Thank The Clintons

A little made up tension is not such a bad thing. Of course, anyone with any knowledge of politics knows that Bill and Hillary would come around to fully support Senator Obama. (This is being written just hours before Bill's Wednesday night speech). The two of them are Democrats and any longtime member of a major political party must find a way to bury the hatchet and move on with the majority. The Clintons are not fools and know where their bread is buttered.

But with a convention in Denver devoid of any suspense, as it is already preordained that Obama would receive the nomination, why not add a little drama to the mix to convince people that turning into the convention would be "must see TV". Without the Clinton angle what would the convention have looked like. A bunch of no name politicos praising Obama and raining damnation upon McCain and President Bush. After a few tired speeches (see keynote speaker Mark Warner as an example), the general population would have turned off the cable and broadcast channels airing the Denver love fest and gone back to more entertaining options on their cable boxes.

So in the long run, the so called "Obama-Clinton rift" will be looked at as a blessing. Monday night, over twenty-two million watched as Michelle Obama sang her husband's praises while giving the first salvo of recognition to Hillary. Tuesday night, millions more were riveted as Hillary herself
gave a concise twenty-three minute speech proclaiming her loyalty to Mr. Obama. Instead of a plodding speech by a former president, all eyes are now going to be glued to the screen as Bill reaches within himself to come to peace with his wife's former competitor. And of course, Thursday night promises more excitement as not only Barack Obama accepts an historical nomination but uses part of his precious time to thank the Clintons for their newly found love.

The Democratic Party's long primary battle squeezed the GOP and John McCain off the front pages for months on end and this last bit of suspense has continued the process. The Republicans will be hard pressed to create the Hollywood story that is playing out in Denver and will almost definitely come short in drawing the amount of Americans who watched the Democrat's convention. The fight for unity and hope just still might trump the call for a retreat to the past and a play for the politics of fear and hatred.

The Narrative In Beijing & Denver

NBC paid billions for the Olympics. They would be damned if anything got in their way of scoring high ratings and turning as many bucks as possible. The first week found the Michael Phelps journey falling into their laps. Coupled with the week and a half battle between America's gymnastic sweethearts and the allegedly underage Chinese tumblers, the Olympics took on a life of its own. Night after night the screen was filled with swimming, bikini clad American volleyballers, and high flying gymnasts. Although not quite as exciting to American audiences (at least to NBC's thinking), the network did get a second week boost through the incredible running of the charismatic Jamaican, Usain Bolt.

As long as their main properties were scoring gold, NBC's incoming narrative did not need to be altered. Little was mentioned on the prime time telecasts about the softball team losing to Japan, the lack of medals among America's boxers (usually a big draw), and the ongoing problems with China's government over human rights demonstrations and altering of the Opening Ceremonies. Of course, a bit of this and a bit of that was mentioned and shown, but the lion's share of coverage was already predetermined by the network executives.

We now fast forward to the next big event, this week's Democratic National Convention in Denver. Leading up to the first night's telecast, the cable pundits are all ablaze about the possibility of some of Hillary's ardent supporters holding out on Barack Obama. Interviews with holdout delegates are filling the screen. "Obama dissed us. He did not reach out to us. I will not vote for him."

So the narrative is already in place. Obama must genuflect toward Hillary and her backers or lose the election. This is one of the reasons why our last blog entry entreated Obama to pick Hillary to be his VP choice. If he could fully make up with this large group, the party would have been united before even setting foot in Denver, and all the energy would have been focused on John McCain.

Instead, Obama, for reasons he only knows, chose Joe Biden. Biden, if the Dems win, will be a great Vice-President and should be a great candidate. But Obama missed the point. Hillary came oh-so-close to the nomination and he really had little choice but to choose her as his running mate. Obviously, most of the Clinton folk do not want to lose abortion rights, curtail gay rights, expand medical coverage for most Americans, and end the war in Iraq. For those reasons and others, they will almost all come back in the fold.

But by playing this game with their feelings, Obama has fed into the week's narrative. The broadcasters and reporters are now primed to play the Obama-Clinton rift to its fullest. Never mind, that by week's end the conflict will have settled down. Obama now will have to kiss up to the Clintonites while trying to stare down his up and coming Republican challenger. His need for a single purpose at the Denver convention is up in smoke. Instead of all news items being about the opposition, all we are getting are reports about "behind-the-scenes" negotiations with Hillary.

We will mention this one more time. Obama, this election is not about you. It is about the millions who want "change" and want it now. By being stubborn and refusing to fully embrace what should be his base, he continues to delay the full acceptance of his nomination and is losing the "wow" factor day after day. Time is running out. Biden was good. Hillary would have been better.

Give Us Hillary

Dear Senator Obama,

Let's get right to the point. Do the right thing. Give us Hillary. Swallow your pride. Lick your wounds. Get up off the mat and get with the program. Enough with the nuanced answers. Hillary is a lion and not only will she be a strong voice for you but she will help you find your own voice.

McCain has been hammering you with celebrity nonsense. He has his minions hinting that you are really not like most of us. He is playing a veiled race card. You combine that with the lack of familiarity that many Americans have with you and it is not hard to see why the polls are getting tighter.

You have been playing games for far too long with this nomination. A great majority of Americans are ready to move away from the Bush years. They do want to embrace your change. But you are not giving them enough reassurance. You are looking too political. You are being a bit arrogant by laughing off the opposition's attacks. Sure Senators Bayh and Biden are credible vice-presidential picks but the air will be let out of the balloon if you choose them.

Get deep within yourself. For once, let go of those professorial mental gymnastics and give us real passion. Oh, we see that in those wonderful speeches. Yeah, but those are getting old. You looked a bit flustered and not with it in Reverend Warren's church the other night. The older guy actually looked like he wanted the presidency more than you did.

So now you are about to make your first real decision. A choice that will ultimately lead you to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or back to your Chicago home. Make history. Rally the troops. Give us our red meat. Give us Hillary.

Hillary has proven to be a real fighter. She will be the ultimate attack dog against the crap the GOP has been throwing your way. Nothing will escape her (and Bill). She warned you that there is nothing like the war the Republicans would engage you in. Have you had enough already? It seems like you cannot do this on your own. Kerry couldn't, neither Dukakis, and unfortunately Gore.

The Clintons know how to get down and dirty. And if you do not know by now that the election will be wrestled in the mud then maybe you do not deserve to be our leader. Stop trying to calculate how one VP pick could help in this or that state. Screw all that and give us Hillary.

Hillary will be loyal to you. She will get you back the entire feminist vote. She will get you much of the Jewish vote (hello Florida!). She will up your numbers with Hispanics. She will get those wavering Reagan Democrats back in your column.

Oh, she and her husband have all that baggage. Well, they know how to win. Her campaign froze after Super Tuesday and you took advantage. But look at what happened in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and many of the other late deciding primary states. She kicked butt. Now harness that energy and pick this dynamic woman.

Senator Obama, you have come this far. You have to be tasting victory. You have to be imagining what it will be like to have your beautiful wife and children residing in that big White House. But all that you are dreaming for for this nation and yourself will not take place if you do not win. You have only seen just a preview of what the enemy will throw your way in the weeks and months to come.

Senator Obama, do not gamble with our future. Secure the victory. Raise the roof. Give us Hillary.

Double Teaming On Hillary

Illegal immigration is perhaps the most complex issue facing America. A hardcore right wing minority would like nothing more than to wave a magic wand and have the millions of illegals disappear from the U.S. Short of a Nazi style regime, that will not happen. Even President Bush to his credit realizes the complexities and has called for a workers' program and some form of legality and citizenship for the illegals.

So it was not surprising that tonight in the Philadelphia Democratic Party debate that this issue would become the focal point. Near the very end, Tim Russert brought up the complicated situation by pointing out the New York Governor Spitzer has just signed off on a program that will allow illegals a modified form of a drivers' license. The question was posed to Hillary Clinton who spoke intelligently on the necessity for each state's governor to deal with this issue in the face of the federal government not moving towards a comprehensive plan that would strengthen border security and find ways to bring the millions of illegals out of the shadows and into the mainstream of American life.

Hillary was forceful but balked at giving a 100% thumbs up to her own governor's plan. Rightly or wrongly she supported the concept but did not want to put herself in the position of the New York chief executive who had to finalize the program. And it was at that moment that first Senator John Edwards and then Senator Barack Obama pounced on Hillary for not giving her full blessing to Spitzer. They had tried all night to corner the frontrunner. In fact things became heated enought that Governor Richardson came to Hillary's defense by pointing out that her opponents were trying to make a character issue out of some of Hillary's nuanced positions.

Things have been going poorly for the second and third place candidates and they showed how desperate they were by looking for any opening to attack Clinton. Richardson's point was that it is okay to disagree with someone's positions but it was going too far to make personal attacks. Hillary is attempting to bypass the nomination process and run as a centrist in a general election. She is trying to be careful not to give the Republican enemy too much fodder. I would venture to guess that the vast majority of Democrats and left leaning Independents know that Mrs. Clinton is a left of center candidate. But they should know that to win a general election your words need to carry beyond Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles and resonate in Little Rock, Peoria, and Bakersfield.

After making hay of Clinton, Russert should have point the onus on her two attackers and put them on the spot over this issue. Instead time ran out and we found out that Obama's daughter will dress up as witch and will be trick or treating with a dad wearing a two-faced Mitt Romney mask. For a candidate who said he would stress the issues, Obama has started down a slippery slope that might lead Romney to wear a two-faced Barrack mask.

Woodstock & The Rat Pack

Joey Bishop passed away today. The versatile comedian was perhaps the least known of the late 50's/early 60's original "Rat Pack" quintet which also included Sinatra, Davis, Martin, and Lawford. The high flying five set up shop in Vegas and have become synonymous with Kennedy era/pre-Vietnam Americana. As the Pack (and Elvis) faded a bit from view, the Beatles ushered in a new season of youthful music and rebelliousness which reached its height with the festival at Woodstock, New York. That both Woodstock and Mr. Bishop would be spoken of in the same newscasts today speak volumes to the cultural divide that still haunts our nation. Senators Schumer and Clinton (both from New York) had attempted to use approximately $1 million in federal funds to help develop a Woodstock museum to commemorate the watershed event. Chicken feed in federal budget realities, conservatives in the Senate seized upon the request to defeat the proposal and to paint Clinton as some sort of drug popping senior citizen hippie. There should be no doubt that the majority of the same GOP senators would have been happy to pass the funds for a "Rat Pack" museum that would celebrate what they would consider a more placid time. That the "packers" were involved in drinking, illicit sex, and gambling would not phase these Senators who still look askew at the drugs, open sex, and revolutionary music that was on stage at Woodstock. Clinton and Schumer both pointed out that their job is to bring jobs and funds to their state (in this case tourism). But just as the "Swift Boaters" painted the decorated war hero, John Kerry, as a radical Vietnam vet, today's Republican cowards were trying to make a similar affront upon Ms. Clinton's image. Perhaps to appease her critics, Clinton should move to Tennessee and ask for funds for the Grand Ole Opry.

Cackle

New World Dictionary definition of "CACKLE":

to make the shrill broken sounds of a hen

The hidden enemy for Hillary Clinton is her gender. She is a she. All of our presidents have been a he. The intelligence, experience, and coolness that Clinton exhibits in debates, news interviews, and in public appearances is not enough for many in the media. Led by FOX News and echoed by such a mainstream voice as MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Clinton has been brought to task for her slightly long laughs while being interviewed. Instead of praising her for a bit of humor or maybe being a little critical as the laughter might mask a sign of nervousness, the TV pundits are calling her laughs a "CACKLE". Once again we are getting down to coded language. Hillary is just another air headed woman who never ever could stand up to the potential threats that our country faces from countries such as North Korea and Iran. She messed up on health insurance (of course no one mentions that fourteen years later Congress still doesn't have the balls to truly take this issue on) and as a meddling woman she must not have any real handle on Wall Street, the mortgage crisis, and other economic problems. Barring a total collapse, Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee in 2008. Defeating the Republicans will be difficult enough but now the real adversary is rearing its head: wimpy men who twist and turn when they think of a woman having true power and authority. All campaigns end up the same: the vital issues and ideas are pushed to the side as personality and appearance become preeminent. In the end we all become losers no matter who the ultimate winner is. Hillary was just hitting her stride wowing everyone with her debating skills. Enjoying her position and relaxing a bit, a bit of the real person was allowed to leak out with her laughing episodes. Now with all the critical comments, her handlers will reign her in so that she no longer can be loose and be the real person that everyone desperately wants to see.