Posted by Damozel | During the symbolic first roll call at the convention, Hillary may garner a fairly large number of delegate votes. (The Politico) So what. Much carry-on over nothing. Hillary herself says that she plans to vote for Obama. (The Politico) Let people who want to vote for her get it out of their systems. I never heard so much jibber-jabber over nothing.
“It’s a bizarre strategy,” said one Democratic strategist of the roll call. “It could backfire and show that her influence is waning. Chances are, she’s not going to have as many delegates vote for her on the floor as she had in the primary.” (Politico)
Of course her influence is "waning," except that any diminution in the number of her votes doesn't signify her influence, but the fact that she herself has encouraged her supporters again and again to vote for Obama. I'm sure she's thought this through. Quite a few of her former delegates say they will vote for Obama. (Politico) It's probably the only way to convince her diehard supporters that she really doesn't have enough support to win the nomination. It will give them a chance to vote and her a chance to show where she stands.
Another New York delegate, speaking on condition of anonymity, predicted that as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of the New York delegation would pick Clinton over Obama during the symbolic vote.
Obama’s decision to accept a roll call vote, which came after weeks of talks with the Clinton camp, doesn’t mean he’ll let the process get out of hand, observers say.
“The convention is about nominating Barack, so his people want to speed through the vote as fast as possible so it won’t take too much TV time,” said a Democratic delegate who plans to vote for Clinton. “They also want to avoid a scenario where she’s leading at any point.” (Politico)
If so, then again: so what? Clinton's who they want to vote for. Everyone knows that the Democratic party is deeply divided. Take the ballot and then move on. It's a nice gesture. If it ends in unity---which I trust it will---then none of this will make any difference.(Politico)
Former Hillary supporter/current Obama supporter Taylor Marsh writes:
It's on parade all over the political spectrum today after Obama and Clinton came to a deal to put her name in nomination. Hannity called Obama weak again today. Michael Goodwin is exhibit A.
Russia rolls over Georgia, Hillary Clinton does the same to Barack Obama. Now we know who's boss.
Obama blinked and stands guilty of appeasing Clinton by agreeing to a roll call vote for her nomination. That he might not have had much choice if he wanted peace only proves the point that he's playing defense at his own convention....
It ain't Barack's convention, though, and he has the intelligence to realize this. It's the Democratic party's and the party includes many people who wanted the chance to vote for Hillary.
And this doesn't prove he's weak; it proves he's confident. Oh, and something else as well, as TM points out:
According to Morris, Obama had "Hillary over a barrel." No other "loser," as HRC is being called today, ever got 18 million votes, close to the same as the nominee. But because Obama recognizes the clout Clinton has earned and has also retained, it tells the American voter how he'd govern. If that's true then every single woman in this country ought to vote for this guy, because after a grueling primary season, the clamor of disrespect over sexis made by HRC supporters, at long last Obama and his team, as well as the Democratic Party, get it.
It's not easy for the political establishment to come to grips with female power on parade when it comes to the presidency...
Not surprisingly, the quintessential 20th century man, David Gergen, opined on CNN that even though Obama didn't mean to, he looks like he collapsed to Clinton. Seriously? She didn't earn what Obama agreed to? You bet she did and Obama and every liberated man and woman in the Democratic Party knew it. Giving Clinton her due does not make Obama look "weak." It's a sign of strength, for him and our party. (Taylor Marsh)
Obama, the presumptive nominee, will become the nominee in fact. Hillary will stand on the platform and urge her supporters to get behind Obama. If it all goes as plans, it will be cathartic and will end by bringing angry people together.
I give my candidate Obama props for his courage and confidence. And I trust my girl Hillary Clinton to continue to be a role model for strong Democratic women and for party unity.
Let's face it: the diehards, bless their little cotton socks, just don't really have much going for them. Shuster was very respectful but....um....well.
Taylor Marsh said:
The video speaks for itself. Shuster just about makes up for his horrific "pimping" Chelsea out comment. As you can see, neither people are reasonable or registering a grievance that makes any sense at all. Bower works at it, but he and the woman in charge of her piece of this political train wreck only make it easier to ridicule them, as David Shuster does easily...
At Buzzflash, P.M. Carpenter was even blunter:
Both spokespersons were tellingly incapable of providing host David Shuster with any coherent reason why, in the face of Hillary's exhortations to support Obama, they were refusing to do so. Like children, they said they just weren't going to do it and that was that.
And poor Mr. Shuster. He kept trying to make sense of their intransigence -- repeatedly exclaiming in utter exasperation, You mean you'd really prefer opening the door for McCain, even though as a Democrat you're far closer ideologically to Obama? -- but to no avail. These political toddlers were dug in, case closed, reason out, show over. And it was clear why: Their candidate had lost and these folks are nothing more than determined, world-class pouters.
The 'Hardball' segment was, however, profitable for the socio-politically interested: I had not realized that there are adults on the (rumored) more mature left who suffer from such severe, reactionary cases of emotional sclerosis.
The only other clear picture that emerged from the two 'Hardball' guests was that of prissy, chronically disgruntled and intellectually muddled malcontents who are, as far as Obama's campaign should be concerned, better left unsolicited and ignored.
I agree about these two, but I know some bitter enders who are basically intelligent and who mainly need some sort of catharsis to release their anger and move on to Obama. I'm hoping the convention provides it. A vote's a vote, and the polls are still too close for comfort....
Memeorandum has commentary here.
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