DNC 2012 Roundup: Bill Clinton, Dems' Secret Weapon, Makes The Case For Obama

Former President Bill Clinton spoke — and spoke, and spoke — at the Democratic National Convention last night, and even though he added 20 minutes and 2,300 words to his prepared remarks, the crowd went wild. 

Clinton methodically addressed Republicans' arguments against President Obama one by one. He also answered the GOP's question of whether the U.S. is better off than it was four years ago with a resounding "yes," which was echoed by the crowd. There was plenty of his folksy appeal — observers noted a lot of missing "g's" at the end of the former president's words and the famous Clinton finger wag at different points during the speech — but there was also an appeal to civility that Clinton said has been missing in American politics. 

"Democracy does not ... have to be a blood sport," he said. "It can be an honorable enterprise that advances the public interest." He went on to say he had never learned to hate conservatives the way that some Republicans seem to "hate" the president. 

Fact-checkers didn't shy away from Clinton's dense speech. More than one of them took issue with the oft-cited claim that the Obama administration has created 4.5 million jobs; National Journal also pointed out that there is some debate on health care spending reductions that the former president cited. 

It may not be obvious from this morning's coverage, but there were a few other speakers last night: 

• Elizabeth Warren, candidate for Senate in Massachusetts, lamented that the system is "rigged" against average Americans. She also rebutted Mitt Romney's comment from earlier in the campaign that corporations are people, noting, "People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die."
• Continuing the convention's focus on the votes of women, Georgetown law graduate Sandra Fluke, who was the target of Rush Limbaugh's vitriol earlier this year when she spoke in favor of birth control coverage at a Congressional hearing, pointed out that Mitt Romney didn't stand up for her in the face of Limbaugh's comments.
• Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen spoke earlier in the evening, criticizing Republicans' contribution to the national deficit. 

WAMU 88.5 is staying on the convention beat: 

• Bill Butcher, owner of the Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, spoke at the convention about how he benefited from President Obama's stimulus act; he told WAMU senior news editor Rebecca Blatt the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "helped us move things along more quickly rather than waiting for the banks to come around."
• Speaking with WNYC's Brian Lehrer, Blatt also discussed the concern over the federal budget in Virginia, noting the state has a large military presence and concentration of federal workers and contractors, especially in Northern Virginia.
• Democratic women appearing on The Kojo Nnamdi Show Wednesday said the GOP isn't as committed to women's issues. One of them, Lily Ledbetter — for whom the 2009 equal pay act was named — noted that painting equal pay as solely a "women's issue" misses the point, because it affects everyone, not just women. 
• The Diane Rehm Show broke down Wednesday night's speeches at the convention and previewed President Obama's appearance tonight. 
• Even #FlatKojo has been doing his part; he flew over the DNC from the rafters.

Elsewhere around the convention: 

• Democrats reintroduced the terms "God" and language about Jerusalem being the capital of Israel to the platform, although there was some confusion about the vote on the latter issue. 
• A number of homeowners turned out to the convention to complain that neither party is addressing the foreclosure crisis during the campaign.
• Some Democratic insiders want Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, National Journal reports. 
• Even with Clinton speaking, some delegates couldn't resist the pull of the NFL: they clustered around TV screens to watch the Giants vs. Cowboys around game time, The Hill reports. 
• Meanwhile, everyone's gearing up for a sardine can-style squeeze in the Time Warner Cable arena tonight for President Obama's speech, which convention organizers have moved inside from its planned location in a larger stadium due to weather concerns.