Cue Hillary - Exit Stage Left?

[The BKP]

Having acquiesced not only to placing Senator Clinton’s name in nomination, but also allowing her and her husband - former President Bill Clinton – to address the Democratic National Convention and thereby the nation in primetime, Senator Barack Obama has extended the olive branch to the Clintons and their diehard supporters. In light of recent revelations of Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn’s Rovian proposals and Bill Clinton’s defensive and equivocal remarks about Senator Obama, he has demonstrated both great magnanimity and political acumen in his decision.

With reports indicating that Obama was initially highly reluctant to have Clinton’s name placed into nomination, the burden is now on Hillary and her supporters.

Having been part of the historic Democratic primaries, garnered more than 18 million votes that ultimately resulted in 1,896 delegates; they have every right to expect their moment in the spotlight. Recognizing this and the harm it would do his campaign not to, Obama has gone the extra mile to include not only Hillary, but Bill Clinton as well on the speaker’s roster.

Having lost the nomination, but won the recognition they crave and deserve Senator Clinton and her supporters should justifiably relish their moment in the spotlight. Undoubtedly her placards and signs will fill the convention hall as she is propelled to the podium by the repetitious thunder of her name chanted by thousands. Such heady and historic moments are known by few and should be savored like fine wine.

Yet, in the end, the Senator and her supporters must similarly acknowledge that while it is their moment, it is Senator Obama’s nomination.

Senator Obama has dealt in good faith and extended every conceivable courtesy to Senator Clinton, her husband and her supporters. Now they must in turn show the maturity, depth of character and ultimately the humility of the vanquished to take their bow, step off the stage and leave the spotlight to Senator Obama.

Accordingly, they must forgo the temptation to engage in any convention floor mischief or last minute Mark Penn mechanizations. They must honor Senator Obama’s good faith with their own and show him the respect and deference they would demand of him were their positions reversed. To do any less confirms the worst opinions and criticisms of the Clintons as egotistical, megalomaniacal sociopaths.

Though giving the Clintons their due, Senator Obama and his staff have nonetheless insured his image will overshadow theirs. In yet another example of their mastery of political stagecraft, Senator Obama will accept the Democratic Nomination not in the convention hall, but amidst the 70,000+ seats of Invesco Field.

On the fortieth anniversary of Martin Luther King, Junior’s legendary “I Have A Dream” speech, accepting a nomination won on the content of his character in spite of the color of his skin, Obama is the manifestation of that dream. Regardless of the outcome of the election, his place in America’s history and conscious is sealed.

The question now is – With the pages of history laid bare to Senator Obama, what will be the first entry he writes in it with his highly anticipated and meticulously parsed acceptance speech? With the eyes of the nation - and the world - upon him, all will be looking to see if he is not only a great orator; but an equally great visionary and leader as well.

Cue Senator Clinton, faithful readers. Exit stage left. Cue Senator Obama, center stage. Stay tuned for further updates as events warrant and the pages of history are written before our very eyes.

 

[Ravi]

I find it amusing that Obama will be hiding out in a stadium filled with his supporters instead of at the convention surrounded by half-hearted supporters.

Another example of his major wussiness.

 

[editec]

Somehow I think that Hill will be waiting in the wings (stage left, one supposes) for her cue.

 

[Care4all]

oh BKP, what hogwash....

Obama has done nothing to offer a fig leaf....

IT IS THE RULES of the DNC to have hillary's delegates counted, has nothing to do with Obama....

it was obama that was trying to break the rules and not want hillary to get HER DUE, otherwise there would not have been any negotiation needed at all for this to happen....

Did Ted Kennedy have to grovel for his delegates to be counted at the DNC convention when he lost?

you do realize that the difference in the thousands of delegates earned between Hillary and Obama is 11 delegates? 11 is what i heard last night on one news channel...amazing that this is not mentioned by the other Obama loving media...

If the DNC had not done what it did with Michigan's delegates that Hillary earned via their votes, and not taken the citizen's ACTUAL VOTES and substituted it with a gosh darn poll, Hillary would be our candidate right now...the DNC MADE Obama the candidate, by cheating and taking away their actual votes cast...sickening....

it has been proven over and over and over again that obama DOES NOT EVER get the amount of what the polls indicate...he is ALWAYS LOWER by 3-5%...they call it the Bradley factor...people say they will vote for him, but when behind a closed curtain and actually flipping the lever, they don't vote for him... and the DNC used a poll, a damn poll to put Obama in to the winning position.

Hillary won, if 11 delegate difference is really the difference as i heard.

I will NEVER, EVER forgive the DNC for what they did....NEVER and Dean needs to be FIRED....he's a gosh darn LOSER....and screwed Democrats BIGTIME, and every citizen that voted out there....they put in who was their INSIDER, their MAN, their GUY.....

it's bullshit....and we will probably lose this election because of it....those jerks.

care

 

[CA95380]

Somehow I think that Hill will be waiting in the wings (stage left, one supposes) for her cue.

Let's no one knocks her off the stage while she is standing in the wings


/snicker

 

[The BKP]

oh BKP, what hogwash....

Obama has done nothing to offer a fig leaf....

IT IS THE RULES of the DNC to have hillary's delegates counted, has nothing to do with Obama....

it was obama that was trying to break the rules and not want hillary to get HER DUE, otherwise there would not have been any negotiation needed at all for this to happen....

Did Ted Kennedy have to grovel for his delegates to be counted at the DNC convention when he lost?

you do realize that the difference in the thousands of delegates earned between Hillary and Obama is 11 delegates? 11 is what i heard last night on one news channel...amazing that this is not mentioned by the other Obama loving media...

If the DNC had not done what it did with Michigan's delegates that Hillary earned via their votes, and not taken the citizen's ACTUAL VOTES and substituted it with a gosh darn poll, Hillary would be our candidate right now...the DNC MADE Obama the candidate, by cheating and taking away their actual votes cast...sickening....

it has been proven over and over and over again that obama DOES NOT EVER get the amount of what the polls indicate...he is ALWAYS LOWER by 3-5%...they call it the Bradley factor...people say they will vote for him, but when behind a closed curtain and actually flipping the lever, they don't vote for him... and the DNC used a poll, a damn poll to put Obama in to the winning position.

Hillary won, if 11 delegate difference is really the difference as i heard.

I will NEVER, EVER forgive the DNC for what they did....NEVER and Dean needs to be FIRED....he's a gosh darn LOSER....and screwed Democrats BIGTIME, and every citizen that voted out there....they put in who was their INSIDER, their MAN, their GUY.....

it's bullshit....and we will probably lose this election because of it....those jerks.

care

My guess is you're not going to be among the adoring throngs at Invesco Field, Care. Pity that.

If the Bradley Effect truly comes into play as you suggest, then I would imagine Senator Clinton and her staff eagerly await the morning of Wednesday, November 5th so they may begin planning for her 2012 run in earnest.

 

[busara]

If the DNC had not done what it did with Michigan's delegates that Hillary earned via their votes, and not taken the citizen's ACTUAL VOTES and substituted it with a gosh darn poll, Hillary would be our candidate right now...the DNC MADE Obama the candidate, by cheating and taking away their actual votes cast...sickening....

you mean the primary that wasnt going to count and should not have counted at all? the primary where many people didnt vote because it didnt count? where candidates names werent on the ballot because it didnt count?

 

[Care4all]

you mean the primary that wasnt going to count and should not have counted at all? the primary where many people didnt vote because it didnt count? where candidates names werent on the ballot because it didnt count?

Busara, i hate getting in to this, it only sickens me but i will....

Obama CHOSE to take his name off the Michigan Primary BECAUSE it was a political move that he and his campaign THOUGHT would HELP HIM.....

The DNC spent tons in advertising and public announcements telling their citizens to PLEASE VOTE, regardless of the DNC's WRONGLY MADE DECISION to not include them and let their citizens KNOW how important their vote would be.

Michigan had set all records on their turn out of voters for this primary...and i would have to imagine this was because of their marketing programs telling their citizens how important this vote was for them....there are links to this that i have posted previously and can be easily found.

There was absolutely NO RULE that told the candidates to take their names off the ballot, of the DNC or of the agreement the candidates HAD TO SIGN with the 4 early primary states...like i said, this was a political choice of Obamas because he thought it would be better for him to not show how badly he was going to lose michigan....and it benefitted Obama by the DNC excluding the 2 states that Hillary was a shoe in.

This was a choice of Obama's, I REPEAT a CHOICE, A POLITICAL CHOICE, not a rule...Obama did not want Michigan to count, he never wanted Michigan to count BECAUSE he would lose it bigtime, nor did he want Florida to count...NOT BECAUSE they broke some MINOR rule but because it was to his advantage for them not to count in this presidential race.

Now, WHY should the people that did make the effort to go out and vote as the state of michigan and the DNC begged them to do BE PUNISHED for doing such? There are elections after elections where people that are registered to vote, don't go out and vote and THEY ARE NEVER REWARDED for doing such, with a made up poll counting as their votes.

This was extremely unethical of the DNC, as was the ruling to strip these states of ALL of their delegates and actually breaking the DNC rules themselves, which requires at least half the delegates be seated at the convention or no convention can be had....the DNC knew they would give Michigan and Florida at least half of their votes from THE VERY BEGINNING and made a HUGE MISTAKE by throwing their power around the way they did...even in the DNC charter is states the committee members should do all that they can to allow members to vote and have their vote count...but by taking these states from Hillary, it would help other candidates and Obama and the race be closer...which i think Dean wanted....

I am not blaming Obama for this whole mess that happened, but I am blaming the DNC, and what they did, from the very beginning on how they handled this primary, and how they were so hypocritical and calculated in their decision making process to put Obama IN the ever so slight lead.

I repeat, DEAN should and MUST be fired....the buck should stop with him, the head of the DNC.

care

 

[Jon]

My main problem with Michigan was that all the undecided voters were given to Obama, when the flyers handed out clearly stated that "Undecided vote will send an undecided delegate to the convention."

The DNC was very unethical on Michigan and Florida, but moreso Michigan.

 

[busara]

Busara, i hate getting in to this, it only sickens me but i will....

Obama CHOSE to take his name off the Michigan Primary BECAUSE it was a political move that he and his campaign THOUGHT would HELP HIM.....

The DNC spent tons in advertising and public announcements telling their citizens to PLEASE VOTE, regardless of the DNC's WRONGLY MADE DECISION to not include them and let their citizens KNOW how important their vote would be.

Michigan had set all records on their turn out of voters for this primary...and i would have to imagine this was because of their marketing programs telling their citizens how important this vote was for them....there are links to this that i have posted previously and can be easily found.

There was absolutely NO RULE that told the candidates to take their names off the ballot, of the DNC or of the agreement the candidates HAD TO SIGN with the 4 early primary states...like i said, this was a political choice of Obamas because he thought it would be better for him to not show how badly he was going to lose michigan....and it benefitted Obama by the DNC excluding the 2 states that Hillary was a shoe in.

This was a choice of Obama's, I REPEAT a CHOICE, A POLITICAL CHOICE, not a rule...Obama did not want Michigan to count, he never wanted Michigan to count BECAUSE he would lose it bigtime, nor did he want Florida to count...NOT BECAUSE they broke some MINOR rule but because it was to his advantage for them not to count in this presidential race.

Now, WHY should the people that did make the effort to go out and vote as the state of michigan and the DNC begged them to do BE PUNISHED for doing such? There are elections after elections where people that are registered to vote, don't go out and vote and THEY ARE NEVER REWARDED for doing such, with a made up poll counting as their votes.

This was extremely unethical of the DNC, as was the ruling to strip these states of ALL of their delegates and actually breaking the DNC rules themselves, which requires at least half the delegates be seated at the convention or no convention can be had....the DNC knew they would give Michigan and Florida at least half of their votes from THE VERY BEGINNING and made a HUGE MISTAKE by throwing their power around the way they did...even in the DNC charter is states the committee members should do all that they can to allow members to vote and have their vote count...but by taking these states from Hillary, it would help other candidates and Obama and the race be closer...which i think Dean wanted....

I am not blaming Obama for this whole mess that happened, but I am blaming the DNC, and what they did, from the very beginning on how they handled this primary, and how they were so hypocritical and calculated in their decision making process to put Obama IN the ever so slight lead.

I repeat, DEAN should and MUST be fired....the buck should stop with him, the head of the DNC.

care

it's a conspiracy!!

seriously care, i know all of that. everyone does by now. but the fact is, the states broke the rules, the DNC made a ruling, then changed their ruling. but the damage was done. all the hillary supporters who are using this to try and say she was cheated are just grasping at straws. constantly bitching about this is doing nothing but make her supporters look whiny and desperate. and yeah, obama made the choice to remove his name. he did it because he was trying to please superdelegates. clinton went along with the ruling as well, even saying "it’s clear the election they’re having isn’t going to count for anything." had she fought for the states still having a say from the start i might feel differently. but she did nothing but play politics by leaving her name on, then tried to become the 'voice' and a 'champion' for the people of florida and michigan only when she needed to. but the fact is a real election never took place. only one where people could choose hillary or not hillary.

if you want to be mad at someone, it should be those in the states who decided to break the rules. this whole 'theyre all against hillary' nonsense has gotten very old.

 

[Care4all]

My main problem with Michigan was that all the undecided voters were given to Obama, when the flyers handed out clearly stated that "Undecided vote will send an undecided delegate to the convention."

The DNC was very unethical on Michigan and Florida, but moreso Michigan.

ABSOLUTELY, i meant to mention this decision of theirs, that broke their own DNC rules, in my above post....

That is what GAVE the election to Obama...YES, GAVE IT TO HIM on a silver platter.

Care