PHILADELPHIA -- There is perhaps no one in
Hillary Clinton's life better-suited to revealing her humanity than her
daughter, Chelsea Clinton, a fact the younger Clinton proved in a speech
reintroducing her mother to a generation of young voters who came of
age after Bill Clinton left the White House.
Chelsea Clinton talked about her mother's "wonder," her "thoughtful, hilarious" side.
"My
mother can be about to give a speech or walk onstage for a debate. It
doesn't matter. She'll drop everything for a few minutes of blowing
kisses and reading 'Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo' with her granddaughter,"
Clinton said at the
Democratic convention's final night, Thursday.
Clinton
reminisced about her own childhood, when her mother was "always, always
there for me," despite the relentless pace of her professional career.
"Every
soccer and softball game. Every piano and dance recital," Clinton said.
"We'd make up stories about what we'd do if we ever met a triceratops."
When Hillary Clinton traveled for work, she would leave notes to be read by her daughter, one for each day.
"When
she went to France to learn about their child care system, I remember
one was all about the Eiffel Tower," Chelsea Clinton said. "Another was
about all the ideas she hoped to bring home to help the kids of
Arkansas. I treasured each and every one. They were another reminder
that I was always in her thoughts and in her heart."
But Clinton also stressed her mother's long and relentless
commitment to fighting for America's children, to enable them to have
access to the opportunities in this country.
"Public service is about service," she said of a life lesson learned from her mother.
One
interesting moment in the speech -- Chelsea Clinton also talked about
her mother's failed effort to create a universal health care system
while she was first lady, and Chelsea was just 14 years old.
"I
saw it up close. It was bruising. It was exhausting. She fought her
heart out and as all of you know, she lost. For me, 14 years old, it was
pretty tough to watch," Chelsea Clinton said. "But my mom, she was
amazing. She took a little time to replenish her spirit -- family movie
night definitely helped," adding that while her father loved the "Police
Academy" comedies, she and her mother preferred "Pride and Prejudice."
Ticking
off her mother's work with foster children, 9/11 first responders as a
New York senator, and for women around the world as secretary of state,
Chelsea said: "She never forgets who she's fighting for."
Ultimately, Clinton attempted to show Americans "who my mom is
-- a listener and a doer, a woman driven by compassion, by faith, by
kindness, a fierce sense of justice, and a heart full of love."
"This
November, I'm voting for a woman who is my role model as a mother and
as an advocate," she said. "A woman who has spent her entire life
working for children and families."
In parting, Clinton congratulated her mother and told her how proud she was.
"I
hope that one day my children will be as proud of me as I am of my
mother," she said. "I'm so grateful to be her daughter. I'm so grateful
that she's Charlotte and Aidan's grandmother. She makes me proud every
single day."
"And mom," Clinton added, "Grandma would be so proud of you tonight."
And
when her mother walked on stage to thunderous cheers, after the movie
of her life played out on the convention stage, mother and daughter
embraced silently for a long moment before Hillary Clinton walked to the
podium to accept her party's nomination.
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