Obama and Clinton Make Peace: Can the Hillraisers Handle It?
Making a deal on Hillary's convention role is one thing. Selling it to her supporters is the hard part.
No one actually came out waving a piece of paper in the air declaring that the Obama and Clinton camps had reached an accord that eliminated all traces of rancor and bitterness between the two sides.
But the deal struck, giving Hillary the chance to have her name placed in nomination and her supporters cast their ballot for her historic candidacy, should go a long way toward assuaging the hurt feelings felt by many Clinton delegates who might otherwise not be disposed to put on a happy face for the cameras during the convention.
“Hillraisers,” they call themselves. And for the last few weeks, many of them were making noises that worried the Obama convention planners. Talk of angry marches in Denver protesting what the Clintonites saw as irregularities in the primaries and calls to recognize gender bias in the media were threatening to derail the carefully scripted outline that the Obama camp was trying to get the media to follow: that the party is unified behind Barack Obama and is enthusiastic about his candidacy.
Indeed, nothing is set in concrete. Still to be worked out is the extremely delicate matters of how Clinton’s name is to be advanced, whether there are going to be seconding speeches, and just how the roll call of the states is to be handled. Obama is not worried about Hillary double-crossing him with an attempt to stampede the delegates and steal the nomination from him. But time is extraordinary precious given the reluctance of the broadcast networks to go over their allotted coverage into the local newshour. Angering TV news executives is not in the nominee’s playbook.
Actually, the roll call has always been my favorite part of the conventions and I’m glad to see Obama is going to continue the tradition. However, I don’t expect the Obama people to be as lax as they used to be back in the day when TV networks didn’t mind going over their allotted time because there was nothing else to watch. Discipline and scripting will be the order of the evening. This is a shame because TV used to love the roll call — so uniquely, maddeningly American, with its spontaneous expressions of state pride coming from colorful people dressed in colorful outfits and usually wearing a hat they wouldn’t be caught dead in outside the convention hall.
As each state was called, a party stalwart –usually the state chairman or popular elected official– got their moment in the sun and, more often than not, rattled off a list of achievements or fact flakes for which the residents took pride. There was a lot of one-upmanship as each succeeding state felt it necessary to top the previous one in “the biggest” this or “the best” that until the nominee crossed the threshold of victory and the demonstrations would begin.
I hate to say it but compared to that, today’s conventions are soulless affairs. No spontaneity and no funny hats.
Nevertheless, it is not clear as yet what the sequence of events will be that allows all of this to happen for the Hillraisers. Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic, who broke the story about the Clinton-Obama accord, speculates based on his sources that “[ì]t is possible that Sen. Clinton, having had her name submitted, would use the occasion to release her delegates to Obama; depending on how the roll call is staged, Clinton’s released delegates could put Obama over the top.”
This is what Reuters is calling a “symbolic” roll call. Already, that is not sitting well with some Hillraisers:
Again the olive branch falls short, her name in nomination is called “symbolic”, still short of truly recognizing her campaign or her supporters. And what will her backers have to say? They are going to make some “noise” in Denver.
What kind of trouble can they make for Obama?
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Rick Moran is PJM Chicago editor; his own blog is Right Wing Nut House.
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16 Comments
1. schnargley:The whole sordid, contrived affair will likely be inspired by the episode of “The Office” where Michael, after insulting and outting his gay accountant, Oscar, decides he will mend the damage in a phony PC demonstration by kissing Oscar on the mouth.
Maybe it will inspire a new comedy series called “The Dems.”
Aug 15, 2008 - 1:57 am 2. Hillraising the Rafters:[...] Rick Moran paints a picture of the Dem Convention’s second night, raising the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose protest. Sadly, none of Hillary’s followers seem to anticipate how quickly she will sell them out for $13 million in retired campaign debt. Posted by Dan Collins @ 10:37 am | Trackback Share This [...]
Aug 15, 2008 - 3:37 am 3. SAF:Those who say they won’t vote for Obama because of the way he treated Hillary are just in the pouting stage, come November they will pull the lever for the democrat, no matter who it is. Those who say they won’t for Obama because he is unqualified will indeed vote for McCain.
An interesting election this will surely be.
Aug 15, 2008 - 3:52 am 4. GerrrG:If a Hillraiser does not abandon Hillary and vote for Obama, that is the sign of racism in white women amongst Hillary’s followers.
Aug 15, 2008 - 6:32 am 5. Lisa:No. We won’t get over it.
Obama and pals used sexism to bash Clinton. The DNC did NOTHING.
I left the Democratic party because of this and I won’t be voting for Obama under ANY circumstance. Conditions between now and November will determine if I vote against him by voting for McCain.
Aug 15, 2008 - 7:21 am 6. Lisa:GerrrG,
It is a sign of racism that I refuse to vote for a man who used sexism as a weapon?
Aug 15, 2008 - 7:21 am 7. Benson:Steady there, Lisa. I think GerrrG was being sarcastic.
Aug 15, 2008 - 8:47 am 8. tanstaafl:‘Tis a shame we live in such a time where Vanilla is the preferred flavor of politicians and Rocky Road is banned from our convention menu.
So bland and manipulated, our American life. Since, these days, perception = reality, democrats (especially) are deeply into control and orchestration of spectacles. And the conventions (both of them) will be spectacles.
LINK: Maybe some PUMA’s will show up !
Aug 15, 2008 - 8:54 am 9. tanstaafl:All the “isms” (sex, race et al.) are too easily bandied about.
Any diehard Obama supporter will be attributing any defeat to latent “racism” in America.
Just count on it.
Melanin in the skin would never affect my vote for a President.
Wiring in the neural pathways, a classical Leftist agenda and “preachery” from a candidate as to who and what Americans are or “could be” and how he’s gonna make ‘em that way, offend me to my core.
Aug 15, 2008 - 9:09 am 10. jguzman:OBAMA’S STRATEGY REVEALS HIS STYLE OF GOVERNANCE:WIN GRACIOUSLY AND FORM STRONG ALLIANCES
Aug 15, 2008 - 1:36 pm 11. bub:I can’t stand Obama’s big mouth wife. She is the reason I will sit this one out. Maybe what he should do is tell her to be a good little wife and shut it up. These wifes think they are running. I could care less what she thinks or what she does. McCain should do the same.
Aug 15, 2008 - 4:10 pm 12. Ed Wallis:OBAMA AND CLINTON MAKE PEACE: “Obama will not have to worry about a major rebellion, to be sure.”
Yessssss, Mr. Moran, and I have a nice ocean-front property in Hope, Arkansas to sell you.
As to “SAF: Those who say they won’t vote for Obama because of the way he treated Hillary are just in the pouting stage, come November they will pull the lever for the democrat, no matter who it is,”
and
GerrrG: If a Hillraiser does not abandon Hillary and vote for Obama, that is the sign of racism in white women amongst Hillary’s followers,”
I say only THANK YOU for showing all of us how blind leftist ideology leaves humans when unaddressed.
Aug 15, 2008 - 4:48 pm 13. bill-tb:Well you got to say, the worst candidate won, and it’s been a whole lot of fun exposing racism and sexism in the Democrat party. who knew it was so bad and ran so deep.
Naive and way over his head is the only way to describe ’street organizer’ Obama. Hope and change, that’s Harvard jive talk for good old Marxism.
Aug 15, 2008 - 7:57 pm 14. CaptDMO:PUMA, Cougar, I thought predatory stalking was against the law.
Aug 16, 2008 - 9:07 am 15. what is "occupation":Nope, I will not vote for Obama….
I will be a Democrat for McCain….
and I am not alone
Aug 16, 2008 - 9:51 pm 16. Rachel Peepers:Barack has blundered again.
You can’t assuage the Clintons. You can’t make nice with the Clintons and expect something good in return because they live by the Leninist philosophy. Stick the bayonet in til’you feel resistance. If you don’t feel resistance, or if it’s as puny as Barack’s, well, you’re pretty much up the creek.
Early in his administration, George Bush tried to make nice with the Clintons and even with Ted Kennedy, and we see how far that got him.
The time in the limelight Barack has surrendered to the Clintonistas at the Democratic Convention will be used, albeit subtly, to undermine him in every way shape and form. The brown eyed handsome man isn’t likely to feel the prick of the bayonet until it’s coming out the other side, at which time the Clintons will have created a win/win scenario for themselves. Like commandos in the night, Hill and Bill are setting themselves up for the run everybody knows is coming four years from now.
Barack and his gang that can’t shoot straight are making a colossal miscalculation; by giving the Clintons enormous air time at the convention, they believe Hillary votes can be salvaged. Like Bill’s honesty, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In Barack’s case, a very painful truth at that.
Aug 16, 2008 - 10:46 pm