Between them, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, two white-haired Washington veterans, certified tonight that the new man is ready to move America ahead and handed him the keys to do it.
Clinton, in full-hearted endorsement, declared, "Clearly, the job of the next president is to rebuild the American dream and to restore American leadership in the world...Everything I learned in my eight years as president, and in the work I have done since in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job...
"Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States."
To underscore his point, the former President noted that "Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history."
Biden, as Obama's partner on the journey, after acknowledging "a friendship that goes beyond politics" with John McCain, said, "But I profoundly disagree with the direction John wants to take this country, from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Amtrak to veterans."
As a good running mate should, Biden ran through a litany of foreign policy and domestic issues to show that "Again and again, John McCain has been wrong, and Barack Obama is right."
To cap off the evening of validation, Obama made a surprise appearance to hug Biden surrounded by four generations of his family as the Clintons and Michelle Obama beamed from the balcony.
The three-night unity show has set the stage for Obama's performance tomorrow night before a live audience of 70,000 but intended mainly for millions of TV viewers, many of whom will be paying serious attention for the first time. The opening acts have done their job well.
Showing posts with label '08 Democratic convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label '08 Democratic convention. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Romney and Giuliani Party On
Two Republican losers are in Denver this week, jockeying for TV face time and puckering up to their new best friend, John McCain.
In the primaries, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney ran neck and neck for the title of Most Shameless, America's Mayor with his 9/11 posturing and the former Massachusetts governor setting world records for pandering to the Radical Right by flip-flopping on gays, abortion and other social issues.
Now they are gate-crashing the Democratic convention like clowns from Comedy Central. Romney is angling for VP on the Republican ticket, accusing Democrats of playing "the politics of envy" by harping on McCain's multiple homes, while modestly pointing out he himself has only four.
Who knows what Giuliani wants in a McCain Administration? Attorney General? The six-figure lectures fees must be drying up.
In the primaries, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney ran neck and neck for the title of Most Shameless, America's Mayor with his 9/11 posturing and the former Massachusetts governor setting world records for pandering to the Radical Right by flip-flopping on gays, abortion and other social issues.
Now they are gate-crashing the Democratic convention like clowns from Comedy Central. Romney is angling for VP on the Republican ticket, accusing Democrats of playing "the politics of envy" by harping on McCain's multiple homes, while modestly pointing out he himself has only four.
Who knows what Giuliani wants in a McCain Administration? Attorney General? The six-figure lectures fees must be drying up.
What Hillary Should Say Tonight
Fellow Democrats, I had hoped to be standing here under different circumstance, but I am proud to be with you and thank those who worked with me to change the face of American politics. That we have done and, although the face this time is not mine, there is still much more for us to do.
A decade ago, I saw first-hand the politics of personal destruction and the lengths to which those who practice it will go in their lust for power. The bitter irony now is that they are invoking my name in an attempt to destroy the opponent with whom I engaged in an intense but honorable contest for the nomination we will be bestowing on him here.
Back then, before the evidence of the past eight years, I described it a vast right-wing conspiracy. Now we know what it is really is--a radical attempt to undermine American values with needless wars, infringement of traditional rights and usurping all the fruits of the American economy for themselves at the expense of hard-working families.
I repudiate them now as I did then and urge everyone who has honored me with support to do the same. They are the true enemies of everything we believe in, and we must not let them practice their divide-and-conquer tactics on us.
If you support Barack Obama with all your heart, as I do, we can rid ourselves of their toxic effects on American life for a long time to come. Yes we can.
A decade ago, I saw first-hand the politics of personal destruction and the lengths to which those who practice it will go in their lust for power. The bitter irony now is that they are invoking my name in an attempt to destroy the opponent with whom I engaged in an intense but honorable contest for the nomination we will be bestowing on him here.
Back then, before the evidence of the past eight years, I described it a vast right-wing conspiracy. Now we know what it is really is--a radical attempt to undermine American values with needless wars, infringement of traditional rights and usurping all the fruits of the American economy for themselves at the expense of hard-working families.
I repudiate them now as I did then and urge everyone who has honored me with support to do the same. They are the true enemies of everything we believe in, and we must not let them practice their divide-and-conquer tactics on us.
If you support Barack Obama with all your heart, as I do, we can rid ourselves of their toxic effects on American life for a long time to come. Yes we can.
Connecting the Democratic Dots
The convention tonight spanned half a century from the possible Last Hurrah from a generation of privileged Kennedys who devoted themselves to the public good to the First Act of a new family with roots in poverty and prejudice aspiring to the same goal.
In their speeches, Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama embodied common values that bridge differences of race, wealth and social advantages.
"We are told," Kennedy said, "that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called for going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.
"Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon...This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it. And we can do it again."
Michelle Obama talked about her children's future: "I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they--and your sons and daughters--will tell their own children about what we did together in this election.
"They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country--where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House--that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be."
The Kennedys and the Obamas started out from different places in life, but this election has brought them together and, if tonight's speeches are any indication, they will connect with Americans of all backgrounds who want something better than what we have had so far in the 21st century.
In their speeches, Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama embodied common values that bridge differences of race, wealth and social advantages.
"We are told," Kennedy said, "that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called for going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.
"Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon...This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it. And we can do it again."
Michelle Obama talked about her children's future: "I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they--and your sons and daughters--will tell their own children about what we did together in this election.
"They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country--where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House--that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be."
The Kennedys and the Obamas started out from different places in life, but this election has brought them together and, if tonight's speeches are any indication, they will connect with Americans of all backgrounds who want something better than what we have had so far in the 21st century.
Monday, August 25, 2008
What Comes Down to the Clintons
The words will be there when they address the convention, but will the music?
Can the former President overcome his case of the sulks to put political ideals and party above pettiness and make a powerful case for taking back the country? Will he whole-heartedly embrace Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the means of doing it? Since Bill Clinton has never been very good at hiding his emotions, it will be a profound test of character to rise above himself at this crucial moment. His place in history may depend on it.
In rare moments in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton broke through a sense of coldness and calculation surrounding her and touched voters by showing her feelings. If she can summon up that side of herself tomorrow night and persuade supporters that she has gone beyond her disappointment and rally them to follow, it will be a breakthrough moment for the former First Lady, regardless of where her political career takes her in the future.
This week is about more than winning or losing an election, and the Clintons are in a position to profoundly affect the outcome. Never has losing gracefully, even gloriously been as crucial an issue.
Can the former President overcome his case of the sulks to put political ideals and party above pettiness and make a powerful case for taking back the country? Will he whole-heartedly embrace Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the means of doing it? Since Bill Clinton has never been very good at hiding his emotions, it will be a profound test of character to rise above himself at this crucial moment. His place in history may depend on it.
In rare moments in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton broke through a sense of coldness and calculation surrounding her and touched voters by showing her feelings. If she can summon up that side of herself tomorrow night and persuade supporters that she has gone beyond her disappointment and rally them to follow, it will be a breakthrough moment for the former First Lady, regardless of where her political career takes her in the future.
This week is about more than winning or losing an election, and the Clintons are in a position to profoundly affect the outcome. Never has losing gracefully, even gloriously been as crucial an issue.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Another Woman in Denver
Lilly Ledbetter is the latest addition to the list of speakers at the Democratic convention next week, and her appearance may possibly do Barack Obama as much good as Hillary Clinton's.
In today's Washington Post, Ruth Marcus explains: "Ledbetter was on the losing end of a Supreme Court case last year on equal pay. A manager at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, she consistently received smaller raises than her male counterparts. The Supreme Court threw out her suit because, the five-justice majority said, she waited too long to complain, even though she didn't know about the pay difference earlier.
"Now, a bill to fix this equal pay Catch-22 is pending in Congress--and the Ledbetter case has emerged as a key piece of Obama's effort to woo women. In particular, working women, less-educated women, older women. Women who voted for a certain woman and haven't come around to the guy who defeated her."
Obama is co-sponsoring legislation to reverse the result in the case. McCain opposes it. When Lilly Ledbetter takes the stage in Denver next week, her presence may make a stronger argument for the Democratic nominee than anything Hillary Clinton could possibly say.
In today's Washington Post, Ruth Marcus explains: "Ledbetter was on the losing end of a Supreme Court case last year on equal pay. A manager at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, she consistently received smaller raises than her male counterparts. The Supreme Court threw out her suit because, the five-justice majority said, she waited too long to complain, even though she didn't know about the pay difference earlier.
"Now, a bill to fix this equal pay Catch-22 is pending in Congress--and the Ledbetter case has emerged as a key piece of Obama's effort to woo women. In particular, working women, less-educated women, older women. Women who voted for a certain woman and haven't come around to the guy who defeated her."
Obama is co-sponsoring legislation to reverse the result in the case. McCain opposes it. When Lilly Ledbetter takes the stage in Denver next week, her presence may make a stronger argument for the Democratic nominee than anything Hillary Clinton could possibly say.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Clinton Closure at the Convention
By declaring "I will be a pro-life president, and this presidency will have pro-life policies," John McCain should have dispelled any fantasies that unreconciled Hillary Clinton supporters may have about supporting him or sitting out the election.
But disappointment dies hard and, at the Democratic convention next week and its environs, there will undoubtedly be expressions of lingering resentment on the part of women who feel cheated of an historic breakthrough with her candidacy.
Sen. Clinton herself, amid the consolations of a prime-time speech and roll-call vote, will be under pressure not only to offer strong support of Barack Obama but make a persuasive case that McCain's election would be a disaster for her supporters, the Democratic Party and the entire nation.
McCain's promise to the Religious Right that he will appoint Supreme Court justices who don't "legislate from the bench" signals not only the overturn of Roe v Wade if he is elected but chipping away at a wide range of legislation that has leveled the playing field for Americans who don't start life from backgrounds of power and privilege.
At risk will be half a century of progress, not only by women but all disadvantaged members of society not represented by those sitting in the pews of Saddleback Church in well-heeled and self-satisfied Orange County last weekend.
The onus will be on Hillary Clinton to speak for all of them.
But disappointment dies hard and, at the Democratic convention next week and its environs, there will undoubtedly be expressions of lingering resentment on the part of women who feel cheated of an historic breakthrough with her candidacy.
Sen. Clinton herself, amid the consolations of a prime-time speech and roll-call vote, will be under pressure not only to offer strong support of Barack Obama but make a persuasive case that McCain's election would be a disaster for her supporters, the Democratic Party and the entire nation.
McCain's promise to the Religious Right that he will appoint Supreme Court justices who don't "legislate from the bench" signals not only the overturn of Roe v Wade if he is elected but chipping away at a wide range of legislation that has leveled the playing field for Americans who don't start life from backgrounds of power and privilege.
At risk will be half a century of progress, not only by women but all disadvantaged members of society not represented by those sitting in the pews of Saddleback Church in well-heeled and self-satisfied Orange County last weekend.
The onus will be on Hillary Clinton to speak for all of them.
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