Eighteen million cracks

Is it necessary that we all like Hillary Clinton before we can agree that she has helped transform our political culture? In south Minneapolis on Tuesday night, a 19-year-old college sophomore watched Clinton's speech to the Democratic Convention that might have nominated her to the presidency and confessed that however much she liked Barack Obama, she had really, really hoped Hillary would be the nominee. In Duluth, a 10-year-old watching the speech took a call from her dad and told him she was thinking about a career in politics. The pundits were all waiting to see whether Clinton would be able to haul the freight: Could she deliver her base to Obama? But in those homes in Minneapolis and Duluth, the question was more fundamental. Would Hillary Clinton's campaign convey a transformational message to young people? Was her speech the kind of moment that those young women would remember the rest of their lives? The guess here is yes. This was a great speech.