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| Unity is a Town in NH, not in Colorado....Break Out the Popcorn? | |
| 2008-08-25 | |
| Sen. Barack Obama's bid for party unity at the Democratic National Convention, which opens Monday, is being challenged by angry supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who refuse to let heal wounds from a brutal primary fight that their candidate lost. "You can actually feel this party splitting," said Diane Mantouvalos, co-founder of Just Say No Deal coalition, an Internet-based collection of more than 250 groups vehemently opposed to the impending presidential nomination of Mr. Obama at the party convention in Denver. "There is a lot of anger out there." Nah, can't be. Why, the media says that all Hillary voters are happily marching into line behind the Messiah....except for maybe five old, menopausal women. But once they get back on their hormone replacement, they'll get over it. The renegade Democrats plan to stage protests outside the convention hall, flood the Internet with live blogs from Denver and air a TV ad challenging the legitimacy of the party's nominating process. Miss Mantouvalos said her group is screening two anti-Obama documentary films in Denver this week, including "The Audacity of Democracy," a play on the title of one of Mr. Obama's autobiographical books. Which will probably not be screened at Invesco Field... Mr. Obama exacerbated the ill will Saturday by tapping Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware as his running mate, dashing Clinton supporters' dreams that she would at least get the No. 2 spot on the ticket. The Obama team didn't even ask Mrs. Clinton for the papers and records needed for the customary vetting process, a sign that she never was seriously considered despite Mr. Obama's public words, Clinton aides said. "It's a total dis to Senator Clinton," Miss Mantouvalos said. "It just speaks volumes about how Barack Obama doesn't stand for anything." Obviously, she doesn't get the power of "hope" and "change".
Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand dismissed the ad, saying Mrs. Clinton's "support of Barack Obama is clear. She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq and expanding access to health care. John McCain doesn't. It's interesting how those remarks didn't make it into his ad." It is also interesting to note that Senator Biden's remarks regarding Senator McCain's fitness for the presidency and how Senator Obama is "articulate" will also never be featured in a Democrat ad, but I digress. Will Bower, a registered Democrat in the District who co-founded an anti-Obama group called PUMA, nonetheless said he likely will vote for Mr. McCain. Ok, how did he get in here? I guess someone didn't read the memo....showcase bitter hags, not guys who don't think Obama's the One.... "I feel that Obama has won a fraudulent campaign," Mr. Bower said. "He's done nothing. He's great at speeches and that's it." His misgivings about the senator from Illinois echo the primary campaign attacks by Mrs. Clinton, although the senator from New York has since recanted and embraced his nomination. Mr. Bower isn't alone. Polls taken over the last week show as many as one in five of the Clinton supporters now back Mr. McCain, and many more are up for grabs. A Zogby International poll showed about 25 percent of Democrats do not support Mr. Obama. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll taken Saturday and Sunday showed that 66 percent of Clinton voters now back Mr. Obama, with 27 percent supporting Mr. McCain. Obama campaign officials said the disgruntled Clinton voters do not reflect the steady stream of her supporters joining the all-but-certain Democratic presidential nominee. "It is a fairly emotional process that we are all going through at different rates," said Dana Singiser, a former Clinton campaign adviser on outreach to female voters who now does that job for Mr. Obama. "Hey, a goil's gotta pay the rent somehow!" She said more Clinton supporters will gravitate to the Obama camp as the race progresses this fall. "We probably won't get all 18 million voters who voted for Hillary but we are going to keep "You don't have to fall in love with Obama, you just have to fall in line." | |
| Posted by:Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields |
| #13 ACcat - I'm sure that's the plan. But what I think is really interesting is: Hillary and Bill would instruct their delegates not to call for a vote if they didn't think that Hillary would get an impressive showing. In fact, I'm surprised they would want a vote at all if they thought she didn't have any chance of winning it. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-25 21:20 |
| #12 But someone else might do it on her behalf, perhaps. Yep. Bill and the Hildebeeste won't get their hands dirty in this affair as they need to ensure that they retain the ability to unify the Democratic Party behind themselves following Obama's impending defeat. Tough to do that if you're seen throwing the poster boy for the angry left under the bus. I expect death by a thousand paper cuts for the Obama campaign. No one too closely associated with the Clintons, none of the inner circle, just those far enough away to maintain a sheen of plausible deniability. I expect the nonsense in PA is but the first of many swing state shenanigans to come. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2008-08-25 18:31 |
| #11 and this: LINK "I know a lot of hardened Clinton delegates who are going to be OK, they're going to wind up supporting Sen. Obama," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, told USA TODAY. "But they want to cast their votes for her. Â… I think that'll make it easier for there to be closure." lol! It begins.... |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-25 16:07 |
| #10 Clinton drops another clue: Clinton will not tell her delegates to vote for Obama Speaking to reporters after her address to the New York delegation, Clinton offered delegates no instruction on how to cast their votes, Amie Parnes reports. "I will be telling my delegates that I will vote for Barack Obama," she said. "How they vote is a more personal decision. They want to have their chance to vote for me. That is what traditionally happens ... some people are having to make up their minds because there are arguments pulling them both ways." I would submit that you could see this coming the minute she got those delegates seated. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-25 15:56 |
| #9 The real key to me is that half of the Hillary Clinton Democrats are going for McCain. That should be enough to put him over the top in the national election, even as the Democrats continue to play for points at the party convention. Perhaps in 2012 the Democratic candidates will have realized that it isn't really about finagling convention delegates, but about seducing enough actual voters to get to the White House. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-25 15:54 |
| #8 lotp, you're probably right which is why I don't expect it to happen. What I DO expect is that she will sandbag Zero so that he loses the election setting herself up to run agianst a very old McC or a newbie in 2012. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-08-25 15:32 |
| #7 Doing that would poison her chances for this or future tickets. But someone else might do it on her behalf, perhaps. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-08-25 14:21 |
| #6 AzCat: Your musting fits right in with my fantasy position of last week. I'm wondering if Hillary is going to use her speech to drop a bomb on Obomba. My guess was it would be scandalous new relevations about Ayers, Wright, Rezko or Birth Certificate. I was leaning toward the CAC papers but who knows. I don't expect this to actually happen but.......................... ;^) |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-08-25 14:08 |
| #5 Pay attention also to the suit filed in a PA federal court this past Friday by a Clinton supporter and longtime party hack alleging: 1. Obama was born in Kenya. The plaintiff reportedly claims to have in his possession a Kenyan birth certificate issued within a week of The One's date of birth listin The One's father as the father of the child. 2. That Obama's dual US / Kenyan citizenship disqualifies him from holding the office of President due to the inherent conflict of interest. 3. That Obama traveled to Pakistan on an Indonesian passport as a youth and that this happened as a result of his adoption by his stepfather in Indonesia. Just to be clear since I know more than a few here have strong feelings about these matters: I'm not supporting or advocating any of these positions, I merely find it curious that a Clintonista filed such an action in a swing state a week before the convention. Probably also doesn't hurt that Bill appointed the judge hearing the case. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2008-08-25 12:52 |
| #4 Capsu - You are probably right. But the Clintons are masters of divide and conquer. Don't underestimate them. It is obvious that there is something going on behind the scenes. What would worry me, if I was Obama or Biden, is that the Clinton's have made a big show of how they are going to have teams of whips "ready to keep the "crazy" Clinton supporters in line. History has shown the Clintons to be the most gracious just before they strike. I will be sooo glad that they are gone. I'm old enough to remember before and after the Clintons came on the scene. BC (before Clinton) it was politics as usual, which was rough, but after Clintons is when you could not sit at a dinner table without enduring a screed from some leftist acolite thinking themselves to be "elite" in thought word and deed. The Clintons are shrewd, ruthless thugs who are serious players. Obama and Biden are more like Kerry or Gary Hart: Faces put forth by the political machines whose real players are too ugly or tainted to be on a ticket. I think Obama and Biden are weak - even with full media support. I hope Bobby is right!! |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-25 12:04 |
| #3 Hillary base under Obama = red headed step children |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2008-08-25 11:12 |
| #2 Yes, but only at the end of the week, when the blood on the floor is ankle-deep. Metaphorically, that is. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-08-25 10:58 |
| #1 It is worth it to remember that Hillary got those delegates seated. There had to be some serious brass knuckle wrangling for that to have happened. It would not at all surprise me if there is some attempt by Hillary supporters to lead a call for an actual vote from the superdelegates. I've been watching the behind the scenes on this with some angst - as I can't wait until the bells toll the wicked witch dead, but she's not dead yet, and her nature would not be to give up. I wonder if this article gives us a a small hint of how something might go down. Perhaps Hillary will stand back and feign surprise while a group of "bitter post-menopausal hags" call for the vote. I seriously doubt that Hillary can somehow pull it off at this point - but I have no doubt that she has been pulling out all stops and that no superdelegate has been left unbruised from her beatings in smokey back rooms. Like I say, it seems unlikely to me, but I'll be so glad this convention ends with Hillary packing her broomstick and flying into the sunset. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-25 09:59 |