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5 things Clinton needs to accomplish in convention speech

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton takes the stage here Thursday night to officially claim the Democratic presidential nomination.

Convention-goers hold signs in support of Bernie Sanders during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26, 2016. (Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton takes the stage here Thursday night to officially claim the Democratic presidential nomination.

Here are five things she needs to accomplish with her prime-time address:

Reach out to Sanders supporters

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’ll do everything he can to help Clinton beat Republican Donald Trump in November. After rising on Tuesday to give Clinton the nomination by acclamation, he continued to make good on that vow at a Wednesday morning breakfast in Philadelphia, calling Trump “unique and truly dangerous” and a “demagogue.”

Yet hundreds of his supporters still aren’t on board. Shortly after Clinton officially clinched the nomination Tuesday night, they flooded the hallways of the Wells Fargo Center chanting “this is what democracy looks like” and "this is our country." Others stormed the nearby media tent.

A recent Pew Research Center poll showed 90% of Sanders voters say they back Clinton over Trump. Still, the dissenters are passionate and have significantly influenced the party’s platform. On Thursday night, Clinton must reassure Sanders’ disillusioned voters that her recent shift on some issues, such as trade, is sincere.

Convention-goers hold signs in support of Bernie Sanders during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26, 2016. (Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

Honor the history

From India’s Indira Gandhi to Germany’s Angela Merkel, many other nations have elevated women to their highest office. Yet the United States has been slow to do the same, with Clinton’s nomination coming exactly 100 years after Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to Congress.

It’s a big moment, and Clinton needs to convey a sense that it transcends her candidacy, something she sought to do during video remarks Tuesday night. Addressing "any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch," she said, "I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next."

Emphasizing the historic nature of her address is particularly important as she seeks to reach moderate Republican women who have been skeptical of her but are taking a second look in light of Trump’s rhetoric on women and other policy matters. The 2016 election may expose the biggest gender gap in recent history, and this is her chance to help maximize her numbers with women across the political spectrum.

Jeannette Rankin prepares to leave Washington on June 2, 1932, for a speaking tour calling for a peace plank in the Republican and Democratic Party platforms. (Photo: AP)

Reach working-class whites and independents

Clinton’s electoral strength is in the West and Northeast, while Trump is dominant in the South. That makes the industrial Midwest, along with Florida and Virginia, the real battleground. And it is there that many of the white, working-class voters who supported her husband, Bill Clinton, during the 1990s are now rejecting her. So far, her campaign’s been rich with policies targeting lower-income workers, including a proposal for the largest investment in infrastructure jobs since Dwight Eisenhower. However, she's struggled to make the emotional connection Trump appears to be forming with these voters by pledging to put “America first.”

“The fundamental question that people are asking in this election is ‘Who’s looking out for me, who’s going to level the playing field for me, who’s got my back?’” said Mo Elleithee, an official on her 2008 campaign who is now a scholar at Georgetown University.

Hillary Clinton speaks during a "get out the vote" event at the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union on March 14, 2016, in Chicago. (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

Reveal something about herself

Clinton (in addition to Trump) has some of the lowest favorability and trustworthiness poll ratings of any modern presidential nominee. The Philadelphia convention was designed to go straight at that issue, featuring speakers who vouched for her advocacy on behalf of children and people with disabilities. Bill Clinton on Tuesday night gave a very personal account of her life as a daughter, student, wife and mother.

Even so, critics say the candidate herself needs to show more openness. It may be a taller order than it appears for a woman whose closest confidantes say she does not like to talk about herself and has developed a bunker-like attitude about dealing with the media.

“She is probably one of if not the most recognizable persons in the world. Yet a lot of people don’t know her,” says Melanne Verveer, her former chief of staff as first lady and a longtime confidante.

Clinton’s speech is the biggest opportunity of this campaign for her to reach a primetime audience, with all of the networks beaming her address to the nation. Campaign manager Robby Mook said her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who is set to introduce her mother, will play a critical role in offering personal stories.

Hillary Clinton marches in the Gorham Fourth of July parade last summer in Gorham, N.H. (Photo: Darren McCollester, Getty Images)

Keep the pressure on Trump

If and until Clinton can improve her favorability ratings, this election is a referendum on which candidate is viewed as the least unacceptable option to undecided voters. To do that, Clinton must draw a sharp contrast with Trump’s rhetoric and policies. Convention speakers, including her husband and first lady Michelle Obama, have avoided even using Trump’s name while taking veiled digs at him. Yet some of Clinton’s most lauded speeches on the trail have been when she lands blows against the real estate mogul, and it's a sure-fire approach to firing up the crowd and projecting party unity.

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