Hillary Clinton asked that those who backed her presidential bid now vote for Obama. After days of backstage dissatisfaction among both her supporters and his, no one knew exactly what to expect. Obama didn't just beat a strong and popular candidate; he snatched the reins from the party's old guard and ticked off a former president, Bill Clinton, in the process. People might have wondered if Hillary Clinton was preparing to launch her 2012 campaign when the Pepsi Center filled with thousands of cardboard placards emblazoned with her website address. After all, history holds plenty of examples of also-rans who achieved far less than Clinton did this year - her 18 million primary votes essentially tied Obama over a grueling six-month race-yet refused to close ranks behind their party's winner. Clinton cleared up all doubts in a matter of seconds: "I am here as a proud mother," she declared, "a proud Democrat, a proud senator from New York, a proud American-and a proud supporter of Barack Obama.' At that the crowd of some 15,000 people, which had greeted Clinton with a solid four-minute wall of noise, erupted again, waving all those white "Hillary" signs in an enormous cloud. But perhaps the most striking benediction she delivered to her former foe was to hand him - maybe as a loan or maybe forever - the mantle of 1990s peace and prosperity that she had hoped to wear as her own. "As I recall, we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats," she said to a new round of cheers. "And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again."
Bill Clinton watched the speech from box seats high above the convention floor, flanked by the widow of Arkansas Democratic chairman Bill Gwatney, killed recently by a disgruntled former employee, and the son of the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio. When the speech ended, the former president wiped tears from his eyes, mouthed the words, "great speech," and let out a long sigh.
Clinton did her part to unify the Democrat party, criticizing McCain politics, stating that “McCain promises more of the past. America has never been afraid of the future and we shouldn't start now." She also praised Michelle Obama and the Obama’s running mate Joe Biden and his wife. I personally feel that Hillary Clinton did herself proud last night.
7 comments:
Im glad she did the right thing but her supporters are still talking smack, makes you wonder if they were even listening to the issues or if they just wanted to vote for a woman.
I've got the conventijon on tv all afternoon. Votes are being announced right now as I type. Very exciting and your post gave me a lot if "inside" views about the significance of her speech.
Thanks...
I'm a little early are you doing TT this week? Here is mine:
http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2008/08/13-things-about-hundertwasser.html
I had to come back...I was watching the convention and when Clintonposted for acclimation and the music started blaring and the cheering...I was bawling like a baby. I saw that there were people in the convention also moved emotionally...what a moment!
I thought Hillary's speech was great! I was especially touched, I have to say, by Bill Clinton's facial expressions, too. It was obvious he was so proud of Hillary.
What I'm not getting is why Hillary supporters wouldn't want to back Obama? They are actually quite similar on issues and very unlike McCain. It has to be a sex or race thing because it certainly can't be a stance on the issues.
Hey Cinmike, Hillary is the bomb! she fought a hard fight, went down swinging, and now she is doing the right thing. I ain't mad at her because I would have probably fought just as hard as just as dirty. What the rest of the Democratic party needs to do is support our candidate for president, regardless of his color. Can We Do That People?
Hey Candy, I haven't done a TT in a month, too busy. I will be by to check yours out directly. Hillary and Michelle Obama's speech the previous night were both very moving to me. It is a great time to be an American and a Canadian! Wouldn't you agree?
Hi RC,
I have been out of the blogging business for a while and just made it back on the scene. It does disappoint me that Hillary supporters are hesitant to support Obama, especially since she has so warmly embraced him as a candidate. I agree that sadly it is probably about race.
I do agree Pjazzypar, and it's a great time!
Hmmm. The backstage disagreements were certainly center stage, since most of the papers covered them (at least around here). If Clinton is fostering rancor that can be noticed by the press, does it make any difference how enthusiastically she supports Obama in public? Afer all, when someone gives you mixed signals, you tend to think that one is true, the other isn't.
Post a Comment