Bill Clinton Makes The Case For The ‘Best Darn Change-Maker’ He Has Met

Clinton closed by contrasting the woman he knows — the "real" Hillary Clinton — with the cartoon character he accused the Republicans of running against her. — Clinton closed by contrasting the woman he knows — the “real” Hillary Clinton — with the cartoon character he accused the Republicans of running against her.

If the first day of the Democratic National Convention focused on Bernie Sanders, the second day focused solely on Hillary Clinton.

The delegates made history early, nominating Clinton to be their candidate for the presidency — making her the first woman to top a major-party ticket in the United States.

Throughout the night speakers endorsed Clinton for being a fighter. They said she fought for New York after Sept. 11, for universal health care, for civil rights and for the little guy.

In the headline speech, former President Bill Clinton made the case for the woman he called the best “darn change-maker” he has ever met.

Hillary Clinton’s husband spoke about his wife’s life journey — from the young woman with “thick blond hair and big glasses” he met in law school to her experiences as a mother and a senator and as secretary of state.

Sometimes Bill Clinton got personal: He detailed how Hillary left him speechless and how he proposed two times before she said yes the third.

But most of his speech was focused on Clinton’s accomplishments as a public servant.

Bill Clinton painted a portrait of Hillary Clinton as a fighter who works relentlessly to make the world better.

“You could drop her in any trouble spot, pick one, come back in a month and somehow … she will have made it better,” Clinton said. “That is just who she is.”

Clinton closed by contrasting the woman he knows — the “real” Hillary Clinton — with the cartoon character he accused the Republicans of running against her.

The night did include echoes of the discontent that plagued the first night of the convention. After Clinton was officially nominated, some Sanders supporters staged a walkout and a silent sit-in to protest what they say is a rigged system.

But the proceedings continued and Hillary Clinton made an appearance on the big screen at the end of the night.

“I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling tonight,” Hillary Clinton said. And then she turned her attention to any little girls who had stayed up to watch.

“I may become the first woman president but one of you is next,” she said.

Update at 11:18 p.m. ET. Hillary Clinton Makes An Appearance:

The night ended with a dramatic nod to history being made Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys played “Superwoman” as photographs of all previous 44 presidents were shown on-screen.

After President Obama was shown, Hillary Clinton appeared via a live feed from New York.

“I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling tonight,” Clinton said. And then she turned her attention to any little girls who had stayed up to watch. “I may become the first woman president but one of you is next,” she said.

At the end of the night, Hillary Clinton addresses the convention via live feed from New York..... "I can't believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling tonight," Clinton said. And then she turned her attention to any little girls who had stayed up to watch. "I may become the first woman president but one of you is next," she said. — At the end of the night, Hillary Clinton addresses the convention via live feed from New York….. “I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling tonight,” Clinton said. And then she turned her attention to any little girls who had stayed up to watch. “I may become the first woman president but one of you is next,” she said.

Update at 10:54 p.m. ET. Bill Clinton Gets Personal:

Former President Bill Clinton delivered a speech long on biographical detail.

Clinton spoke about his wife’s journey — from a young woman with “thick blond hair and big glasses” he met in law school to her experiences as a mother and a senator and a secretary of state.

Sometimes he got personal: He detailed how she left him speechless and how he proposed two times before she said yes the third. But most of the speech was based on Clinton’s accomplishments as a public servant.

Bill Clinton painted a portrait of Hillary Clinton as a fighter who works relentlessly to make the world better.

“She’s the best darn change-maker I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Bill Clinton said.

Update at 10:12 p.m. ET. Bill Clinton Takes The Stage:

Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, opened his speech with this line: “In the spring of 1971, I met a girl.”

A teleprompter shows the beginning of Bill Clinton’s speech. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The former president then launched into a story of how he met Hillary Clinton, how he wooed her and asked her to marry him.

Update at 10:04 p.m. ET. Hillary Clinton, The Fighter:

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright really wrapped up what has been the theme of the night: Hillary Clinton is a fighter. She has fought for New York after Sept. 11, speakers said, for universal health care, for civil rights and for the little guy.

Albright said that when she first came to the United States, Harry Truman was her first American president.

“Let’s [elect] someone with Truman’s fighting spirit — Hillary Clinton,” Albright said.

Update at 9:39 p.m. ET. Dean Screams:

Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, delivered a very formal speech in which he detailed the policy differences between Clinton and Trump

“Donald Trump will take us back to a time when insurance companies can deny you coverage if you have a pre-existing condition, or he will take you back to a time where insurance can charge you more just because you were a woman,” he said. “And what is he going to replace this with? Quote — ‘Something so much better. Yuge,’ no doubt. That’s it. That’s the whole plan right there. Six-word plan for health care.”

Dean said that Clinton would “finish the job” on health care.

But Dean finally got the crowd excited when he did what he is known for: He screamed.

“This race is going to be won on the ground: in Colorado, and Iowa, and North Carolina, and Michigan, and Florida, and Ohio, and Pennsylvania,” he screamed. “And then we’re going to the White House.”

Update at 9:10 p.m. ET. ‘The Arc We Are On’:

We’re catching up a bit with a speech delivered by former Attorney General Eric Holder, who made the case for a president who can deal with complicated problems with nuance.

“At a time when the bonds between law enforcement and communities of color have frayed — when assassins target police in heinous attacks, and peaceful citizens have to question whether black lives truly matter, and they do, we need a president who understands the reality that I saw in my travels across our country as our nation’s 82nd attorney general,” Holder said.

"This election is about much more than politics," former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images — “This election is about much more than politics,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton, Holder said, will be the candidate who can end the mass incarceration of black men and who will take on what he called “systemic racism.”

“This election is about much more than politics,” Holder said. “It’s about the arc we are on, as a nation; the composition of our character, as a people; and the ideals — of equality, opportunity and justice — that have always made America great.”

Update at 8:49 p.m. ET. ‘Sure Took Y’all Long Enough’:

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, took on Donald Trump by saying that women would be his undoing come November.

“We’re going to be the reason you’re not elected,” Richards said.

And Richards conjured up the women who came before her.

Her great-grandmother grew up at time when women could not vote. But she saw her daughter, the late Ann Richards, be elected Texas governor.

“Tonight, we are closer than ever to putting a woman in the White House,” she said. “And I can almost hear Mom saying, ‘Well, it sure took y’all long enough.’ ”

Update at 8:36 p.m. ET. ‘Hillary Will Say Our Children’s Names’

With a darkened arena and to a standing ovation, nine mothers whose children died in high-profile incidents, many involving police officers, came onstage.

They all wore red flowers on their lapels and stood in a semicircle.

Geneva Reed-Veal (second from right) speaks about her support for Hillary Clinton and about her daughter, Sandra Bland, who was found dead in her jail cell last summer. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images — Geneva Reed-Veal (second from right) speaks about her support for Hillary Clinton and about her daughter, Sandra Bland, who was found dead in her jail cell last summer. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

“I am here with Hillary Clinton because she is a leader and a mother who will say our children’s name,” Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland, said.

Lucia McBath, Jordan Davis’ mother, said that Clinton isn’t “afraid to say that black lives matter.”

“She isn’t afraid to sit at a table with grieving mothers and bear the full force of our anguish. She doesn’t build walls around her heart,” McBath said.

“This isn’t about being politically correct,” Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, said in reference to Donald Trump. “This is about saving our children.”

Update at 8:17 p.m. ET. Blue Lives And Black Lives:

In a tone that is markedly different from the law-and-order one set at the Republican National Convention, Pittsburgh Chief of Police Cameron McLay made a case for dialogue.

He referenced both the killings of police and the killing of black men by police officers.

“We can support our police officers while at the same time making criminal justice reforms,” he said. “We can do both and we will do both.”

Update at 8:13 p.m. ET. A Lighter Moment:

Actress Elizabeth Banks provided the light moment of the evening, when she walked onstage the same way that Donald Trump did at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland — backlit and to the sound of Queen’s “We Are the Champions”.

Update at 8:07 p.m. ET. Historical Context:

Much like first lady Michelle Obama did yesterday, Donna Brazile, the incoming interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, put this election and Clinton into historical context.

“My friends, as a child, I sat in the back of the bus; I was told, time and time again, that God’s potential did not exist in people like me,” she said. “I’ve spent my life fighting to change that. And from the first day when I met Hillary Clinton, I’ve known that she’s someone who cares just as much and will fight just as hard for children.”

Ex-Clinton backer emerges as fierce Sanders surrogate

Turner said she’s not worried about having made an enemy out of one of the nation’s most powerful political dynasties.

Former Ohio state lawmaker Nina Turner has emerged as one of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s most prominent surrogates, adding another twist to a political career that has rankled the Democratic establishment at every turn.

Hardly a day goes by where the energetic Turner doesn’t appear on television, at a forum or at a rally touting Sanders’s record or defending him against criticism from rival Hillary Clinton

Turner is also one of several prominent African-American supporters working to help the Vermont senator make inroads with black voters, who have so far delivered huge victories to Clinton across the South and helped her build a substantial delegate lead.

Turner’s efforts are all the more surprising because she was once a Clinton supporter.

Former President Bill Clinton endorsed Turner’s 2014 run for Ohio secretary of State, and Turner worked as an unpaid volunteer for Ready for Hillary, the group that laid the groundwork for Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Last November, however, Turner switched allegiances, taking a leave of absence from a paid role with the Ohio Democratic Party to be an unpaid advocate for Sanders’s campaign.

“It came down to some soul-searching,” Turner said in an interview with The Hill. “It was actually my husband who said, ‘Baby, I think you should give Sen. Sanders a look. I believe he’s your candidate, because he has the same righteous indignation you have. He stands up for people the way you like to stand up for people.’ ”

Turner said she was at first emotionally drawn to Sanders, moved by his spirit and energy on the campaign trail.

But Turner said she became sold on Sanders when she realized their policy priorities were in alignment.

Turner was raised in Cleveland by a single mother on welfare who lacked access to adequate healthcare and died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Turner was 22 at the time, but her youngest sibling was only 12.

Last week, Sanders questioned whether Clinton was qualified to be president. Bill Clinton called the remark a case of “subconscious” sexism and said his wife is being held to a higher standard because she’s a woman. Turner countered that if that was an example of sexism, perhaps voters should look back to Hillary Clinton’s attacks against then-Sen. Barack Obama from their 2008 primary contests. “She intimated in the strongest way that he was unqualified. Is that racist?” Turner asked. “If they want to do the dance, let’s do the dance, because I was highly offended, as were African-Americans across this country.

The oldest of seven children, Turner emerged from those conditions to become the first in her family to graduate from college. Her son, a police officer in Cleveland, is now a second-generation college graduate.

Turner said universal healthcare and access to affordable higher education are two of her driving issues. She was spurred to back Sanders by his argument that healthcare is a human right and by his proposal to make college tuition at public universities free.

“It was the juxtaposition of my life and what I’ve had to endure so far and how Sen. Sanders stands up for the working poor,” Turner said.

In becoming an advocate for Sanders, Turner has completely turned her back on the Clintons.

In the interview with The Hill, Turner didn’t hold back, criticizing Bill and Hillary Clinton as overly eager to accuse Sanders of sexism.

“It’s desperate,” Turner said. “They really have some nerve.”

Last week, Sanders questioned whether Clinton was qualified to be president. Bill Clinton called the remark a case of “subconscious” sexism and said his wife is being held to a higher standard because she’s a woman.

Turner countered that if that was an example of sexism, perhaps voters should look back to Hillary Clinton’s attacks against then-Sen. Barack Obama from their 2008 primary contests.

“She intimated in the strongest way that he was unqualified. Is that racist?” Turner asked. “If they want to do the dance, let’s do the dance, because I was highly offended, as were African-Americans across this country.”

Turner also noted that Bill Clinton referred to one Black Lives Matter protester who confronted him at an event last week as “girl.”

“Was that sexist?” she asked. “Or is sexism only reserved for white women?”

And Turner rebuked Bill Clinton for getting into a heated exchange with those same Black Lives Matter protesters over the impact of the 1994 crime bill he signed into law. “It was horrible,” she said.

“You’re treating them in a way that’s not respectful to our feelings about these issues,” she continued. “You may not agree with how we feel, but that’s the way some of us feel … that those policies [Clinton] pushed, whether the crime bill or welfare reform, had a disproportionately negative impact on the African-American community that we still have not recovered from to this day.”

Turner said the transition from Clinton supporter to Sanders surrogate has been rough at times.

As a former card-carrying member of the Democratic establishment in Ohio — in addition to working for the state party, she has served as a Cleveland city councilwoman and state senator — Turner said she’s been ostracized by some of her former colleagues.

One woman, Turner said, openly reprimanded her at a Planned Parenthood event, saying she had an obligation to help elect the first woman president.

“It was heavy; it was really heavy,” Turner recalled. “I remember folks asking me if I was sure, do you have to do this? Some had concerns about my political future. That’s how serious this was.”

But Turner said she’s not worried about having made an enemy out of one of the nation’s most powerful political dynasties.

“I’ve been in this game a long time, and I’ve accomplished a lot in this world without the Clintons,” Turner, 48, said.

“All of the things I’ve accomplished, the Clintons were nowhere in it,” she continued. “So for me to cower in the corner and live in fear about what they may or may not do, that’s not me. My fate is controlled by the Almighty, and they are not the Almighty. They may have some influence on this Earth, but they are not the Almighty.” It’s not the first time Turner has bucked the establishment.

In 2011, she infuriated party leaders for mulling a primary challenge to Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), though she backed down.

Before that, she was the only black politician to endorse a Cuyahoga County government restructuring bill. A newspaper in the region with predominantly black readership ran an editorial cartoon depicting Turner as Aunt Jemima.

“That was the worst public thing to happen to me,” Turner said.

And Turner’s shift from Clinton to Sanders is also not the first time she’s foregone what looked like a sure thing in favor of a long shot.

Turner passed on running for reelection in her last year of eligibility for the state senate, opting instead to challenge incumbent Republican John Husted for secretary of State.

She got trounced in what was a big year for Republicans but emerged as a favorite to run for mayor of Cleveland in 2017.

“We’ll see,” Turner said, noting that she admires current Mayor Frank Jackson (D) and won’t challenge him if he seeks a fourth term.

“I’ve got my hands really full right now, and I’m really focused right now,” she said. “I’m humbled that so many people not just in my city, not just in my state, but all across the country really want to see me back in the elected ministry. I’d love to be back there.”

Bill Clinton responds to Black Lives Matter protesters

(CNN)Bill Clinton traded verbal shots in a feisty 15-minute exchange with Black Lives Matter protesters in Philadelphia on Thursday, as he defended his wife’s presidential bid.

The protesters shouted that “black youth are not super predators,” taking issue with a phrase then-first lady Hillary Clinton used in a 1996 speech about violent crime committed by young people. They heckled Bill Clinton for the 1994 crime bill he signed into law as president that cracked down on gangs but also put more non-violent offenders in prison for longer stays.

“You are defending the people who killed the lives you say matter,” the former president told protesters.

One protester’s signs declared, in an apparent reference to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, that “Hillary is a murderer.” The protesters repeatedly shouted over Clinton, ignoring his responses and invoking Clinton’s ties to Wall Street, as well.

In the exchange, Clinton repeatedly said, “I love protesters” — but complained that they wouldn’t let him respond. “Here’s the thing. I like protesters, but the ones that won’t let you answer are afraid of the truth. That’s a simple rule,” Clinton said.

Bill Clinton on Thursday responded to Black Lives Matter activists who began protesting at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Philadelphia.

He said the tougher criminal penalties were added on the advice of then-Sen. Joe Biden, who told Clinton they were necessary to get Republicans on board with the bill, which also included an assault weapons ban, more money for police officers and funding for out-of-school activities for inner-city children.

“I talked to a lot of African-American groups. They thought black lives mattered; they said take this bill because our kids are being shot in the street by gangs. We had 13-year-old kids planning their own funerals,” Clinton said.

He touted Hillary Clinton’s work on school desegregation in Alabama with the Children’s Defense Fund at age 27, saying she was instrumental to ending a practice that allowed white school leaders to exclude black students.

He also defended Hillary Clinton’s use of the phrase “super predators.”

“I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack, and sent them out in the streets to murder other African-American children,” the former president said. “Maybe you thought they were good citizens — she didn’t.”

Hillary Clinton was confronted by protesters earlier this year over the use of the term.

“They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super predators,'” Clinton said in a 1996 speech, when crime was a major public concern, according to polls at the time. “No conscience, no empathy, we can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”

After the protest incident in February, Clinton’s campaign put out a statement saying she shouldn’t have used those words.

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