The Hillary Clinton speech we'd like to hear: Our view

On Thursday night, Hillary Clinton will deliver her acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. Here is a (condensed) version of what we’d like to see loaded into her teleprompter.

Madame Chair, delegates, good people of Philadelphia, fellow Americans. With sincere humility and profound awareness of the responsibility you’ve conferred on me, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me first express my gratitude to those of you who have taken on the challenge of running for office, particularly that great champion of working men and women, the senator from Vermont, my onetime rival and new best friend, Bernie Sanders!

The stakes in this year’s election could not be higher. Many of you have noted the difference between the dark and foreboding, even authoritarian, vision espoused by Republicans and the uplifting yet pragmatic approach that we Democrats take. Many of you have also questioned whether our opponent in this election has the experience, temperament, judgment and maturity to be president.

I would certainly agree. Entrusting Donald Trump with our economic future, and certainly our nuclear codes, is a risky proposition. Trump’s inexperience has shown in many ways. He has openly questioned America’s commitment to its allies in Europe and Asia. He has suggested that the United States could simply default on its debt obligations. Just yesterday, can you believe it, he urged the Russians to hack into my emails!

I don’t know about you, but I find his message chilling. I find his cluelessness on national security and global economic matters troubling. And I find his divisive language on race, religion and ethnicity deplorable.

But tonight, I would like to do something other than reciting what is wrong with the other side. I want to take this time to tell you who I am and what we can hope to accomplish should you give me the great honor of being your president.

I am fully aware that many of you have concerns about me. You question my judgment, my honesty. Some of you just plain don’t like me. I hear you. Believe me.

I am not a natural politician like my husband or our fabulous current president, Barack Obama. I sometimes come off as stiff or shrill. But please know that I am a workhorse, not a show horse. I believe in accomplishing things quietly and with hard work, often with the help of Republican colleagues. Things like working for minority and disabled children who were being pushed out of public schools. Rebuilding communities devastated by the 9/11 attacks. Expanding broadband access in rural areas. Imposing tough sanctions on Iran that forced its leaders to the bargaining table.

But I recognize that I am far from the perfect champion in fighting against Trump’s most dangerous flaws. Too many times in my career in public life, I have been arrogant, failed to learn from hard experience and surrounded myself with people who catered to my worst instincts instead of helping me be the kind of public servant that I aspire to be and that Americans deserve.

I am not here to recite my mistakes. I am here to tell you what I am doing to show that I have learned from them.

I have hired a strong vice president — a partner who has been a senator, a governor and a chairman of a national party — who does not need the vice president’s job to burnish his distinguished career in public service. Tim Kaine's job will be to see that the ethical standards and transparency enshrined in federal law will not be seen as a ceiling on our aspirations, but as the floor. If he sees a problem, he is to come to me and I will fix it. If I do not listen, then he is to take his concerns to you.

I, along with Chelsea and Bill, have appointed a new board to manage winding down the Clinton Foundation while I'm president. Its many good works will be continued by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There will be no conflicts of interest, nothing to raise doubts about whether your president is working for you and for you alone.

I have informed my husband that during my administration, he will take no money from anyone with any interest in influencing the policies of the United States government. Nor will the Clinton Presidential Library accept donations of any kind during my presidency except funding that is provided by the American taxpayer.

I have called on congressional leaders to add penalties for violations of the Freedom of Information laws, so no one will be tempted to evade them. And I have made a commitment to hold regular news conferences to explain my policy decisions to the public and provide journalists an opportunity to hold me accountable for those decisions.

I am doing these things because part of being an effective president is acknowledging mistakes and learning from them. You deserve a president informed by experience and humility, not inexperience and hubris.

The America that I envision is a place where people of all backgrounds treat each other with dignity and respect. It is a nation that continues to enjoy the admiration of people from all around the world.

It is a place where a hard day’s work provides a living wage, where people have access to affordable education and health care, where a secure and dignified retirement is within reach, and where each generation can do things and go places that its predecessor could not.

To protect our freedoms and our way of life, I will bring to bear the full military, economic, diplomatic, intelligence and technological powers of the United States to defeat the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism. There, I said it.

These things won’t come easy. They will take leaders willing to work hard, to learn, to make adjustments and to keep trying after initial setbacks.

If elected I will fight for you, your family and this already great country we call home. God bless you. And God bless America.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

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