Month: August 2008

Obama on Clinton’s Speech: ‘That Was Excellent, She Delivered’

Jon Ponder

While Trish found much to criticize in Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic Convention last night, her candidate seemed to think it was pretty good:
“Clinton Hits a Home Run in a Finely Tuned and Delivered Speech”
— BuzzFlash.com

Obama watched the Hillary video intently, with a slight smile.

“That was great,” he said afterward.

Although they were thousands of miles away, the crowd in the Thompsons’ living room [in Montana, where Obama watched the speech] clapped along when Chelsea introduced her mother.

“It was a nice moment,” Obama said.

“I am here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud senator from New York, a proud American and a proud supporter of Barack Obama,” she said.

“It is time to take back the country we love and whether you voted for me or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” Clinton said, bringing applause from the group.

“No way. No how. No McCain,” she said.

“Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our president.”

…Obama smiled.

“That was excellent,” he said. “She delivered.”

Even our friends at BuzzFlash.com, who are big fans of their hometown guy, and who were among Clinton’s harshest critics in the liberal web-o-sphere during the primaries, were complimentary. “Clinton Hits a Home Run in a Finely Tuned and Delivered Speech,” read their headline today.

Dr. Democrat on Hillary Clinton

Dr. Democrat

Dear Dr. Democrat:

What is your take on Hillary Clinton’s performance at the Democratic Convention last night?

Hoping for Hillary

Dear Hoping:

I think Hillary hit it out of the park last night. She certainly won me over. I’m prouder now of the vote I cast in February than any primary vote since 1976. I can’t resist indulging in momentary regret that she (or Biden or anyone with a record of playing hardball) is not the nominee, but I’m eager to do whatever I can to get Obama elected — or, more to the point, to see that McCain is soundly defeated.
doctordemocratsmall4.jpg
The old line that Hillary wouldn’t have gotten this far if she hadn’t been Bill’s wife is a utter fiction. Bill Clinton would be the first to agree that he would have never been elected president without Hillary, so she has as much right to benefit from that success as anyone.

She got into Yale law without Bill Clinton, and Sen. Sam Ervin hired her to be on the Democrat’s Watergate legal team without Bill. She was seriously reluctant to go with Bill back to Arkansas, but once there went to work in corporate law to pay the bills while he sought very low-paying jobs as Arkansas’ attorney general for one term and governor (which paid about $35k per year, if memory serves). While he was gov, she really did reform Arkansas’ educational system and became a popular first lady in an environment that was generally toxic for Dems.

She endured lacerating criticism when they entered the national stage in ’92 that she was micromanaging his campaigns — an allegation that was fictionalized by Joe Klein in the book and movie “Primary Colors.” If even half of it is true, she did what testosterone-equipped leading lights like Bob Shrum, John Kerry and Al Gore could not do: she beat the Republicans in national elections twice, and did it dancing backwards and in a pantsuit and flats. So to have that accomplishment taken away from her now is just anti-factual.

[…]

What Hillary Didn’t Say, and Why

Trish

It must be hard to give a good speech when you know that even before you finish, people will be dissecting your every word and movement.

A “body language expert” gave his impressions of what Hillary really meant.

“When she spoke about Obama, she really did not emote very much,” [“Face Time” author Dan] Hill said. “The only thing she showed was a very weak smile, the cheeks didn’t tend to lift very much, it was really almost what I would call a ‘crocodile smile’ where even the slight corners of the lips sometimes raise into a little bit of a smirk.”

You’d have to have some mixed emotions in a situation like that, so her body language really didn’t bother me. But for some reason, her opening kind of did.

Hillary went as far into her personal life as being a proud mother but not a proud wife. I can’t help but think the omission was deliberate.

I am so honored to be here tonight.
(applause)
You know, I’m — I’m here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat…
(applause)
… as a proud senator from New York…
(applause)
… a proud American…
(applause)
… and a proud supporter of Barack Obama.
(applause)
My friends, it is time to take back the country we love…

Maybe it’s because the camera kept panning to Bill’s face in the audience but I thought it was strange that Hillary went as far into her personal life as being a proud mother but not a proud wife. He looked like a proud husband. She’s been a proud wife before. How to explain it?

I can’t help but think the omission was deliberate. Although Jon disagrees that any major part of Hillary’s success is because she’s the WOB (wife of Bill), I think quite a lot of it is. And I think she must at least be sensitive to such musings and wanted to be at the Democratic convention as someone who got there on her own two feet — only. All during the campaign she claimed this or that insight, experience, or qualification because of her position, not as freshman senator from New York (after all, she has less history of holding elective office than Obama), but as First Lady.

But the occasion was meant to honor her accomplishment at “glass ceiling breaking” so there wasn’t room in the spotlight for husbands. During the campaign, Hillary had to act a certain way because she is a woman. She was held to a different standard because she is a woman. She had to embrace her femaleness and deny it at the same time. Men, you’ll just have to take my word on it.

It’s a shame that on the most challenging night of her professional life thus far, she felt she still had to deny that any part of her accomplishments came because of whose wife she is. Obama — and any man — is free to credit others generously, and would not have finished the speech of a lifetime (so far) without acknowledging his wife. Too bad Clinton, and most other women, don’t have the same leeway to recognize husbands without feeling it lessens them.

Alleged Hillary Supporter Featured in McCain Ad Falsely Claims McCain Is Pro-Choice

Jon Ponder

This sounds like a story you might read on the spoof site, womenforjohnmccain.com, which Trish wrote about earlier today, but, sadly, this is no joke. Or at least it’s not meant to be.
John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned.
– McCain website
Yesterday, just in time for the start of the Democratic National Convention, the McCain campaign released a new ad that features Debra Bartoshevich, a nurse from Washington, who claims to be a “proud Hillary Clinton Democrat” who now plans to vote for McCain.

But at news conference in Denver arranged for the Republican National Committee, Bartoshevich revealed what appears to be a shaky grasp on her candidate’s position on an issue that is fundamental to actual Hillary Clinton supporters:

Midway through the event, Bartoschevich was asked if she was concerned about McCain’s pro-life voting record. At a podium paid for by the Republican National Committee, with McCain aide Carly Fiorina standing nearby, Bartoschevich said this, “Going back to 1999, John McCain did an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle saying that overturning Roe v. Wade would not make any sense, because then women would have to have illegal abortions.”

Bartoshevich must have missed McCain’s appearance at the Saddleback megachurch a couple of weeks ago, when he said this:

“PASTOR RICK” WARREN: Let’s deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time, every different angle, every different pain, all of the decisions and all of that. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people, people who believe that life begins at conception, believe that’s a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?

MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (APPLAUSE). I have a 25- year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment. That’s my commitment to you.

And Bartoshevich has apparently not bothered to look up McCain’s position on abortion, which is plainly stated on his website, under the heading “Overturning Roe v. Wade”:

John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.

Or there is another possibility: Maybe Debra Bartoshevich is a Republican plant and not really a “proud Hillary Clinton Democrat” at all.

“Women for John McCain” Web Site Skewers Him – With a Coat Hanger

Trish

I groaned when I saw the name of this web site. Then I noticed the coat hanger in the logo. And now I have a new favorite site for humor and really good information.

Note to self: Friday is both McCain’s 72nd birthday and the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. What serendipity!

I especially love this blog entry:

‘We know that America’s next generation of multimillionaire, debutante heiresses can’t afford Barack “One House, One Spouse” Obama/

As Women for John McCain, we know that America’s next generation of multimillionaire, debutante heiresses can’t afford Barack “One House, One Spouse” Obama – and with a net worth in the mid- seven figures, he certainly can’t afford us…

Barack Obama’s campaign has been trying to paint John McCain as ignorant and out of touch on the economy in recent ads and statements. But can we trust someone with a tiny fraction of the net worth of the McCains – who recently picked the lowest net worth member of the Senate as his running mate – with our estates and trust funds?

And can we really trust a presidential ticket with such ridiculously complicated economic proposals? The Obama / Biden economic proposals are so absurdly over-specific and wordy they could fill a 48-page book.

Do they really expect Improve Transparency in the Market: Investigate Potential Conflicts of Interest between Credit Rating Agencies and Financial Institutions to fit on a bumper sticker?

Are crowds really going to be able to chant Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud: Ensure More Accountability in the Subprime Mortgage Industry in anything resembling unison?

John McCain is a former POW who won’t raise the white flag of “retreat and defeat” when it comes to George W. Bush’s war on America’s economy…

At this defining moment in our nation’s history, America’s simple economic challenges require a simple leader, with one simple, easy-to-remember solution to every problem our nation faces…

John McCain. President. Because the economy is just like a war. And John McCain was in one of those once. For five and a half years. In Hanoi. As a Prisoner of War. In the Navy. As a POW. That stands for Prisoner of War. Prisoner. Of. War. John McCain. POW. In Vietnam. For five and a half years. As a POW in Vietnam.

You get the idea. Visit womenforjohnmccain.com and prepare to snort.