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Michelle Obama's Bid for Hillary Voters
Michelle Obama's speech last night in Denver was quite skillfully executed. I would describe it as "a refreshing secular surprise." Surprising because of late we have come to expect nothing less than sermons and homilies from the 2008 Democrats. Refreshing because she managed to speak about family, community and country without quoting First Thessalonians, or mentioning her personal relation with Jesus Christ, or asking us to praise Him.
She didn't need to do any of that. Her party, after all, has so ramped up the God Talk that they no longer need to rehearse their religious bona fides at every turn. Too, there might have been other motivations for tamping down the faith-based stuff: the Obamas' messy divorce from their controversial church of two decades necessitated that she say little about her formative religious experiences.
In terms of target audiences, and in deference to the Democrats' love of 70s pop, let's refer to this evening as "Ladies Night." Cleverly, Ms. Obama interpreted Hillary Clinton's 18 million votes as a victory for the gals. From there she played countless arpeggios on the theme of her identity as a Family Woman.
The references to her status as a daughter, a sister, a wife, but especially a mother, hit their mark. I very much liked her line about her girls being "the heart of my heart and the center of my world. . . . . .Their future is my stake in this election." Here Ms. Obama "connected" in a positive way with all sorts of Americans (Her husband routinely does so as well. The question that remains is whether he can connect via negative politicking--to this point his campaign has been suspect in this regard).
And there were some moments of high drama too. When Senator Obama, somewhat anti-climactically, appeared via video after her speech it became immediately evident that their littlest daughter was somehow holding the microphone. And not shy about using it.
One has to be a parent to truly appreciate the terrifying possibilities raised by that scenario. The thought of my six-year-old clutching an instrument that would permit him to share his unique insights with representatives of the national and international media as well as a couple of million Americans worked its way into my nightmares this past morning.
But Malia Ann Obama performed superbly. As did her mom, who apparently was quite the fan of the Brady Bunch as a child. (If Republicans wish to paint Michelle Obama as a radical, then they now better be ready to take incoming from an entire generation raised on Bobby and Cindy).
So the first night of the convention is over and we have received a glowing portrait of the Obama family. There was remarkably little negative campaigning and one imagines that this deficit will be made up for tonight.
Senator Clinton, incidentally, will be speaking. That would be the same Senator Clinton who was not selected by Barack Obama for vice president. Now Democrats seem generally happy with the choice of Joe Biden. As do Republicans, though for very different reasons. So everyone's happy. And that's good.
But ultimately the metric by which we decide whether this decision was a wise one may be the Hillary test. In other words, can Senator Biden deliver to the Democratic Party the 18 million votes that Senator Clinton would have brought with her had she been named as vice-president?
In any case, were she to explicitly repudiate, reject and renounce Senator McCain's astonishment (as reflected in his "Passed Over" and "Debra" ads) that she was not selected, she would go a long way toward delivering those 18 million votes.
By Jacques Berlinerblau |
August 25, 2008; 9:53 PM ET
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Posted by: Athena | August 27, 2008 2:36 PM
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I don't really think the Obama camp is especially gung ho on having Hillary as an agressive campaigner, preferring to keep the focus on the presidential nominee and his policies.
But she is excellent in her capacity as an attack politcker.
Bill Clinton unfocused? I can't imagine such a possibility.
Pter- It is the focus on social and domestic issues of the working class that has many (including myself) excited about the prospect of an Obama administration.
So far, Obama's career has lent itself to exhibit a man rich in character, and even the ususal smears regarding family stability are not applicable.
Vocally religious folks like myself see a man committed to inclusion and policies based more on hope for our own goodness and industry, than the fear based corruption that McBush will spread across not only America, but the global village of humankind.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 27, 2008 1:51 PM
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I was told by a Methodist rightwinger in Georgia that Obama is the anti-Christ. Now I don't believe either in Christ or the anti-Christ but for the sake of argument I am willing to believe that Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ.
Posted by: candide | August 27, 2008 10:10 AM
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Farnaz,
One of the reasons you cited as a success of President Clinton was "keeping us out of wars."
On the contrary, this turned out to be his greatest failure. His narcissistic desire to be loved by everyone compromised the security of the American people.
His response to terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania? A cruise missile strike on a pharmaceutical plant in Egypt. His reponse to the bombings of the World Trade Center? Track down the individual directly responsible for the attacks but completely ignore the organization that supported him. When the Taliban overthrew the Afghanistan government (I use that term loosely) and openly established terrorist camps throughout the country, President Clinton conveniently ignored them in the hopes they would bother someone else.
Granted, President Bush's failure in this regards was not the act of war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the apparent foolishness of Iraq. My guess is that his approval rating would be significantly higher if he would have remained solely focused on Afghanistan.
Posted by: Brambleton | August 27, 2008 9:12 AM
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oohhhh gaaahhhhh boooo gahhhh, Julian
Communists, Marxists and Liberals, oh my!
Posted by: Roy | August 27, 2008 8:45 AM
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Victoria,
You write:
"Haven't they actually just done that and isn't that exactly what she did for them tonight?
And with a great deal of grace and exuberance.
I hear her husband is speaking tomorrow night."
She did brilliantly tonight, concentrating on her goals as a Democrat, which, despite what some may think, aren't entirely consistent with Obama's. In so doing, she said less about the candidate and more about winning the election for reasons every left-wing Democrat would have to find important. This was the strategy I fully expected her to take. Whether, given the complexity of her position, she can go further than keep to her political agenda and oppose McCain, I don't know.
To "campaign aggressively" would mean to get on the trail and hawk the candidate. Maybe the best we can hope for is that she gets on the trail and hawks her hopes for this country.
As for Bill Clinton, I suppose that in the interest of party unity, it's a good idea for him to speak. Notwithstanding the Lewinsky nonsense and, more seriously, Pardongate, his was an extraordinary presidency, leaving us with a thriving economy that the current administration has run into the ground, keeping us out of wars, which the current presidency has not seen fit to do. Still, his conduct during the primary was, at times, inappropriate, even offensive. I hope he stays focused tomorrow, keeps his eye on the candidate, and on the goal--the presidency.
Posted by: Farnaz | August 27, 2008 1:54 AM
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Good luck to Biden? You mean the man who drafted the Violence Against Women Act?
" I fervently hope that they find a way to get her to campaign aggressively for them."
Haven't they actually just done that and isn't that exactly what she did for them tonight?
And with a great deal of grace and exuberance.
I hear her husband is speaking tomorrow night.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 27, 2008 12:47 AM
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Jacques,
Having watched Clinton's speech, I have to agree with you that the Republicans must be overjoyed by Obama's choice of a running mate. Whatever terror they may have had at the prospect of her winning the nomination was only partly lessened as they waited in hopes that she would not be Obama's running mate. John McCain what she's made of from their work together on bipartisan initiatives. I imagine he's winding down with a drink, silently praying that she'll take a rest.
Every point she made tonight is consistent with every initiative she's called for throughout her career. Although I lost track of the number of times she mentioned health care, I doubt Obama did, and I hope, in the interest of winning this election, he keeps it in mind, along with a number of other things, notably immigration. Good luck to him and to Biden. I fervently hope that they find a way to get her to campaign aggressively for them. Eighteen million votes are at stake.
Posted by: Farnaz | August 27, 2008 12:37 AM
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Being a Canadian I still find American politics fascinating partly for the reason that the United States has such a great political and moral influence on the rest of the world and partly because we are next-door neighbors.
There definitely is a battle of values taking place between the Conservatives (Republicans) and Liberals (Democrats).
As such I watched Hillery's fiery speech tonight which I'm sure definitely appealed to the emotions of many. I can't blame America for wanting a change of office, the last eight years have been a nightmare, but is one party any better than the other morally? Could the Democrats be worse? And here is a scary thought, those who back Barack Obama so often are fueling the Hollywood agenda; such as Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Annette Bening, Susan Sarandon, Ellen Burstyn, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez - people with influence, star power/appeal and money but poor moral judgments. I say poor moral judgments because when a country detours from God's absolute, objective standards whose subjective reference point do they turn to and why? Why are they so drawn to Barack? My theory, "birds of a feather..."
I hope for America's sake that he is as good as the media bandwagon is painting him to be.
Posted by: Peter Huff | August 27, 2008 12:16 AM
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Janet- I shouldn't have said Meeeow-
that was uncalled for. I'm sorry.
I need serious help with my hairballs- I have 7 kittens- {{cough}} {{cough}}
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 27, 2008 12:04 AM
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"Janet quips-
'Yuh know, this just might not be the right moment to celebrate "WOMEN'S EQUAL RIGHTS DAY.'
Hillary Clinton was the not merely the first woman to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary for president, she was the woman making a serious bid for the presidency to win a primary in any state to select delegates to a national convention of either party.
Also, The deal to allow some states to cast votes for both Obama and Clinton before ending the roll call in acclamation for the Illinois senator. Clinton herself may cut off the vote and recommend unanimous nomination of Obama, according to Democratic officials involved in the negotiations.
It's not the whole ball of wax Janet- but it ain't nuthin to sneeze at either.
I can think of no more appropriate day for Hillary Clinton to sepak at the DNC-
All of our victories do not have to be writ large across the sky-
Don't diminish the woman or her accomplishments."
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I "quip," do I? Is Victoria reading "100 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary" or the remedial equivalent? It won't do the trick, of course. "Quips" will never substitute for sustance and critical thought. Witness the turnabout strategy she uses to accuse me of "diminish[ing]" Clinton, an application of strategy 7, Middle School Communications I. It would seem that high school is an absolute necessity for some people.
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Victoria, yet once more:
"So, you think autobiographies, memoirs, and self-promotion ads speak tell us all we need to know about a candidate."
Well, first one has to read them- but if you're still unclear about exactly and specifically the stance on issues is-
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
click on issues in the upper banner-
then read them.
Now you know.
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Remedial reading classes are offered all over the US, along with GED Programs. Most people wouldn't need secondary school to surmise that from the website she posts, one can expect as much candor about Obama as we can about McCain from McCain's site, but, then, Victoria, is not most people.
If she didn't need to insinuate herself in every chat, she could have spared herself this most recent public lapse in thinking.
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Victoria, nearing the end:
wow Janet- meeeow!
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Hopefully, Victoria will seek help with her hairball and call it a night, or a week, or a year.
Posted by: Janet | August 26, 2008 11:42 PM
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Well- I just peeked in on Fox- they're already back to their natural state- bashing Hillary-
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 11:16 PM
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the anon before was me- the love one-
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 11:12 PM
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"First you have to establish a greater connection than being in the same boardroom on some occasions-'
Didn't John Kerry say something like that just before he was swiftboated?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 10:48 PM
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I'm excited, I love Hillary-
I love Obama too-
If one of your friends has an argument, do you denounce one for the other?
Not me- there's love enough to go around.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 10:42 PM
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wow Janet- meeeow!
Anon- First you have to establish a greater connection than being in the same boardroom on some occasions-
Thanks- I'm watching Hillary now.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 10:38 PM
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You make a valid point Janet, the press did concentrate on her physical attributes to the deriment of her intellectual ones.
Not to mention the 1/2 vote status given to Florida and (Minnesota?).
I could do well without the superdelegates also.
But she also did turn to negative attacks- and she got off message sometimes doing so-
that left her open- and cerainly her staffers and advisors weren't a great help to her-
But you don't get a pass in politics because of the press's treatment of you.
The Press was also kind ot her.
Janet quips-
"Yuh know, this just might not be the right moment to celebrate "WOMEN'S EQUAL RIGHTS DAY."
Hillary Clinton was the not merely the first woman to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary for president, she was the woman making a serious bid for the presidency to win a primary in any state to select delegates to a national convention of either party.
Also, The deal to allow some states to cast votes for both Obama and Clinton before ending the roll call in acclamation for the Illinois senator. Clinton herself may cut off the vote and recommend unanimous nomination of Obama, according to Democratic officials involved in the negotiations.
It's not the whole ball of wax Janet- but it ain't nuthin to sneeze at either.
I can think of no more appropriate day for Hillary Clinton to sepak at the DNC-
All of our victories do not have to be writ large across the sky-
Don't diminish the woman or her accomplishments.
Janet again-
"So, you think autobiographies, memoirs, and self-promotion ads speak tell us all we need to know about a candidate."
Well, first one has to read them- but if you're still unclear about exactly and specifically the stance on issues is-
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
click on issues in the upper banner-
then read them.
Now you know.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 10:34 PM
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Victoria these utubes are of William Ayers speaking publically. They are undeniable and damning. You should take a look before you post. You sound like you think these are utubes of a report on fox news. They aren't.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 10:21 PM
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"Anyone remember those days?"
They departed just before you started blogging, Victoria, with your shallow "reservoir of knowledge," empty well of critical insight, dry lake of wisdom, etc.
Posted by: Janet | August 26, 2008 10:18 PM
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b
Posted by: a | August 26, 2008 10:16 PM
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OOO youtube to substantiate a claim!
How irrefutable!
What did people ever do before youtube (was it 3 years ago?)
O I know! They made made assertions, and then backed them up using their own critical minds to make connections and points, validating them by tapping their own resevoir of knowledge about a subject.
Anyone remember those days?
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 10:15 PM
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"Let's not forget ladies, today is WOMEN'S EQUAL RIGHTS DAY, named because 88 years ago women were granted the right to vote and own property with the passage of the 19th amendment-"
Wow, Victoria, is that why the media used so much ink to cover Hillary Clinton's "pantsuits," butt, breasts, ankles, etc., instead of her spectacular qualifications for the presidency? Is that why the press and other vested interests saw to it that she didn't get the nomination?
Yuh know, this just might not be the right moment to celebrate "WOMEN'S EQUAL RIGHTS DAY."
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E Favorite:
"Obama has a well-researched and well publicized history. He’s written two autobiographical books and information on his life has been all over the new and in countless ads. If you don’t know who he is by now, maybe you don’t want to know. Perhaps you just block out the information because you have difficulty imagining a black man as president."
So, you think autobiographies, memoirs, and self-promotion ads speak tell us all we need to know about a candidate. Yes, Virginia, no doubt.
Posted by: Janet | August 26, 2008 10:13 PM
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"Yeah, that William Ayers is such a radical that he's been a "distinguished scholar" at the University of South Carolina since 2005."
Thanks Athena that acounts for the last three years and really makes it clear as mud-
Right?
Bill Ayers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WKhS06YGNM
MSU SDS Reunion: Bill Ayers speaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP15wJl9YPo
His videos are floating all over the web and these are two of the milder ones. He is still reliving his glory days of SDS and he still considers himself a radical.
Obama should respond quickly. This is not going away.
Posted by: wtfit? | August 26, 2008 10:08 PM
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Chris says, “He has no history. We don't know who he is.”
Obama has a well-researched and well publicized history. He’s written two autobiographical books and information on his life has been all over the new and in countless ads. If you don’t know who he is by now, maybe you don’t want to know. Perhaps you just block out the information because you have difficulty imagining a black man as president.
Don’t vote for him if you can’t handle it, but please, don’t blame Obama’s lack of history for your lack of knowledge about him.
Posted by: E Favorite | August 26, 2008 10:05 PM
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Governor Mark Warner just drew an analogy that I thought worth noting.
He stated that if a company's only product was attacking it's competitors, it would go out of business.
I'll remember that one.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 10:02 PM
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CANDIDE's racist comments seem to have been deleted by the moderators.
FYI ALL: Candide is a rabid Muslim who has been posting virulent anti-Christian and racist comments for a long time on various threads.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 9:47 PM
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Yeah, that William Ayers is such a radical that he's been a "distinguished scholar" at the University of South Carolina since 2005. He's published his terrorist columns on the University's website. The Governor, Mark Sanford, is on the Board of USC. Does this mean that the Republican governor of South Carolina is a terrorist?
Give me a frakking break. That stuff happened 40 years ago, when Ayers was in his 20's, and Obama was seven. People can be rehabilitated, you know. Just ask your buddy Chuck Colson. Ayers is now a distinguished academic and community leader. He's discovered that giving people a hand up can change the world more than throwing a couple of bombs. Obama dealt with him as chair of the Annenberg Community Challenge, which was considered a triumph for the city's schools, the first major shift of private funds into the public system. Moreover, the grant to create the organization came from the Annenberg Foundation, which was run by a prominent Republican, Walter Annenberg, who maintained close relationships with several GOP presidents dating back to Nixon.
Does Obama's work with Ayers on this education project really call into question "his judgment and readiness to be commander in chief," as the McCain campaign has charged? If so, maybe McCain needs to take another look at Gov. Sanford.
Posted by: Athena | August 26, 2008 9:23 PM
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Let's not forget ladies, today is WOMEN'S EQUAL RIGHTS DAY, named because 88 years ago women were granted the right to vote and own property with the passage of the 19th amendment-
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/wed/a/august26_resoln.htm
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 8:45 PM
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Michelle Obama just about hit every note on the violin, as you point out. Yes, she can have it all, and so can you! Motherhood, wifehood, daughterhood, sisterhood, African Americanhood, lawyerhood, principlehood, Jackie Kennedyhood, citizenhood, first ladyhood, catch-in-the-throat-at-the-right-moment...hood.
I'm impressed. Also depressed. But gooey ick glopshtick is to be expected at conventions, replete with surprise video appearances qua Ronald Reagan. Thin as paper, her discourse could still claim a substance sadly lacking in the media.
Which brings me to her husband and his former Democratic rival. Hopefully, whatever skeletons her still-to-be-completely-vetted spouse keeps in his closet will not leap out to injure his candidacy. As for Clinton's supporters, I doubt you'll see many turning out to vote for McCain. Whether they'll vote at all is the better question.
Posted by: Farnaz | August 26, 2008 8:24 PM
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" wtfit?:
"Barack Obama needs to stop trying to change the subject "
Bold words from someone who just spammed us with three off-topic posts.
Posted by: Paganplace | August 26, 2008 8:20 PM
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Barack Obama needs to stop trying to change the subject and directly confront the questions about his relationship to Bill Ayers. He's already caught in lies. Its never the connection that takes a man down- its the cover-up. This is NOT going away:
Posted by: wtfit? | August 26, 2008 7:58 PM
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McCain needs to explain why he is against equal pay for women-
John McCain opposes fair pay for women. He thinks it is fine for employers to pay women less than men for equal work. In 2008 he refused to vote for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows women to receive equal pay for equal qualifications to a man. John McCain said that instead of fair pay for equal work, women need more "education and training." Source: Huffington Post.
In 1990, John McCain also voted against a bill that would have strengthened civil rights in the workplace and banned discrimination on the base of sex. Source: Senate.gov
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/26/0566/05306/361/575271
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 7:51 PM
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Obama Needs to Explain His Ties to William Ayers
"In my U.S. News column this week, I make a brief reference to the unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist bomber William Ayers and his connections to Barack Obama. They were closer than Obama implied when George Stephanopoulos asked him about Ayers in the April 16 debate—the last debate Obama allowed during the primary season. To get an idea of how close they were, check out Tom Maguire's Just One Minute blog and Steve Diamond's Global Labor and Politics. The Obama-Ayers relationship is also mentioned in David Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate.
Ayers was one of the original grantees of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform organization in the 1990s, and was cochairman of the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, one the two operational arms of the CAC. Obama, then not yet a state senator, became chairman of the CAC in 1995. Later in that year, the first organizing meeting for Obama's state Senate campaign was held in Ayers's apartment. Ayers later wrote a memoir, and an article about him appeared in the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001. "I don't regret setting bombs," Ayers is quoted as saying. "I feel we didn't do enough."
Ayers was a terrorist in the late 1960s and 1970s whose radical group set bombs at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.
You might wonder what Obama was doing working with a character like this. And you might wonder how an unrepentant terrorist got a huge grant and cooperation from the Chicago public school system. You might wonder—if you don't know Chicago. For this is a city with a civic culture in which politicians, in the words of a story often told by former congressman, federal judge, and Clinton White House counsel Abner Mikva, "don't want nobody nobody sent." That's what Mikva remembers being told when he went to a Democratic ward headquarters to volunteer for Adlai Stevenson in the 1950s, and it rings true. And it's a civic culture in which there's nobody better to send you than your parents.
That's how William Ayers got where he was. When he came out of hiding because the federal government was unable to prosecute him (because of government misconduct), he got a degree in education from Columbia and then moved to Chicago and got a job on the education faculty of the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle. How did he get that job? Well, it can't have hurt that his father, Thomas Ayers, was chairman of Commonwealth Edison (now Exelon) and a charter member of the Chicago establishment. As Mayor Richard M. Daley said recently, in arguing that the Ayers association should not be held against Obama, "His father was a great friend of my father."
In none of our other major cities is genealogy so important. I remember a story that Bill Plante of CBS News has often told. Plante was working for WBBM, the Chicago CBS-owned and -operated affiliate, during the violence-plagued Democratic National Convention. At a press conference, he asked the late Mayor Richard J. Daley a question "da mare" thought was impertinent. Daley's answer was, "Sometimes even in the best of families there's a bad apple." It baffled the members of the national press, but not those from Chicago. Plante's father and brother were Democratic precinct committeemen in the 49th Ward. The late Mayor Daley had the whole city of Chicago in his head. It is only natural that his son should vouch for someone by saying that their fathers were great friends.
The voters of Chicago and Illinois respect family ties in a way that voters in no other state or city do. The current Mayor Daley is, of course, the son of the late Mayor Daley; the two Daleys have been mayors, and effective and competent mayors, of Chicago for 40 of the last 53 years. The attorney general of Illinois is the daughter of the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. The governor of Illinois is the son-in-law of the Democratic ward committeeman in the 33rd Ward. The congressman from the 2nd Congressional District is Jesse Jackson Jr. Jackson's predecessor-but-one in the district was Morgan Murphy Jr., whose father was chairman of (get this) Commonwealth Edison.
But my favorite example of the importance of family ties is 3rd District Rep. Dan Lipinski, who was first elected in 2004 to replace his father, Bill Lipinski, who was first elected in 1982. Bill Lipinski won the Democratic nomination in the March 2004 primary. But on August 13, he announced he would not seek re-election and would resign the Democratic nomination. The deadline for replacing him was August 26, and a meeting was set on August 17 for the 19th Ward and township Democratic committeemen to choose a new candidate. Lipinski announced his support for his son, who was then a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee and had not lived in Chicago for many years. Among the committeemen making the decision were: 11th Ward committeeman and County Commissioner John Daley, son of the late mayor and brother of the current mayor; 13th Ward committeeman Michael Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House and father of Attorney General Lisa Madigan; 14th Ward committeeman Edward Burke, who succeeded his father as a council member in his 20s and and was longtime chairman of the Finance Committee, and whose wife is a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; 19th Ward committeeman Tom Hynes, former Cook County Assessor and father of Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes; and 23rd Ward committeeman Bill Lipinski. An electorate more averse to an argument against nepotism cannot be imagined. Lipinski advanced his son's name and said, "I'm optimistic, but one never knows in politics until the votes are counted." It did not take long to count them: Dan Lipinski was nominated without opposition. To the charge that the nomination was rigged, one participant dryly noted that anyone could have run.
To which it should be added that Dan Lipinski has since won two seriously contested Democratic primaries to hold the seat (Republicans are not a factor in this district). One reason that Chicago and Illinois voters have acquiesced to the politics of nepotism is that its products—or many of them—are quite competent. Mayor Richie Daley, if I can call him that, has on the whole been an excellent mayor. Edward Burke is a cultured man of high intellect. Michael Madigan seems to be a solidly competent sort, and for all I know his daughter is, too. Dan Rostenkowski was a highly competent chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee for 14 years, until he was laid low by a bit of cheap chiseling; at that point he and his father had been the 32nd Ward committeemen for just about 60 years. (The younger Rostenkowski got his seat in the House in 1958 because his father, Joe Rostenkowski, had supported the late Mayor Daley in the 1955 Democratic primary against fellow Polish-American Benjamin Adamowski.) There are exceptions. Many political observers would put Rod Blagojevich, the son-in-law of 33rd Ward committeeman Dick Mell, on the top of the list of the nation's dumbest governors. But then, for Chicago, it has always been more important who is mayor than who is governor (not to mention out-of-town jobs like U.S. senator).
Which leads us back to Barack Obama, who is now a U.S. senator and will shortly become the Democratic nominee for an office that even Chicago regards as more important than mayor. And the question presents itself: How did this outsider from Hawaii and Columbia and Harvard become somebody somebody sent? His wife, Michelle Robinson Obama, had some connections: Her father was (I believe) a Democratic precinct committeeman, she baby-sat for Jesse Jackson's children, and she worked as a staffer for the current Mayor Daley. Obama made connections on the all-black South Side by joining the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church. But was Obama's critical connection to le tout Chicago William Ayers? That's the conclusion you are led to by Steve Diamond's blog. And by the fact that the National Review's Stanley Kurtz was suddenly denied access to the records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge by the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle. (Kurtz had already been given an index to the records.) Presumably the CAC records would show a closer collaboration between Ayers and Obama than was suggested by Obama's response to Stephanopoulos that Ayers was just a guy "in the neighborhood."
The increasingly sharp McCain campaign had the wit to ask the University of Illinois to open up the CAC records. But it doesn't seem likely the university will open them up; as John Kass puts it in a characteristically pungent column in the Chicago Tribune, "Welcome to Chicago, Mr. Kurtz."
Does it matter if William Ayers was the key somebody who made Barack Obama a somebody somebody sent? I think it does. Not that Obama shares all of Ayers's views, which surely he does not. Or that he endorses Ayers's criminal acts, which, as he has pointed out, were committed while he was a child in Hawaii and Indonesia. But his willingness to associate with an unrepentant terrorist is not the same as Daley's (expressed, as George W. Bush's thoughts are, in disjointed prose but the product of a considerable intellect and seasoned judgment):
"Bill Ayers, I've said this, his father was a great friend of my father. I'll be very frank. Vietnam divided families, divided people. It was a terrible time of our country. It really separated people. People didn't know one another. Since then, I'll be very frank, (Ayers) has been in the forefront on a lot of education issues and helping us in public schools and things like that.
"People keep trying to align himself with Barack Obama. It's really unfortunate. They're friends. So what? People do make mistakes in the past. You move on. This is a new century, a new time. He reflects back and he's been making a strong contribution to our community."
For Daley, family is paramount, and Ayers is admitted into le tout Chicago because his father is one of its pillars. And electoral politics is also paramount: In a city that is roughly 40 percent (and falling) white ethnic and 40 percent black, with an increasing gentrified white population, the current Mayor Daley has maintained very strong support from lakefront liberals, including the Hyde Park/Kenwood leftists like Ayers who were the original movers behind Obama's 1996 state Senate candidacy. It's in Daley's interest to work with these people and against his interest to do anything that seems like disrespecting them. As Bill Daley told me when I asked him some years ago whether his father would have approved of Richie marching in the gay rights parade, "Our father always told us when a group was big enough to control a ward, we should pay attention to them." Staying mayor is real important to Daley, and Daley staying mayor is real important to le tout Chicago. An unrepentant terrorist? Hey, we know your dad. And you control the 5th Ward.
For Obama, the outsider who gained the trust of the insiders, the position is different. He was willing to use Ayers and ally with him despite his terrorist past and lack of repentance. An unrepentant terrorist, who bragged of bombing the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon, was a fit associate. Ayers evidently helped Obama gain insider status in Chicago civic life and politics—how much, we can't be sure unless the Richard J. Daley Library opens the CAC archive. But most American politicians would not have chosen to associate with a man with Ayers's past or of Ayers's beliefs. It's something voters might reasonably want to take into account."
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2008/08/22/obama-needs-to-explain-his-ties-to-william-ayers.html
Posted by: wtfit? | August 26, 2008 7:30 PM
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Must have hit a nerve, eh Chris?
Maybe Denise is a tried and true blue dem-
I don't much care-
But your ability to sympathize so readily with a feminist democrat is not exactly legitimizing her authenticity sniff test-
Usually when people take a political loss so personally- they have specific reasons for it.
I'll just note that her professed love for Hillary never actually manifested- and became a rant of her hatred for Obama.
Odd, that. When I am upset on someone's behalf- I ususally mention them more than in passing.
But I'm not gauging Hillary by Denise- nor her followers-
I'll just listen to the woman herself.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 7:23 PM
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"Denise sounds a little over the top with her feminist angst-
I smell a republican chaos troll...."
Gee Victoria what is your IQ??
You think anyone who backed Clinton and will now vote for McCain is a republican troll.
Many many people in American are uncomfortable with Obama. He has no history. We don'tknow who he is. His pastor and other friends are far left and hate America and white people.
You are a muslim and I understand why you back him. But you must understand why so many of Hillary's votes will go to McCain.
McCain is not a traditional conservative and is close friends with many democrats in the senate (including Biden). He has my vote.
Posted by: chris | August 26, 2008 7:03 PM
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" VICTORIA:
"I'm lockstep with you there Paganplace(our REAL feminist in residence)"
Ah, well, I wouldn't be so sure on the lockstep, but, here we are.
Sometimes 'Real feminism' gets complicated. I don't need anyone to tell me 'my place,' especially since I could rebuild their car and knock their entitled kiester down to appreciate what a good job I did. :)
Doesn't mean I want to be Hillary, but don't dare tell me I couldn't.
She's a big girl. *She* decided to play hardball. *She* cheesed off a lot of people. As a fully free and independent person, she made her choices. And there we are. That's the game.
"But Hillary is a trooper- she certainly has been vetted enough-"
And that 'vetting' turned up some real liabilities, fair or unfair, that anyone putting her on the ticket would have to take into account.
That's not Obama's fault, either.
I have to coment-
I switch to FOX all the time- and i have NEVER EVER heard more praise for Hillary Clinton on that network than the past 2 days."
Go figure. What *could* have brought about this sudden burst of 'respect?'
"Denise sounds a little over the top with her feminist angst-
I smell a republican chaos troll...."
She's acting like *Republicans* like to portray feminists.
Call me back when I need to be surprised about something.
Posted by: Paganplace | August 26, 2008 6:57 PM
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Oh, Michelle - what a fake. Can't speak w/o a teleprompter just like her husband. I'm so tired of them pandering to make others believe they are just like us. Sure - like I have a $300K/year job and my husband has sold $4M worth of books last year. Their greed shows more and more.
Posted by: Jane | August 26, 2008 6:52 PM
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" Pam:
"Candide wrote:
"A bit of white blood cannot make you white because the black blood takes over: evil over good.""
Ah, conservative Biblical positions of decades past.
"I'm white, and you make me want to throw up. What a disgusting bigot you are!"
I'm not precisely sure she wasn't repeating that in sarcasm, but, yes, that's where some denied things came from.
"And if you believe that evil always triumphs over good, shouldn't you just commit suicide? C'mon - it would make the world a much better place."
C'mon, Pam. It's just that kind of thinking that makes these folks figure they gotta take the rest of the 'fallen world' with them.
Haven't you noticed the utterly-self-destructive dynamics going on in these 'righteous' policies?
That's how the *bad guys* operate. They jangle people's self-destruct instincts with a sense of 'big unworthiness' and promise a thin thread of redemption if they serve well in some 'war' against a 'fallen world' (Which was of course 'intelligently designed' that way, don't take that thread away. )
It's *about* suicide, and in a self-centered way, making it 'righteous.'
Ultimately vain.
But very dangerous.
Life, Candide, is about more than worrying what 'color' your posterity is.
In my faith, we'd say, 'If in some future life, you want to deal with a notion your black greatgran represents 'taint of evil,' bon appetit.
Oh, but you think the game is over for you after this life, don't you?
I guess that makes such inherent despair OK, doesn't it?
I'd say, Pam. the world's *never* better off if we exercise despair in that manner. In life or in death.
It's not a noble death.
Posted by: Paganplace | August 26, 2008 6:15 PM
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Wow, Candide... racist much?
Denise - get a grip. Obama won fair and square. I don't see any "macho" posturing out of him or his group of advisors - who include women. Hillary herself called Michelle Obama and thanked her for the shout-out in her speech last night! Hillary may have received 18 million votes, but Obama received more. She ran a crappy campaign, listened to that slimeball Mark Penn, and lost.
How is the pick of Joe Biden a slap against all women? The man WROTE the Violence Against Women Law, for Goddess' sake! He was a strong voice on the behalf of women's issues in the Senate when Hillary was working at the Rose Law firm and making a fortune in pork bellies! And, Goddess help Barack if he wasn't focused on womens' issues, with a strong woman like Michelle watching over his shoulder? He'd probably be at the bottom of Lake Michigan! :D
I can understand your anger. It's hard when your hero doesn't come out the victor. But, you have to put it aside, for the good of the country. Do you really want another four years of Republicans? Do you want your daughters' right to choose taken away, or to not receive equal pay for equal work? Do you really want to vote for a man who tells rape jokes and calls his wife a trollop and a c**t? Because that's what you'll get if you vote for McCain. So, put on your big girl panties and deal with the fact that Hillary lost. Go have your primal scream or whatever you need to do. Get it out of your system, then move on.
Posted by: Athena | August 26, 2008 6:12 PM
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Candide wrote:
"A bit of white blood cannot make you white because the black blood takes over: evil over good."
I'm white, and you make me want to throw up. What a disgusting bigot you are!
And if you believe that evil always triumphs over good, shouldn't you just commit suicide? C'mon - it would make the world a much better place.
Posted by: Pam | August 26, 2008 5:48 PM
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Victoria:
"I smell a republican chaos troll..."
Couldn't be. Haven't you heard about how moral Republicans are? George Washington was surely a Republican for he could not tell a lie.
Then of course, "lies that cause people to believe are moral" so you may be onto something. Washington was a Democrat. They keep losing because they refuse to lie.
Barako Obama must be the busiest person alive. Just wait until you hear all the things he's done. Ten average people couldn't do all that in 10 lifetimes. How he has time to run for president is a divine mystery, like moral lies.
Posted by: BGone | August 26, 2008 5:44 PM
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I'm lockstep with you there Paganplace(our REAL feminist in residence)
Hillary could have pulled it together awhile ago-
Certainly enough democrats were warning her of the worst possible scenario- and there was a hint of real desperation at the end of her campaign-
But Hillary is a trooper- she certainly has been vetted enough- I have to coment-
I switch to FOX all the time- and i have NEVER EVER heard more praise for Hillary Clinton on that network than the past 2 days.
Denise sounds a little over the top with her feminist angst-
I smell a republican chaos troll....
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 5:25 PM
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"Any amount of black blood, any tiny amount, makes the person in question a black. There are names for different mixtures: mulatto, octaroon, etc., but black is black.
"A bit of white blood cannot make you white because the black blood takes over: evil over good."
Candide,
Are you for real?
Or are you just trying to promote a virtual fistfight?
I can't believe that there is anyone quite as ignorant as you make out to be. You're pulling our strings, right?
Posted by: magpie | August 26, 2008 4:58 PM
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" Denise:
"Poor Michelle Obama! Perhaps someone should tell her - and her husband too, that it will take more than belatedly fulsome praise to erase the COLD, CLEAR FACT that Hillary Clinton was a shoe-in for the Vice-Presidency, but was instead vindictively and rather petulantly given the boot instead."
Nonsense. If Hillary wanted to be VP, she shouldn't have gone negative against the guy she would supposedly have had to support, long after there was any *real* possibility of her actually getting the nod.
She's the one that made that VP slot politically-untenable. *She* burned the bridges.
Sorry. I liked her, too. Not as much as Obama, but I liked her, too.
And I've always been saying that Biden would actually make the best complement to Obama. They fit. And together can get the job done.
Hillary could have been OK... *if* she hadn't gotten desperate and gone negative.
Though if someone wants to come and say they would *actually* rather have McCain than Obama as President, I have to wonder what you saw in Hillary that we'd want anyway.
And if the Operation Chaos Republicans who voted for her in the Democratic primaries in order to make it plausible to drag things out so feel unrepresented in a party they were trying to *sabotage* don't like it, ...boo hoo.
Posted by: Paganplace | August 26, 2008 4:27 PM
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Funny how a trace of black blood makes you black but more than trace of white bold in the same person doesn't erase the blackness. Given that attitude, we're all Jews.
Posted by: Oyvay | August 26, 2008 4:25 PM
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Who gives half a crap who the first lady is? Hasn't been a decent one since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Posted by: Rby | August 26, 2008 4:23 PM
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Hillary: "But I'm BETTER than him!"
Bill: "Yeah, hon, but you're a girl."
Posted by: Spuds Mckenzie | August 26, 2008 4:22 PM
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Poor Michelle Obama! Perhaps someone should tell her - and her husband too, that it will take more than belatedly fulsome praise to erase the COLD, CLEAR FACT that Hillary Clinton was a shoe-in for the Vice-Presidency, but was instead vindictively and rather petulantly given the boot instead.
Michelle's mealy-mouth overture made in Hillary's general direction about putting “those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling,” — a reference to Clinton’s vote total in the primaries, comes over more than a tad insincere, not to mention woefully impotent.
What Obama and his macho advisors should have done BEFORE, can be detected in the half-hearted, yet desperate attempts they are making now, at trying to court those 18 million voters who chose Hillary Clinton over Obama all those many months ago. Yes, VOTERS! That is the light, belated though it now shines, that is serving to illuminate the testosterone-clouded thinking of Obama's Masters. For whereas it appeared to have been easy - previously, to lump Hillary and all who they mockingly touted as living in "Hillaryland" together as one effete lump of "feminized," and therefore malleable humanity, they are now being forced to retreat from the fraternal huddle, and face the cold, harsh facts about VOTERS' RIGHTS WITHIN A DEMOCRACY.
A political ideology that EMBUES all of its citizenry - feminized and macho alike, with the RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHO THEY PREFER TO LEAD THEM BEYOND THE GENERAL ELECTION!
A political ideology that EQUALLY embraces the PERSONAL CHOICE to: "VOTE...OR NOT TO VOTE. THAT, DEAR-OBAMA-AND-CREW, IS NOT AT ALL THE QUESTION, BUT (...THANK GOD!...) THE UNQUESTIONNABLE AMERICAN BIRTHRIGHT!"
Posted by: Denise | August 26, 2008 4:10 PM
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Didn't you hear what Obama's daddy's Kenyan family said when they learned of Barack's mixed blood?
Its in Obama's book "Dreams of My Father". His father's family in Kenya were angry and heartbroken that their blood had been tainted with white blood.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 4:04 PM
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Candide:
At a minimum, you should be ashamed of yourself! How flagrantly bigotted can you get?
A trace amount of back blood make persons black???? You are one of the dumbest racists I have come across.
Posted by: Gaby | August 26, 2008 3:13 PM
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IKNEW1
This white ,feminist,pennsylvanian woman has GREAT hope for an america that includes you, and Jillian, and everyone in between-
Hillary needs to remember why she got in this race to begin with- she needs to reignite the fire that drives her- and moves her supporters.
We need her where she shines- tough and smart and focused on the weaknesses of the opponent-
Bill can remind us of the positive legacy- how he left our country in financial solvency-
but we need Hillary to remind us and setup how that solvency was wrecked- and the threat that continuing down the rabbit hole of Bush's non-domestic policies and 4 more years of failed government will be our reality if McCain gets into office.
We can't drill our way out of this one- with 3% of the oil reserves and 25% consumption of the world's supply-
and a full 5 yearsbefore we would even see the first drop of that oil- which will be subsumed in the global market anyway-
It's irresponsibly short-sighted.
One cannot help but notice that all of McCain's ads are reactionary.
At some point people do get a little bored with bengtold the reasons they should be afraid-
afraid of what?
economic growth?
fically repsonsible government? (the gOP congress spent more money than any of their predecessors)
domestic security? (look at Biden's record on increasing police, diminished crime- the Vilence against Women act etc etc etc...)
FINALLY addressing the HEALTHCARE needs of uninsured Americans?
What ideas does McCain offer?
His supporters don't say, he doesn't say.
Every answer to every question can't be answered by relating his POW experience-
It takes very little imagination to attack a candidate based on fear-mongering on a personal level-
It takes creativity, intelligence, foresight, and conviction that one stands for the people- and not corporations- to offer solutions-
Obama is givng us a template of hope- backed by tangible and actionable policy-
He is empowering us to take back Amerca from the far right- who serve only their own already overinflated interests.
This is a country of opportunity for all- not just the upper fraction of 1% whose wealth grows exponentially.
Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?
Then you're voting for McCain.
But most of us are not.
OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 3:08 PM
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"the black blood takes over: evil over good"
Candide, you show your racial bias. Didn't you hear what Obama's daddy's Kenyan family said when they learned of Barack's mixed blood?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26, 2008 2:52 PM
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To paraphrase the Brady Bunch, "Hillary, Hillary, Hillary!" I'm sick of hearing about disappointed Hillary supporters at the convention. I was originally for Bill Richardson, and HIS supporters aren't bitter! Senator Clinton accomplished a great thing. However, she and her people ran a lousy campaign that would have folded right after Super Tuesday if she wasn't a Clinton. She made a lot of mistakes. Not because she was a woman, but because she had the status of front-runner for so long. I've been saying all along - and Michelle Obama said it last night - that even if Hillary doesn't win, she's put a few big cracks in that glass ceiling. She's made it easier for the next woman to break through it. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
Posted by: Athena | August 26, 2008 2:47 PM
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To paraphrase the Brady Bunch, "Hillary, Hillary, Hillary!" I'm sick of hearing about disappointed Hillary supporters at the convention. I was originally for Bill Richardson, and HIS supporters aren't bitter! Senator Clinton accomplished a great thing. However, she and her people ran a lousy campaign that would have folded right after Super Tuesday if she wasn't a Clinton. She made a lot of mistakes. Not because she was a woman, but because she had the status of front-runner for so long. Rudy GI've been saying all along - and Michelle Obama said it last night - that even if Hillary doesn't win, she's put a few big cracks in that glass ceiling. She's made it easier for the next woman to break through it. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
Posted by: Athena | August 26, 2008 2:46 PM
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Hypodescent is when you determine a person's race according to the "lowest" or "subordinate" race they are made up of. I believe a long time ago a person was considered to be of mixed race if any more than 1/32 of their bloodline was non-white.
I would like to piggyback on Magpie's question by asking: Candide - do you know where all of your ancestors are from? How "American" are you in reality?
Two of my grandparents are from Russia and another is from Germany. I have white skin, so despite 3/4 of my bloodline being foreign, nobody gives it a second thought when I tell them I am American.
If that grandparent from Germany had been from Africa or Asia instead, then what could I be considered?
Posted by: Daniel | August 26, 2008 2:31 PM
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"No thanks- we really do have hope, and our hope trumps your fear."
Victoria consider this:
My informed knowledge trumps your blind ignorance.
Maybe Barack Obama's typical white grandmother forgot to tell him: You are known by the company you keep.
What next?
William Ayers
Posted by: jillian | August 26, 2008 2:20 PM
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As a Black American, I tire of the silly and ignorant comments, and childish entitlement of my compatriots. I feel embarrassed for the Obamas that they have been forced, by overt and covert racism, into the position of having to prove that they are "Americans". It felt like the constant struggle that Blacks (in European countries everywhere) face of proving that they are "human". In essence, Michele had to do an updated version of Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman". Very, very shameful for white America. You can bet that Cindy McCain or Maria Shriver (Arnold Schwartzenegger's wife) would never have to debase themselves to this level. Let's stop the dance. White America (rural Pennsylvanians, undecided and vocal feminists) needs to tell this talented man, who happens to be bi-racial, that it cannot tolerate his blackness and not string this thing out. Unlike Michele, I am still willing to say that I am NOT proud of my country.
Posted by: iknew1 | August 26, 2008 2:13 PM
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"Americans are not ready for a black president and a black first lady."
Candide,
I wonder how you make the determination that Obama is a "black" candidate. He had a black father and a white mother. If being half black entitles him to be referred to as "black," then why doesn't his being half white entitle him to be referred to as "white"?
I've been wondering about this for some time, and, since you bring up the subject, you seem the right person to ask.
Posted by: magpie | August 26, 2008 1:56 PM
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jerry rubin:
Of course she, "praised the lord." That's a requirement to even run for president. But which lord was it she praised?
There's more than one God temporarily while ecumenical is cooking. When it's soup his holiness will again have, "the power of God" like in the good old days known as the dark ages. The pope isn't God telling us that "the power of God" is not limited to God alone.
In order to be considered worth saving those who are not completely in God's fold yet must obey his holiness' "make abortion unlawful" command. Did you notice how the "moral majority" (at most 10% so it's a 10% majority) follows his holiness' orders?
In the words of Ronald Wilson Regan, AKA 666, "there they go again." Vote the "abortion issue" and get an abortion of a government, like say what we now have.
The forces of evil never rest. Obama is confronting evil while McCain will destroy evil. Meaning Obama confronts McCain and McCain commits political suicide. That's the Democrat party plans at least.
Posted by: BGone | August 26, 2008 1:52 PM
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"Boy did you miss the speech by Michele! She praise the Lord 4 times or more during the speech yesterday as did the other speakers. I think you might have been watching FOX News."
Don't think so. I didn't hear her "praise the lord" even once, and I was watching on MPT.
Posted by: magpie | August 26, 2008 1:44 PM
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Notice the dreary tactics of trying to insert fear into the dialogue (Jillian) (the Red menace?)
No thanks- we really do have hope, and our hope trumps your fear.
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 1:24 PM
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That was a pivotal point in the campaign Mark- and true too.
But it was that close, wasn't it. I am not diminishing the importance of and contribution that the Clintons brought-
But I see the old guard feeling they are being eclipsed by the upstart- in a way-
Hillary has decided (a little late for my tastes) that the unity of the party is more important than her own political ambitions.
And if the tables were turned, would we have expected Hillary to choose Obama as VP?
It doesn't seem likely- let's face it- it would no even be remotely feasible.
Chuck Todd commented yesterday- "We may be making more of the PUMA stuff than we should be."
here's a comment from his blog-
"37 people showed up for what was supposed to be the HUGE PUMA march yesterday in Denver. THIRTY SEVEN PEOPLE. That's not news. No matter how loud those thirty seven people are yelling or how angry and disillusioned they may be. Thirty seven people."
The GOP wolud just love to see infighting with the democrats-
divide and conquer-
We spend far too much time and give way too much credence and attention to the old scare tactics of te GOP-
All they have offered so far has been attacks- (despite McCain's 'promise' at the beginning that he would never sink to a negative attack campaign)
Michelle Obama said last night (and it was my favorite statement that I came away with from her speech)
"We must listen to our hopes, and not our fears"
So we need to stay on message, and stay united as a party.
The Dens message is to fight for the world that we want- we are sick of the world that is that has been fromed by the neocons, Bush and big corporations.
McCain will not give us the world as it should be-
his world will be a nightmare of higher health care costs, and will guarantee the greatest wealth transefer in the history of the world- instituting the draft- sending the poor to fight in Iran, AND Iraq, AND Afghanistan, and possibly Georgia with that delicious Caspian Sea pipeline, maybe we'll even turn our gaze to Venezuela)
corporate welfare giveaways- all the while watching the dollar fall- and our deficit rise-
When I'm afraid to go to the hospital because I know the bills will kill me- that is a poor choice for any working american to have to make-
When my gas and heating bills are dorwning me-
when the minimum wage is not a living wage-
when I can't buy a house or my house is foreclosed on by predatory lending practices
When I can't send my kids to college because there is just no built up equity to even borrow against- and their only opportunity to get an education is to go and protect the interests of old white guys by fighting a war we were lied into-
and our bridges are falling down, and roads decaying from the neglect of America at home from 8 years of Bush-
When my world once again resembles the world left by Clinton- and all the damage has been repaired-
Then I can start to worry about wedge issues that are being thrust into our attention to distract us-
We don't need more of the same-
We need an intelligent and thoughtful leader- who has shown the capacity to surround himself with excellent advisors- working together for the american dream for all americans- not just a chosen few-
Posted by: VICTORIA | August 26, 2008 1:21 PM
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Great Article!!!
Posted by: Michael Wright | August 26, 2008 12:56 PM
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Not every registered democrat is unaware that Obama's mentors since childhood have been communists/marxists. And I don't just mean his 20 years with Pastor Wright who preaches James Cone and marxist Black Liberation Theology. What about:
Frank Marshall Davis, alleged Communist, was early influence on Barack Obama. New details about a black poet in Hawaii who was a key early influence in Barack Obama’s life can be revealed by The Telegraph.
That's too far left for most voters- including me.
Posted by: jillian | August 26, 2008 12:47 PM
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Well-thoughtout article, Jacques. It's rather magnanimous
of Obama to agree to allow the Florida and Michigan
delegates to have a full vote now that Hillary has dropped out
of the race. Had the DNC been sensible early in the primaries
and given those states their rightful voice, Hillary would have
stood in a different position. Superdelegates would not have
been so quick to jump onto Obama's wagon. As I see it,
the cards were stacked by DNC against Hillary. Too bad.
Posted by: Mark | August 26, 2008 12:29 PM
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Boy did you miss the speech by Michele! She praise the Lord 4 times or more during the speech yesterday as did the other speakers. I think you might have been watching FOX News.
Posted by: jerry rubin | August 26, 2008 12:28 PM
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It was unwise of Hillary to burn all those bridges and run such a divisive campaign well after she could plausibly win the nomination... People who think she got *snubbed* by not getting the nod as the running mate to a guy she spoke against so, even if it was part of a game to her, are missing the point.
What's the percentage in taking on not only her previous baggage, but also the baggage of everything she said trying to win the primaries?
Frankly, if she really *did* accumulate a certain amount of support that would rather have more disastrous Bush policies under McCain than have Obama in the office to change things, then, one has to ask how she *got* that support, anyway.
(Let's not forget Operation Chaos, here, ...plenty of Republicans, their own primaries settled, did in fact vote in the Democratic primary for the express purpose of thwarting the democratic will: how many of the people playing 'disgruntled Hillary supporters' were really for McCain all along? )
Posted by: Paganplace | August 26, 2008 11:28 AM
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Well poised Malia Ann didn't get a chance to speak because Miss Sasha was determined to have Daddy's ear. After all, she had to ever so smoothly get Daddy to correctly identify what city he was in. Truly, Obama's BEST representatives are his wife and daughters.
Posted by: ProudVet | August 26, 2008 11:12 AM
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Both Barak and McCain want Hillary votes. Does Hillary want Barak to win is the real question.
Are the Clintons savvy enough, forward looking enough to put the "2AM" add out to defeat Barak in November?
Posted by: BGone | August 26, 2008 10:50 AM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
"...star power/appeal and money but poor moral judgments. I say poor moral judgments because when a country detours from God's absolute, objective standards whose subjective reference point do they turn to and why?"
Okay... since you're a Canadian and don't know American politics that well, I'll give you a pass on that one. Define what you mean by "poor moral judgement". Sleeping around? How are people in Hollywood different than anywhere else in the world. Conservatives aren't exactly moral in this country - even though they talk like they are. (Larry Craig, anyone?) I know that Canadians don't have the cult of celebrity as much as Americans do, because we're just weird that way. Besides, not all Americans really give a hoot about what Hollywood stars think.
As for Hillary - she gave a bang-up speech last night. Basically telling those complaining voters to snap out of it. It was a fantastic speech. I have no complaints.