up and arguing the other side. the other thing i want to say quickly, we have had a mini debate this week over why the democrats moved this convention, moved barack obama s acceptance speech with a lot of republicans saying they were afraid they couldn t fill up the stadium. if you want to know whether that s a legit explanation, take a look at howard fineman. this man literally got drenched walking here. five minutes ago. i don t think the democrats want any part of this tonight. there are two or three people working on my suit jacket with hair dryers back there. i was wondering where that was. howard, what do you think? is barack obama tonight going to be more of the base motivator or more of the bill clinton? well, i think he s the simple answer is that he s going to try to blend the two. i think it s a little bit of a false division between the obama governing philosophy and the clinton governing philosophy. barack obama has not been the left winger as president that a lot
former president. so what does president obama need to do in the speech tonight? i think it s important to look at what the last two big headline speakers have done. for michelle obama it was reintroducing her husband as a guy you like, even if you don t like the job he s doing. it was a total contrast to mitt romney. i m michelle obama, i m married to a guy i love. bill clinton, a sharp policy critiquer for republicans. one thing after another, facts and statistics. i think barack obama has to say, where will i lead you? we have heard so much in the last few weeks and months about things could be worse if someone else was in charge. if the republicans come back, it ll get even worse. really, at a convention like this, this is your big moment. you have to lead and lean forward and say, this is how i m going to lead and where i m going to take you. i agree with that, and i think the question is not just in terms of the policy vision for the next four years, but let s say the america
episode of madmen. after all, mitt romney s the guy who said corporations are people. no, governor romney, corporations are not people. listen to every other speech that you ve heard at this convention. it doesn t sound anything like bill clinton. bill clinton didn t attack bain, didn t attack business, didn t talk about abortion, didn t talk about gay marriage. he s talking about he s speaking like it s 1999. it s going to come down to ten states. some of them have a lot of people who are in the middle, who are authentically undecided. so what s the work at the dnc this week? a pitch to the middle or throwing a bone to the base? let s ask howard fineman. welcome, howard. hi, glad to be with you. good to have you. what are people going to remember from this dnc? is it going to be the so-called
of see elizabeth warren sharing a similar model with, and i was having trouble coming up with one. so i would just say i think there is a little bit of a gender issue there in the way that she s being perceived. krystal, by the way, there s a generational issue. massachusetts has an abysmal truck record when it comes to electing female candidates. i think elizabeth warren is probably running against that too. here s a great segue. if you sought my rant yesterday and watched the dnc, you d know that former president bill clinton has come a long way from his first democratic convention back in 1988. when mike the dukaukas was the nominee. i had the fortunate to meet up with him last night right here on the convention floor in charlotte. here s what he told me about his own experience nearly a quarter century ago and what president obama can learn from it right now. you did have a very successful convention. you were 17 points ahead when
you came out. republicans last week, we can see now, there was no bounce coming out of that convention. what is the key for democrats this week to get a real bounce out of this convention? what s been happening here? i think it s been a well-put together convention. i think people are up. what would define a successful speech? he has to remind people of what created this mess. you know, i m a depression baby. i remember fdr. he never let us forget herbert hoover and hoover economics for a long, long time. it s very important people understand who created this thing and what kind of a mess the president created. secondly, he s got to lay out his plans for the future. third, i think he s got to talk about romney s record in massachusetts when it came to job creation. the fourth worst in the country. that s an important message to get out there. i dent thion t think many ameri know that. by the way, the entire interview is going to be on our website later. thecycle .msnbc.com.