's a mistake for president obama to go through line by line saying what policies he would spell out. i would try to go for something more inspiring, something that's going to gesture back towards what americans liked about president obama so much in 2008 . try to recapture some of the excitement. one possibility for an ending to the speech, for example, would be to point towards an anniversary that we're approaching in this country which is the 150th anniversary of the preliminary emancipation proclamation and it's an example of a courageous presidential decision and i think as president obama stands up there as the first african- american president accepting a renomination bid in a former state of the confederacy, still a formidable story obama has to tell and a story americans are interested in hearing and believing it.
>> jonathan , interesting stuff. james , always great to have you on the program as well. thank
>> i think, to my mind it's a mistake to think of this as some kind of a challenge. the sign of confidence in the speaker is he can ride on the accomplishments of his earlier acts. great to have bill clinton give a wonderful speech but he's giving it for barack obama . he should act entirely at ease about that and recognize the two big speeches two previous nights set things up. michelle obama talked about him as a person in way he doesn't have to do himself. bill clinton delivered the critique of the republicans in a way that takes the burden off the president. what he can do now is show he's confident, ready, has something in mind to do for the next four years.
>> here's what david axelrod said about what we should dmooikt.
>> you're going to hear the president talk about where we need to go and the things we need to do. the big case president clinton made last night there are things we need to do together to move this country along and create greater opportunity, to shore up the middle class .
>> from your perspective, jonathan , what does the president need to do tonight?
>> i think if you're looking for a model for what the speech might look like you might look to ronald reagan 's convention speech in 1984 . president reagan set up the election as a contest between two very different visions for america. one that would take america back to where it was four years earlier, one that would take it forward where president reagan was taking it. in recent months you've seen president obama setting up a very similar argument. the challenge is that while he can point out how fearful americans were four years ago, can he give them a reason to feel hopeful about the next four years and that's where it would be very helpful to say something new, something different that americans have not heard yet but, of course, at this stage in the presidency it becomes very difficult to say something new because americans already know president obama so well and already have such well formed opinions about him.
>> one of the things, james , about ronald reagan there were so many memorable lines he had in his speeches over the years and he delivered them so well. when you sit down to write a speech like this of this importance and when this big of an audience at this point in the campaign do you say this is the killer line, this is what people will remember, this is what the morning shows will play tomorrow, or do you look at the big picture and hope one of them clicks. where you go when crafting a speech like this?
>> it's a combination of those things and when you're writing a speech you do have a very clear sense what is meant. the applause lines. it's interesting president obama 's strengths as a speaker are usually in the long form as opposed to a sound bite . his speech about race was a powerful one but very few people can remember an actual line from it. the main line you can remember from his 2004 democratic convention speech that propelled him to national attention was not red states or blue states but the united states of america and he didn't even say those words in just that form. that's what we remember. for the president it's a matter of making the case, especially on the point of hope. maybe the most valuable thing that bill clinton did for him last night was saying hey we got this far. things are still tough but we're on the verge of programs that will pay off this coming four years, believe me president clinton said. that's the baton that president obama can pick up and carry.
>> jonathan , beyond those little phrases that can be so important and that people can talk about or can remember, there's a bigger feeling that people do tend to take away from speeches at least if they sit and watch the whole thing and one of the criticisms of mitt romney 's speech it was short on specifics. the president has said himself that he intends to tell the american people much more specifically what he intends to do. does he need to do that and if so how much perspectivity? -- specificity?
>> the most common criticism after any political speech it should have been more specific. no one will say that about president clinton 's speech last night. but in general is this a convention speech not a state of the union . it's a mistake for president obama to go through line by line saying what policies he would spell out. i would try to go for something more inspiring, something that's going to gesture back towards what americans liked about president obama so much in 2008 . try to recapture some of the excitement. one possibility for an ending to the speech, for example, would be to point towards an anniversary that we're approaching in this country which is the 150th anniversary of the preliminary emancipation proclamation and it's an example of a courageous presidential decision and i think as president obama stands up there as the first african- american president accepting a renomination bid in a former state of the confederacy, still a formidable story obama has to tell and a story americans are interested in hearing and believing it.
>> jonathan , interesting stuff. james , always great to have you on the program as well. thank