Clinton delivers 'devastating critique absent of malice'

>> point rebuttal i think is the big point here. there was a lot of points in the speech and one of the things we'll be talking about in detail is the way that president clinton shot this speech right at the center of the electorate. talking about not democrats, not republicans, the need to work together. the shots that he took at republicans specifically, at paul ryan when he went off script and said got to give him this one thing. it takes some brass to attack a guy on what you did. on him president obama on the medicare cuts that are in his own budget. that was off skrip and that was powerful. need to notoriety now for the record that this is msnbc's continuing coverage of the democratic national convention . i want to bring in my colleague on the set in terms of the response to this speech. steve schmidt as a political consultant in 2008 . how was this speech?

>> it was extraordinary. a virtueoso. no other person who could hold the attention of the crowd, have them yelling and screaming. speaking for three quarters of an hour. i wish to god as a republican we had someone on our side who had the ability to do that. we don't. it would be great if we did. just an amazing performance. struck by the political almost genius of how he embraced the bush family and george w. bush for the purposes of marginalizing house republicans and pushing them to the extreme. it was a devastating critique but it was delivered with an absence of malice or anger. a smile on his face, logic aimed squarely at the electorate where he is so powerful. another good night for obama.

>> as a democrat, it doesn't get any better. i'm sitting here, i'm giddy. this is exactly what barack obama needed. mending fences, bringing people together and understanding the facts. and i like the way that president clinton talked about the alternative universe that the republicans have painted president obama in. that they're not in reality. they're not in the real world . he even used the word hate. and i'm glad he addressed this tonight. you have to understand the climate before you can have the healing. and he also talked about a dysfunctional washington, saying it doesn't have to be a blood sport. and documented the kinds of things that he worked on with republicans, and really, in a roundabout way, gave the country hope. that we can get together and we should be, and it is a responsibility for elected officials to get to the point where they can work together. and of course, he talked about philosophy which i think is important. about owning your own philosophy of owning your own health care , your own retirement and taking those risks. gosh, i think president clinton just did barack obama the biggest favor he could have ever done and i think this is going to give him the bounce.