Barack Obama: Passing the Baton

Philadelphia-President Obama and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine did something very smart Wednesday night.

Following reports Russian Federation hacked Democratic Party emails, Trump said he’d like to see Moscow find the thousands of emails Clinton deleted from the account she used as secretary of state. Another said she isn’t sure, but it won’t be for Clinton. Conceding disagreements on issues with Clinton and the Democratic platform, he emphatically endorsed her nevertheless. “If she comes across as authentic in her commitment to fight for the 99 percent and to keep the promises she’s made on the campaign trail… she will go a long way toward making the base of the party her base”.

“After it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team”, Obama said.

Rather, they were acknowledging that the passionately progressive campaign that Sanders ran this year secured more than 13 million votes, won 23 primary and caucus contests, and brought nearly 1,900 delegates to the convention floor.

Trump has suggested reviving waterboarding against captured extremists and imposing a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S.

Vice-President Joe Biden trashed Mr Trump’s claim to be a champion of the middle class, laying into the mogul’s reality television show catchphrase: “You’re fired!”

Speaking to delegates, Obama offered an alternative to businessman Trump’s vision of the United States as being under siege from illegal immigrants, crime and terrorism and losing its way in the world. “I’m a New Yorker and I know a con when I see one”.

Nodding to voters’ concerns, he will say he understands frustrations “with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions” and Islamic State-inspired attacks in Orlando, Florida, and Nice, France.

After the president’s speech, which was greeted with rapturous cheers and ovations, a beaming Clinton emerged on stage.

He spoke Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America”.

Obama, whose wife, Michelle, gave Clinton a rousing tribute at the convention on Monday, is scheduled to deliver his 30-minute speech at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT on Thursday). Clinton has turned to daughter Chelsea to perform that role for her. National security will be featured but not emphasized.

He said the 68-year-old former first lady and senator knew what it’s like to be in the room when tough epoch-making and presidency-breaking decisions were taken – like the move to strike Osama bin Laden.

For Democrats, the night was steeped in symbolism, the passing of the baton from a barrier-breaking president to a candidate trying to make history herself.

Clinton’s work in advancing the rights of women has been at the forefront of this convention, and women seem to be her loudest allies. By contrast, many prominent Republicans were absent from the party convention that nominated Trump for the White House last week.

Perhaps because the state’s Democratic congressional delegation has been united in its support for Clinton, Sanders delegates in Maryland have not taken part in the protests or walkouts that delegates from other states have organized.

On a sun-drenched stage under the Kimmel Center’s vaulted glass ceiling, women in politics and their supporters celebrated breaking through another glass ceiling: the one Hillary Clinton smashed after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination the previous day.

Democrats have largely been able to snuff out any real damage from the Bernie-or-bust crowd – but their chants over former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta blew a moment the party had planned all day.

Bloomberg, founder of the Bloomberg news and data service, was previously elected as a Republican and later became an independent.

Mr Trump, an worldwide property developer, has constantly talked up applying his business skills to run America’s economy.

Kaine, a US senator from Virginia picked as Clinton’s running mate last week, will also get a chance to present himself to the party and the country.