So yesterday Hillary endorsed Obama in an extraordinary speech that made me applaud equally as much for Hillary as for Obama (something I didn't think I had in me). Anyways, I am fortunate enough to live in DC and be a part of this event. I attended the speech with family and all of us were glad that we went. I decided to wear my Obama shirt as a sign of solidarity and unity going forward with the election. I knew that this would be misinterpreted, but I didn't care. The Democratic Party will have to face this lukewarm reunion sooner or later and I felt that "sooner" was better than "later". Indeed, there probably wasn't a "sooner" moment than to be there at the cusp of when the Clinton and Obama campaigns effectively merged as one.
Seems like everyone considers that Clinton did everything she needed to do yesterday with her concession speech here in Washington, DC. I think she is still missing three important words: I am Sorry.
For loyal supporters, Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech on Saturday was a sad ending to a long and trying campaign. Rivalry between followers of two very strong candidates led to intense animosity between hard-core Clintonista's and the legions of Obamabots, as evidenced by bitter arguments on DKos and elsewhere. Clinton's speech went a long way toward healing the rift for Sen. Obama's supporters. Now, we move on to the main event, the Fall campaign for POTUS; and, a critical issue is how many of Hillary's supporters will support and vote for their former mortal enemy, Barack Obama. While Clinton supporters are being welcomed onto DKos with graciousness and open arms, their support for Obama remains to be seen. This poll examines the initial effect of her strong endorsement of Obama in the speech. Disclaimer: This poll is unscientific and has no general validity. Also, as the poll isn't for Obama supporters, I am using the first comment to offer Obamabots a response option. But first, a salute to Hillary Clinton.
It was Saturday morning and Hillary Clinton was on the verge of finally conceding the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama. I was mindlessly tuned into CNN’s compelling video coverage of Hillary’s immovable Georgetown front door as an unstoppable spray of the word “BITTER” gushed from the mouths of learned journalists and ex-learned journalists - like that Watergate reporter from the Washington Post who played the role of Dustin Hoffman in the movie version of Bittergate.
If the word “BITTER” had an equivalent value in distance, one could have traveled to the far side of the Moon by Noon (but unfortunately missed the speech, which I gather was the real Money Shot even though Hillary’s stationary front door was featured longer than the actual speech).
The questions were endless – and so… thought-provoking.
For a moment I assumed that one of my dachshunds had sat on my remote and switched the channel to “E” Entertainment.
Kudos to Senator Clinton for her most eloquent endorsement of Senator Obama, but I think there's a certain degree of the metaphorical Emperor's New Clothes going on here. Don't get me wrong, I know we'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt and the ability to revive her image, but do not forget that Senator Clinton gave only one classy, inspiring speech out of a thousand that were dry, dull, unimaginative, and more than a few that were offensive to the her opponent, the party itself, and the American people. That this speech happened to be her final official act and a marked change from her previous conduct in a grueling campaign should not supersede her previous acts.
Before anyone can label me as sexist, in saying this, let it be known that there are any number of female Senators, Representative, Governors, and elected representatives who I would gladly give my vote to if they ran for President.
"This isn’t the party I planned but I sure like the company," Hillary said as she opened her concession speech at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.
Speaking to the "18 million...from all walks of life," who voted for her, Hillary congratulated and endorsed Barack Obama, stating:
"The way, the way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passions, our strengths and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States."
I have a modest proposal. I have been an Obama supporter, but also a Hillary detractor, on this site and others. I think Obama supporters should email thanks to Hillary, to show she is getting as much gratitude from Obama supporters as from any bitter enders who may want her to stab Obama in the back.
UPDATE: The Obama Campaign is so on top of things that it already has a vehicle for thanking Hillary. Here is the Link
I cannot imagine the Clintons doing anything that does not benefit the Clintons. That said my expectation is for Hillary to parse, equivicate and triangulate.
In about a half an hour Senator Hillary Clinton will be endorsing Barack Obama from the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. With every pundit (and blogger) on the edge of their seats, ready to parse every word she says, let's take a few moments to congratulate Hillary on her own historic run for the presidency (and then we can start parsing).
Let's watch Hillary's concession speech together, shall we? Of course it's way too early to make up drinking games, isn't it? Well, let's make it non-alcoholic shots...yeah, that's the ticket! Take a drink when Hillary says:
- "historic"
- "ceiling" (can be "glass" or "marble" but not "popcorn")
- "popular vote"
- "18 million"
- "journey"
- "together"
- "armadillo"
Now that Clinton has finally decided to concede the election she can do both Obama and herself the most good by including the following talking points:
1.During a hard fought campaign it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Obama and I have far more common ground and far less with John McCain....(elaborate on Iraq; the economy; health care reform).
2.Obama ran a masterful campaign and while I hated to lose I must
acknowledge that he exhibited qualities of leadership in organizing it that are essential in becoming a great President, especially great intelligence, judgment and coolness under fire. He can take the heat.
3.Although I wanted to become the first woman president Obama's policies and mine are going to improve the lives of women---and men. John McCain, by contrast, will set us back. He is against women's right to choose, protection against job discrimination, children's health insurance.
4.After thinking about it more deeply I have decided I do not want to be Vice President. I want to help the Democratic majority in the Senate pass the legislation an Obama Administration will propose.
Tomorrow Hillary Clinton gets a do-over, a political mulligan. She has played concession much like Bill Clinton plays golf. Given this second chance, what will she do?
Her choices crouch between temptation versus expectation.
I suppose there was some sense of "I told you so" after Clinton's Tuesday non-concession speech, that red meat speech aimed at her followers and at her struggle. "Not gracious," "not smart," and "WTF" come to mind as typical reactions. She's been roundly hit by high profile supporters and critics alike.
But her peeps loved it. They rallied to the "fight on" flavor of Clinton's words. Maybe they thought her hints at wanting the vice presidency were fantasies put forth by overeager donors. No matter, many of those who rallied to "fight on" now demand she be named to the ticket.
We are awaiting Hillary Clinton's long-delayed concession speech. For it to be helpful, both to Obama and herself, I suggest it contain the following points:
Political fights for the nomination are all about emphasizing differences, but when it's over it's important to realize we're far closer within the Party than between Dems and Republicans....give examples on economy and Iraq.
Although she fought to win she has to acknowledge that Obama ran a masterful campaign and showed the leadership qualities and judgment that convinced her and should convince the American people that he has what it takes to be President---never lost his cool under fire.
Although she would have loved to be the first woman nominee Obama's policies and hers on issues of particular concern to women do not differ and under his presidency women's interests, along with men's, will be advanced.
The key question is whether she will concede in a way that helps her most fervent followers make the transition to Barack Obama or in a way that impedes that transition. That is, she will either mitigate or exacerbate many of her followers’ outrage at the victor – their mingled anger, resentment, and disappointment, and their resulting inclination to deny him their support.
To that end, I've compiled a scorecard for the speech. Starting from a baseline of zero, the scorecard adds or subtracts points based on what she says. A negative number indicates a divisive speech and a high number would indicate a unifying speech. The same item can score multiple times by making multiple references to it. I've included a few of the samples from the Sandman article where useful.
Based on your comments, I'll adjust the assigned values and add additional items that are missing.
I have gone to Sen. Clinton's website and sent an email from the entry page, and would just like to encourage others in this community to follow suit. The email follows after the jump.
The breaking news about Hillary suspending her campaign would accelerate, at least theoretically, the unity of the Democratic party that is needed to mobilize support for Obama in the general election. Gone were both the speculation and worry about the long and unproductive wrangling between the two political heavy weights. Also gone was one of the most feared stumbling blocks that could have jeopardize the Democratic party's unity: the use of Convention floor in Denver to decide the nominee. Finally, with the Hilary decision to suspend her campaign, the Dems presumptive nominee is now able to focus on the highest target of all: winning the general election as the main vehicle to change America.
The remaining nagging question would be Hillary's future political role in the post-primary election. We've seen, in the past few weeks, emotionally charged debates within both the Dems elites and the rank and file on this issue. Predictably, the most pertinent question is whether
