PHILADELPHIA — President Barack Obama’s pitch for Hillary Clinton in front of a prime-time Democratic convention audience Wednesday focused on her temperament to serve as commander in chief, drawing a contrast from what Obama sees as Donald Trump’s lack of fitness for the office.
“There has never been a man or a woman more qualified” to serve as president than his former secretary of state, Obama declared on a night that also introduced the nation to Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who stressed as well that Trump was too risky a gamble.
“Our nation is too great to put it in the hands of a slick-talking, empty-promising, self-promoting, one-man wrecking crew,” Kaine said.
Obama’s active role in the race to succeed him has little recent precedent. He is driven in part by the preservation of his own legacy, much of which rests on whether his successor preserves his administration’s actions on climate, foreign policy and other major issues.
His argument Wednesday, focused on how Clinton carried herself in particular in the Situation Room during the most sensitive and tense moments of his first term, fit neatly into the bigger case Democrats made on the convention’s third night for Clinton over Trump.
“Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions,” said Obama in an advance text of his remarks. “Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect.”
Kaine took up the running mate’s customary role of attacking the opposition with gusto, contrasting Clinton’s detail-laden policy agenda with Trump’s vague promises.
“He says, ‘Believe me,’” Kaine scoffed. “Well his creditors, his contractors, his laid-off employees, his ripped-off students did just that and they all got hurt. Folks, you cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth.”
Vice President Joe Biden delivered a similar rebuke, saying that no nominee “has ever known less, or been less prepared to deal with our national security.”
Clinton’s strongest case for her election has been built on the contrast with her rival, though Democrats have sought to use this week’s convention to positively portray their nominee and the historic nature of her candidacy. Her campaign has painted Trump as erratic and running for president in a self-interested pursuit of greater wealth and fame.
Biden, who has worked with Clinton for decades, sought to undercut Trump’s appeal as a champion for the economically distressed in a speech that followed a tribute to his decades of service in the Senate and partnership with Obama.
“This guy doesn’t have a clue about the middle class. Not a clue,” Biden said of Trump. “Actually, he has no clue, period.”
Wednesday’s proceedings also included emotional testimony from relatives of the victims of mass shootings in Orlando, Florida, and in Newtown, Connecticut, and a powerful statement of support from former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, still recovering from an attempted assassination in 2011 that killed six others.
Mostly, though, Democrats were unsparing in the attacks on Trump. The billionaire was alternately described as a carnival barker, an egomaniac and “a hateful con man,” in the words of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
“It’s time to put a bully racist in his place,” said former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who lost to Clinton in the primaries.
California Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at Trump’s past suggestion that the warming of the planet was “a hoax.”
“Trump is a fraud,” he said.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hit Trump where it hurts: in his business portfolio.
“Trump says he wants to run the nation like he runs his business,” Bloomberg said. “God help us.”
Obama intended to drive home the idea in the evening’s finale, tearing down Trump while endorsing Clinton as the fierce former rival who later became one of his most important and trusted advisers.
Recognizing that the convention is traditionally a moment when voter sentiments can shift dramatically, he wanted to focus on Clinton rather than his own administration.
Obama sees himself as a witness who can describe her in action, an adviser said.
“Few people actually are at the table when some of these momentous decisions are being made,” said the adviser, who would not be named discussing Obama’s speech before he delivered it. “It’s about revealing experiences he has had.”