Coming of age: Chelsea Clinton steps up to a new role, softening the focus around mother Hillary

Chelsea Clinton - the intensely private only child of two high-wattage politicians - painted an intimate portrait of her mother Thursday, emphasising Hillary Clinton’s compassion for the disadvantaged.

Looking to counter the perception of the nominee as a driven and career-obsessed, Chelsea Clinton told 20 million prime-time viewers that her mother will drop everything for a few minutes to FaceTime with her granddaughter Charlotte, “to blow kisses” and read to her.

And speaking of her own childhood, she said: “Regardless of what was happening in her life, she was always, always there for me.”

A week after Ivanka Trump extolled her father’s virtues at the Republican convention, Chelsea Clinton, 36, bore witness for her mother. But unlike the very public Ivanka, this was an unusual role for Clinton, who has spent most of her adult life avoiding the spotlight.

Wearing a bright red dress, Clinton spoke in strikingly personal terms about how her mother was intensely involved in her childhood, from soccer games to church on Sunday. She vowed to voters that she would be there for them as well. “I am voting for a woman who has spent her entire life fighting for families and children,” said Clinton, who serves as vice chair of her family’s foundation. “I’m voting for a woman who knows that women’s rights are human rights and who knows LGBT rights are human rights. . . . I’m voting for a fighter who never, ever gives up and believes that we can always do better, if we come together and work together.”