Bob Schieffer: 'A Lot Of People Simply Don't Trust' Clinton
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PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBSDFW.COM) -- "Rightly or wrongly, a lot of people simply don't trust her." Those are the words from CBS News Contributor and Former "Face the Nation" moderator, Bob Schieffer when asked about Former Secretary of State and Democratic Nominee for President, Hillary Clinton.
Schieffer spoke with CBS 11's Jack Fink a day before Clinton was set to speak at the Democratic National Convention. "Hillary Clinton's problem coming into this convention and going out of this convention is to convince the American people that she can be trusted."
Schieffer said he thought Bill Clinton did a good job at "softening up" her image to help show that she is trustworthy. He also thought the speech given by First Lady Michelle Obama helped improve the mood at the DNC. "I think Michelle Obama really turned this convention around," he continued. "Before that point, people were booing when her [Hillary Clinton's] name was mentioned. But after Michelle Obama's speech, that kinda died away," Schieffer said.
Schieffer said he thinks most of the "Bernie Sanders people" are going to vote for Clinton... but not all. "There's gonna be a segment of them that I don't know who they're gonna vote for, but they're not gonna vote for her," said Schieffer.
When asked if there was a danger that Clinton could be overshadowed by the large roster of powerful orators who spoke already at the convention, Schieffer said he didn't think there was a chance of that. Bill Clinton, President Obama, Michell Obama have all preceded Clinton speaking this week at the convention.
Schieffer also mentioned that he thought it would be interesting to see how the public reacted this week to GOP Nominee Donald Trump's comments that the Russians help find Hillary Clinton's missing emails. Trump said those comments were sarcastic and meant in jest.
When asked about the nature of this year's conventions by both Democrats and Republicans, Schieffer said, "It's an unbelievable and a very different year...in American politics. Fewer Americans are calling themselves Democrats or Republicans. A lot of people now just don't want to be affiliated with any party. This may be some kind of a turning point for both political parties."
When asked if anger in America today tends to help Trump, Schieffer said, "The government doesn't seem to be able to do anything." He said that people see Democrats and Republicans get elected and go to Washington and nothing happens. "The purpose of government is to improve the lives of citizens. If it doesn't do that, you don't need to have it," said Schieffer.
"People see this happening and they say 'we've got to change this'. They don't know how they want to do it, they just know they want something different," Schieffer continued. "I think that's what produced Donald Trump; I think that's what produced Bernie Sanders in a way."
Schieffer again stressed, "Hillary Clinton has to convince people that she can be trusted; that she understands that terrorism is serious and has to be dealt with. You can't just say 'la di da, everything is fine' and pretend it's not there. People are worried about their security and they're worried about a government that doesn't work." Schieffer said that if she can convince people she has a better way to handle security, then she'll be elected. "If she can't then she may not be elected," he continued.
About Trump's acceptance speech -- that some called 'dark' -- and how it could compare to Clinton's speech Thursday night, Schieffer said, "People may have been frightened by some the solutions that Donald Trump proposed last week in Cleveland, but at the same time, they still recognize that terrorism is a threat and safety is foremost in their minds. She's got to explain to people that she does have a plan to make us safe. That's the most important thing I think she has to do."
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