The Best Political Speech of the Past Decade

With many reflecting on the top of so and so in the past decade (congrats to ‘Nsync for having the best selling album with No Strings Attached and to Mariah Carey for earning the top song with We Belong Together), I thought I’d put my two cents on the top political speech of 2000-09.

When thinking about the best political speakers of the past decade two men instantly pop out. And while both these men can lay claim to holding the highest office in the land, it is a woman who won the honors of being the Best Political Speech of the Past Decade according to PolicyWithPop.com (aka me).

If Hillary Clinton had spoken like this during the primaries, she might be President today. Like her historic bid for the White House, Clinton’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech was epic. 

On that night, she had the awkward task of making the case for Barack Obama when a few weeks ago she was making the case against him in a heated primary. On top of that, she had to respond to criticism that she dragged out the primary because she refused to quit. Oh, and she was obligated to take jabs at the Republican nominee, John McCain. No other speaker had so much on his or her plate. And, Hillary rose to the occasion.

Known more for having a wonky speaking-style, Hillary employed passion, humor, and inspiration in this speech.

To make the case for Obama and call for unity in the Democratic Party, she connected the issues she ran on to Obama. By doing so, Hillary argued that Democrats should vote Obama for substantive reasons, while highlighting and associating her groundbreaking campaign with those causes.

With this speech, Hillary was able to reframe her campaign from the barrage of criticism that she had stayed in the primary for too long. “To my supporters, my champions – my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits - from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. You never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history,” said the future Secretary of State. She utilized her image as a fighter that never quits and emphasized the historic nature of her campaign.

Hillary also had some memorable zingers against her friend, John McCain. “No way. No how. No McCain” was probably the best condensed line of attack on the Republican nominee at the convention. And, of course, Hillary used the Bush card. After listing positions McCain and President George W. Bush shared, she humorously added, “With an agenda like that, it makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.”

But perhaps the highlight of her speech was when she quoted Harriet Tubman, a black female New Yorker who helped lead slaves to freedom. The symbolism of Harriet Tubman and her “keep going” message resonated on so many levels. It was a brilliant move.

Considering everything this speech had to do, it was well-crafted and executed excellently. Thus, Hillary Rodham Clinton earns PolicyWithPop.com's Best Political Speech of the Past Decade. Congrats, Madam Secretary!

Obviously, this is just one blogger’s pick for the best speech of the past decade. Is there another performance that I am missing? Who deserves the top honors in your ears?

Comments

[Jason]

Agreed. That speech rocked. And thank you for making me feel better about Hillary after reading the excerpts from the new Halperin Heilemann book. They have her measuring the Oval Office drapes in like 2006, or more specifically, choosing her transition chief without a plan for the primary. 'Course, they're also getting in trouble for failing to disclose any sources....

[-Nick]

Great speech, but not one that would make my top 10 list of the decade.

[EconKid]

I think we can all agree that it was a speech. Hillary is fading from relevency though.