Convention Speeches Tricky For Defeated

What do you say if you're talking to a convention that isn't going to give you the nomination you want? Well, it often turns out that the speech isn't about what's already happened, but what you hope will happen next, CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield reports.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford invited Ronald Reagan to speak to the delegates that had narrowly defeated him. Reagan offered perfunctory support for Ford, and a stark warning about the next generation:

"Whether they have the freedoms we have known up to now will depend on what we do here," Reagan said.

Ford blamed that speech for his narrow loss to Carter. But it positioned Reagan to win the nomination and the White House four years later.

When Ted Kennedy narrowly lost to Jimmy Carter in 1980, his speech was a ringing endorsement of liberalism that did little to bring his backers over to Carter's side.

Carter lost to Reagan in a landslide.

And sometimes you can use your speech to build bridges to your opponents within the party. Four years after John McCain lost a bruising primary fight to George W. Bush, he won conservative hearts with a scornful attack on the left wing filmmaker Michael Moore.

"And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace," McCain said.

"Part of Hillary Clinton's speech will be based on her thinking, 'What am I going to do in 2012. If Barack Obama loses, God forbid, how will I use this speech as a wedge?' " said CBS News analyst Douglas Brinkley.

But, whatever her intentions, Clinton knows full well that any hopes for the future depend on endearing herself to this Democratic convention. It's a tricky bit of tightrope walking.