Editor’s note: This story was originally published at 11:10 p.m. on Monday, July 25, 2016.
PHILADELPHIA — Democrats opened their convention in Philadelphia on Monday with a series of high-profile endorsements of party nominee Hillary Clinton to be the next commander in chief, hailing her experience and condemning her rival’s uneven temperament.
“When you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips, and the military you command, you can’t make snap decisions,” said first lady Michelle Obama. “You can’t have a thin skin and a tendency to lash out.
“You need to be steady, and measured, and well informed.”
National security and defense issues largely took a back seat to themes of party unity for the first night of the four-day convention. Last week, in Cleveland, Republicans opened their convention with nearly four hours of discussion on terrorism, immigration and concerns about safety.
But Democratic organizers promised to strike a more hopeful tone in their national platform, and with numerous speakers refuting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s assertions that America’s standing in the world is in decline.
Michelle Obama, whose Joining Forces military outreach initiative has already been tapped as a legacy program by Clinton, offered an impassioned, sometimes tearful endorsement of her husband’s one-time primary rival, calling her an inspiration for all children and a responsible leader on the world’s stage.
“Hillary understands what being president is about,” she told the partisan crowd. “She knows our heroes are Americans of every color and creed who risk their lives to protect those blessings of liberty.”
Clinton’s biggest rival this election cycle, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, praised her experience and blasted Trump’s angry rhetoric as disqualifying for the top elected post in the country.
“Any objective observer will conclude that, based on her ideas and her leadership, Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,” Sanders said.
Sanders, the former chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called Trump’s proposal divisive for veterans and for America, praising Clinton as a uniting leader. Earlier in the day, Clinton laid out her VA reform proposals at the VFW convention in North Carolina, taking similar shots at the GOP candidate.
Other speakers at the Philadelphia convention launched similar attacks. The wife of a fallen soldier blasted Trump for victimizing military families with his for-profit Trump University classes.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whose two brothers served in the military, called Trump “a man who has never sacrificed anything for anyone.”
Both Warren and Sanders were key late endorsements for Clinton, whose campaign is trying to pull together fractured sections of the Democratic party to gather votes for the November election against Trump.
More military-themed speakers are lined up for the event later this week, as the focus shifts from internal party conflict to threats and challenges facing the country. They include presidents Bill Clinton (Tuesday) and President Barack Obama (Wednesday).
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com.
