Specificity in the capital city — Hillary comes to Madison.

Though I went to Michelle Obama's speech yesterday here in Madison, I skipped Hillary Clinton's. It wasn't that I preferred seeing Michelle to Hillary. I would have rather seen Hillary. She's the candidate! But Michelle was speaking right on State Street, a block away from one of my favorite cafés, in the middle of the afternoon. And Hillary was speaking after 8 at night in the convention center (Monona Terrace). I didn't feel like going out in the winter darkness, driving on the snowy roads and around a crowded the parking ramp. I considered calling a cab, but I'd have had to shell out $50 for the round trip. If a friend had called me up and insisted on chauffeuring me back and forth, I'd have gone.

But 4,000 people did attend:

In her “Solutions for America” rally, Clinton emphasized the need for action rather than rhetoric, an obvious attack of her opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

“There is a difference between speeches and solutions, between rhetoric and results,” Clinton said. “And part of what this campaign is coming down to is a recognition that we need to know, as specifically as possible, what our next president intends to do.”

Why do we need to know as specifically as possible? It's as if Congress doesn't exist and the President imposes programs on us. This emphasis on the need for specificity seems to betray an inflexibility of mind. Even on foreign policy, where the President is largely on her own, fixed promises should not impress us. I want someone who can make sound decisions in response to changing circumstances.

Although the event did not draw the large number of students that the Obama rally brought to the Kohl Center on Feb. 12, many UW-Madison students braved the cold weather to hear Clinton speak. UW-Madison sophomore Sara Jerving said that she previously supported Obama, but after attending Monday night’s rally, she plans to vote for Clinton in the primary election on Tuesday.

“I think what hit me most … is that [Clinton] had more substance and she talked about individual policies,” she said. “I understand that people are inspired by Obama, but I think it’s more effective that she had policies and specifics.”

UW-Madison sophomore Devra Cohen agreed with Jerving and said Clinton represented the things the American people care about.

“She brought up very specific policy points ranging from her personal favorite, health care … to education, which of course in Madison is very important,” Cohen said.

So this specificity meme is working for some. I suppose it's a way of saying — with some positivity — that her opponent is a fluffy nothing.