Clark To NJ DNC Delegates: Clinton Will "Make You So Proud"
ESSINGTON, Pa. (CBS) -- On day two of the Democratic National Convention, New Jersey delegates got a pep talk from a retired US Army general.
Wesley Clark not only has a marked military record, he knows a thing or two about the political world, having run for President himself a dozen years ago. He told delegates it actually hurt to watch the Republicans in Cleveland last week, and the parade of people talking up Donald Trump.
"They were so phony. They were so terrible," Clark said. "America, we are better than Donald Trump."
Clark hit on the traditional Democratic themes, insisting they're a big tent party that can bring the Clinton and Sanders camps together. He also touted the experience difference between the ticket of Clinton and Tim Kaine, compared to Donald Trump and Mike Pence, insisting the country will be better off with the Clinton team.
"We're going to keep our institutions in NATO," he said. "We're going deal with the threat of terrorism. We're going to create jobs and improve income equality in America. We're going to deal with immigration and that team is going to make you so proud."
But many in the delegation were talking about Monday night's speech from Bernie Sanders and how the unity that many thought impossible with the Clinton camp may now be well within reach.
Like Dinah Washington once sang, what a difference a day makes. After e-mail revelations rattled the national party leadership and threatened discord between the Clinton and Sanders camps, enter Bernie himself with a message of unity that seems to be taking hold.
Although Sanders delegate Jenelle Blackmon of North Brunswick concedes some of her colleagues aren't on board yet. "They need a breathing period, if you will, so they can just deal with the defeat," Blackmon told KYW Newsradio. "But after awhile I think they're going to come around and I think they're going to vote for Hillary."
That's music to the ears of Clinton delegate Meryl Greene of Cherry Hill. "By Thursday evening, what we're going to see is a group of people who know what they have to do for November's election," she said.
