Political Generals: Why Convention Speeches Are Not the Real Problem

Political Generals: Why Convention Speeches Are Not the Real Problem
Gen. John Allen, (Ret.) speaking during the final day of the Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, July 28, 2016. (AP photo by J. Scott Applewhite)

Something odd happened at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week: The Democratic Party seemingly became the party of the United States military.

Speaker after speaker at the convention extolled the party’s support for the military and U.S. veterans, and lauded the foreign policy acumen and leadership of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, particularly in her support for the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.

But perhaps the high point came on the third night of the convention when John Allen—a retired four-star general, former commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, and former special presidential envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the self-proclaimed Islamic State—delivered a passionate defense of Clinton’s foreign policy views and a harsh indictment of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

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