US President Barack Obama has implored voters to help continue his legacy by carrying Hillary Clinton to victory at the polls in November. Mr Obama praised Mrs Clinton at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, as the most qualified person ever to run for the White House. He said voters faced a choice between hope and fear, attacking “home-grown demagogue” Republican Donald Trump. Mr Trump responded by rejecting the president’s optimistic portrayal. “Our country does not feel ‘great already’ to the millions of wonderful people living in poverty, violence and despair,” he said on Twitter. Mr Obama recounted his key victories over his past eight years in office and painted an optimistic future. He extolled Mrs Clinton’s character, calling her a “leader with real plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American”. Mr Obama described his nation as “full of courage”, “decent and generous”, but also concerned about racial divisions and “frustrated with political gridlock”. President Obama is good at this. He’s really, really good at this. For all his flaws – and conservatives will be quick to point them out – he’s always been able to deliver a pitch-perfect speech on the biggest stages, and this was no exception. It was the kind of speech that had some conservatives shaking their heads, wondering how their party ceded the optimistic high ground to their opponents. Mr Obama even quoted Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” line, if only to make the political shift all the more clear. When he mentioned Mr Trump, there were boos. Mr Obama said: “Don’t boo, vote.” He said Mr Trump “calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say I know plenty of businessmen and women who have achieved remarkable success without leaving a trail of lawsuits and unpaid workers and people feeling like they got cheated.” Mr Obama added: “Does anyone really believe that a guy who spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion, your voice? No.” He said Mr Trump’s grim portrait of America was “not the America I know”. Praising the qualities of American people, Mr Obama said: “Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.” The former secretary of state joined him on stage for a hug after he finished speaking. Writing in the Washington Post, EJ Dionne Jr says that Mr Obama’s mission in his speech was to try “to safeguard his legacy by ensuring his time in the White House would not be seen by history as having culminated in the election of Donald Trump. And so he went to work, combining rational argument with evangelical exhortation in the classic Obama fashion”. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Shear in the New York Times recall Mr Obama’s speech at the 2004 convention that thrust him into the national spotlight, in which he rejected the “politics of cynicism”. His challenge now, they say, is “to find a way to acknowledge that the political divides he promised to bridge have only grown deeper and more acrimonious while arguing persuasively that the way to rise above them is to elect Mrs Clinton”. On the Politico website, Michael Hirsh says Wednesday’s speeches confirmed “a dramatic shift, perhaps even a reversal, of the roles the two major parties have been identified with for several decades. For the first time, perhaps, since Vietnam, the Democratic Party is now the party of national security expertise.” In his response, Mr Trump said in a statement that the Democrats had described a vision of America that did not exist for most people. Seventy percent of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track, said the hotel developer, who defied all predictions to win the Republican primary contest. “Never has a party been so disconnected from what is happening in our world.” Vice-President Joe Biden earlier delivered his own spirited address, saying Mr Trump “backs torture”, “religious intolerance” and “betrays our values”. “He has no clue about what makes America great,” Mr Biden said, before the crowd started chanting, “Not a clue!” Virginia Senator Tim Kaine took the stage to “humbly” accept his party’s nomination for vice-president and then also went on the attack. “Folks, you cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth,” he said. The crowd then erupted into chants of “Not one word!” Hillary Clinton will officially accept the nomination on Thursday, setting up an election fight with Mr Trump that will take them to the presidential election in November.–BBC Online
