COLUMBUS – Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has a delicate task ahead of her when she takes the stage tonight to make her case for the White House, according to an Ohio political expert.
The former secretary of state and first lady needs to reintroduce herself to the country as the person best suited for the presidency.
With some Bernie Sanders supporters still not on board and a fairly high unfavorable rating, political speech researcher, Randy Sparks says Clinton has a tough task ahead of her from a branding standpoint.
“She has the higher task of trying to win back trust,” said the University of Dayton professor. “She really has to present herself in a way that is, to some degree, kind of personal; but at the same time, she has to do so in a way that doesn’t make her appear to be weak, that doesn’t make her appear to be defensive.”
On Tuesday, Clinton made U-S history by becoming the first woman to secure the presidential nomination of a major party but the latest Gallup poll shows Hillary Clinton is viewed unfavorably by 57 percent of Americans.
Tonight, she will be introduced by her daughter, Chelsea.
Sparks notes that Clinton will need to draw a sharp contrast from her Republican opponent Donald Trump. He says Trump is using an angry tone to fire up supporters with the notion that he’s an outsider to a broken political system.
“Mrs. Clinton, on the other hand, is an insider; she has been part of the political system for a long time. And as a result, she has to adopt a tone that is more reassuring of the current situation – that truly, our country has problems, but it is not on the brink of collapse,” he said.
The Democratic National Convention has featured speeches from a slew of celebrities, activists and political hard-hitters including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, and former president Bill Clinton.