US Election: Hillary Clinton's Miracle of Multi-tasking

Hillary Clinton's speech to the Democratic convention was a miracle of multi-tasking.

There were three simultaneous tasks awaiting her when she walked out on stage in her tangerine pants suit.

She had to dispel any notion that she was not now solidly with Barack Obama. Any sign of doubt would fuel efforts by the Republicans to chip away at his support and legitimacy as the Democratic nominee.

She had to persuade her supporters that Obama would now carry forward the populist themes that had dominated her campaign, and get them fired up about taking on John McCain.

She had to provide some sense of closure to women voters who had invested so deeply in her campaign, giving them a sense of achievement even in defeat.

Clinton carried off all three challenges in a powerful speech that brought the hall to its feet.

The problem though for Clinton and the Democrats was not necessarily in the conventional hall where party delegates are experienced enough to recognize the need for moving on.

Clinton had to make sure that her message carried to a wider audience of supporters - some relative newcomers to the political process - who are now threatening to vote for McCain.

That constituency, loosely associated with the party is going to be hard to reach. They are also unlikely to be persuaded to give up after a night of watching Clinton appear so thoroughly in command - even presidential.

But that is not entirely her fault. Clinton, true to form, was thorough. She left no doubt that she was now supporting Obama's campaign, and made a compelling intellectual argument that he would carry forward the issues she championed.

Of course, she could have gone farther. Clinton made no attempt to disown some of the more cutting comments of the primary campaign - now regularly cropping up in Republican attack ads - in which she said Obama was not ready to be in the White House.

Clinton also dwelled a little too deeply on the history of her own campaign, and for a few perilous moments it seemed like she was veering off into one of her stump speeches.

She made up for those lapses with a series of stinging critiques against McCain, making it clear that he was not a legitimate alternative for her disaffected supporters.

But that was the relatively easy part. The real challenge for Clinton was to perform some kind of emotional alchemy on those die-hard supporters who are still unable to let go.

Many of Clinton's women supporters had seen her as a feminist icon. They saw in her run for the White House, which ultimately saw her overtaken by a younger man, parallels with their own lives.

Clinton, in her defeat, was the embodiment of their own personal disappointments.

But she provided them with the validation they needed, situating her campaign in American feminist history.

And while Clinton's run for the White House has ended, her supporters could also claim some satisfaction that the Obama campaign was utterly ungrudging in her big night.

There was a video tribute as sentimental as the one the night before for Ted Kennedy, narrated by daughter, Chelsea. As she spoke, convention organizers distributed white signs emblazoned with her signature, allowing Clinton to look out on a convention emblazoned with her name.

And if there was any lingering doubt that Hillary Clinton could now claim her place in US political history, the video dispelled it. The clip of Bill Clinton in the video tribute was labeled simply "Hillary's husband".