As Jonathan Last recounts, Barack Obama's speech Wednesday night was the most motivated, focused, and impassioned address that he has given in some time. And that certainly isn't due to his long-time love of Hillary Clinton. Rather, with Donald Trump having pulled even—or slightly ahead—in the polls, Obama is genuinely worried about preserving his liberal legacy, particularly the centerpiece of that legacy: Obamacare.
Obama's speech was a strong one, as he effectively masqueraded as a caretaker of the project that began more than 200 years ago at Independence Hall, rather than as someone who has made "fundamentally transforming" that project his life's mission. To hear Obama talk about it, one could almost imagine Washington, Madison, Hamilton, and the rest standing around a table and waiting to sign Obamacare, rather than the Constitution.
Unlike many of his political adversaries, Obama is always playing the long game. On Wednesday he said, "I've insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn't meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in a lifetime." But he knows that Obamacare is a tremendous down payment on the liberal dream of consolidating power and centralizing control in the hands of the federal government. He knows that if Obamacare isn't repealed, the Founders' dreams of limited government and liberty will have suffered a tremendous setback.
Obama spoke of the need to elect Clinton because there is "more work to do," but he offered few noteworthy or ambitious examples. In truth, this was a speech about preserving the gains made, not about seeking new gains. Obama isn't counting on Hillary to bring about great change; he is counting on her to preserve his hard-won changes. He reminded his audience that "when we deliver enough votes, then progress does happen. Just ask the twenty million more people who have health care today."
Obama didn't spend the first twenty percent of his presidency fighting for Obamacare merely to see it repealed. He didn't lose huge House and Senate majorities over Obamacare merely to see it repealed. He didn't serve an 8-year presidency merely to see the centerpiece legislation of that presidency repealed—whether or not 98 percent of polls taken during his second term suggest that Americans oppose his namesake. This isn't about what Americans want; it's about what Obama thinks they need.
The urgency in his address was palpable. Obama knows that a Clinton victory means at least four more years to prop up Obamacare while beginning the intended transition to a pure government monopoly. And he knows that Trump—who in his acceptance speech said, "We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare"—would presumably sign repeal and replacement legislation, along the lines of what the House GOP has proposed, into law.
That's why Obama spoke with such passion at the convention Wednesday. He understands the stakes.