Thread: I think it's Obama /Clinton

Hard to turn down the base voters she brings. I thought Obama's speech kicked butt!!

Meanwhile we have Bush stealth campaigning for McCain. He flew into PHX for a quickine that raied beaucoup bucks for his mini-me.:whistling:

Sheldon Alberts: Obama soars, McCain roars and Clinton ... well, stay tuned
Posted: June 03, 2008, 10:43 PM by sheldon alberts


On a night when every major news outlet in North America trumpeted the news Barack Obama had become the first black presidential nominee in U.S. history, the one person who made no mention of the historic occasion was the candidate himself.
That was not the most interesting twist during a fascinating night of American politics, but it was pretty darn close. Obama - a man born of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya - had almost nothing to say about the significance of his success in in a nation still struggling with the legacy of slavery.
It says something about just how potent, how dangerous the race issue is in American politics, and certainly for Obama's campaign, that his only reference to civil rights came in a passing reference to marchers in Selma, Alabama.
As long as there's YouTube video of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and now Rev. Michael Pfleger, don't expect Obama to dwell on race over the next five months unless it's to put out another political fire.
But what we do know about Obama tonight is that he is now, indisputably, the Democratic nominee.
Hillary Clinton's supporters may not recognize it - why else did they shout "Denver, Denver" during her speech in New York?? - but the surge of superdelegates to Obama's campaign seals the deal even if the best he could manage on the final night of primaries was a split in Montana and South Dakota.
Will Hillary follow up on her threat to challenge the party's compromise on Michigan? This possibility seems more remote by the hour - Democratic leaders wouldn't stand for it, and Clinton may lose some of her own superdelegate support if she pushes that issue to hard, or too far.
But her tone and demeanour tonight was not one of a vanquished candidate.
There was some kind words for Obama, but they were as inscrutable as they were gracious.
"I want to start tonight by congratulating Senator Obama and his supporters on the extraordinary race that they have run. Senator Obama has inspired so many Americans to care about politics and empowered so many more to get involved, and our party and our democracy is stronger and more vibrant as a result. So, we are grateful, and it has been an honor to contest these primaries with him, just as it is an honor to call him my friend. And tonight, I would like all of us to take a moment to recognize him and his supporters for all they have accomplished."
But for most of the speech, Clinton sounded very much like a politician who she believed had some big time bargaining power even in defeat. No concession, no acknowledgement of Obama's seeming victory. Instead Clinton trumpeted her own moral victory in the (somewhat disputed) popular vote and teasing Obama about her plans.
An excerpt: "Now the question is, where do we go from here, and given how far we've come and where we need to go as a party, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight. But this has always been your campaign, so to the 18 million people who voted for me and to our many other supporters out there of all ages, I want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to my website at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.
"In the coming days, I’ll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way."


Clinton still can't match Obama for soaring oratory, but her final speech of the primary campaign was perhaps her finest - touching all right notes about fighting for every American, understanding their struggle, etc.

Had she delivered this speech during the first three months of the campaign, she might have been the one claiming victory on Tuesday night, not Obama.

Among the better lines:

*** "You know, tonight we stand just a few miles from the Statue of Liberty. And from the site where the Twin Towers fell and where America rose again. Lady Liberty's presence and the towers' absence are a constant reminder that here in America, we are resilient, we are courageous, we embrace all of our people and that when we face our challenges together, there is no barrier we can't overcome, no dream we can't realize, nothing we can't do if we just start acting like Americans again."

*** "I often felt that each of your votes was a prayer for our nation, a declaration of your dreams for your children, a reflection of your desire to chart a new course in this new century and in the end, while this primary was long, I am so proud we stayed the course together because we stood our ground, it meant that every single United States citizen had a chance to make his or her voice heard."

So what does Hillary want? It was no likely no coincidence word leaked from a private conference call that Clinton said she was "open to" being Obama's running mate. But does she really want it, or just want to be asked so she can negotiate something else?


What leverage does Clinton have? She just won nine of the last 16 nominating contests and has done her best to whip supporters into an Obama-resenting frenzy. He must listen, even if the idea of having Hillary and Bill, and all of his baggage, sharing the Democratic ticket seems like a recipe for disaster.
With all the drama surrounding Clinton, the first real clash of the general election campaign between Obama and McCain was anti-climactic by comparison.
McCain, wisely, got some valuable face time on national television by scheduling a prime time speech in New Orleans. What did we learn? We learned that McCain plans to run as far away from George W. Bush as he can without alienating the Republican base. His speech contained a pre-emptive strike against Obama's expected (and delivered) attack on him as a clone of Bush.
McCain's description of Obama an foolishly naive on foreign policy will be a theme repeated over and over in the upcoming weeks, as will his portrayal of the Illinois senator as a big government liberal who thinks he knows more than ordinary Americans.
But some advice for McCain. Find a new image consultant. The Arizona senator kicked off the general election campaign standing alone in front of a green backdrop, barely drawing applause from a crowd that one can only presume was very small and half asleep.
Obama, by contrast, did what Obama does best. There were 20,000 people out to hear him speak, at the same St. Paul, Minn. convention center where Republicans will hold the national convention this September.
He broke new ground and offered no new promises. But the place had energy. For all his problems - and heaven knows, Obama's got plenty - his campaign on this night seemed like the only one with the heartbeat.

Given that Barack has run as the Candidate of Change who will Change the way politics is done and Change the course of the country and Change the Change that will Change us all, I think it would be a wee bit hard to reconcile with bringing Hillary (& Bill) onto the Changemobile.

Right now it looks like Obama is betting the Democratic farm on the strategy of energizing young/new voters to bring states into play that aren't usually so much during the general election, to make up for his weakness in traditional big swing states. Can he really have his cake and eat it too, hoping that Clinton will energize the base behind him while he goes out and battles it out for the independents against Maverick McMavericky McCain?

I won't vote Obama if Hillary's on the ticket.

I won't vote Obama if he had a gun to my head. That said, Obama needs to pick another strong and charismatic (and young) Democrat who shares similar ideas. So you won't see another Globalist Democrat like Hillary on the ticket. It'll be another Social Democrat, I'd bet. Obama knows he can't lost the general election, so he's going to consolidate power in the Democratic Party.

I doubt very seriously that he will take Hillary. She has too much baggage. Further the reality of Republicans voting for her in the Democratic primaries to keep her in the race. So her stated mass appeal is overstated. More than likely the DNC leadership and his closest advisers will pick what they feel is a suitable candidate. I doubt seriously Hillary will be considered. Maybe if she had bowed out gracefully she would have been considered. As it stands her efforts to make her case for a vp slot will fall on deaf ears. She should have bowed out when they asked her to a month ago. Then maybe she would have been considered.

I think it will be one of these Arizona's Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim Kaine of Virginia; foreign policy experts like former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd or Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; or other senators such as Missouri's Claire McCaskill and Virginia's Jim Webb.

Then again he may got this route he could look outside the party to people such as war critic and Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel or independent New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Or he could look to one of his early prominent supporters such as former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota or 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards. Or he could try to bring on a Clinton supporter like Indiana's Evan Bayh.

As I have said I doubt she will even be considered with the way she has handled herself in recent months. The arrogance, refusal to be able to see her defeat and also her attempts to destroy Obama's reputation with her inference that he's actually muslim. Her attacks that really hit personal with Obama. Oh I'm sure many of you will say ah forgive and forget. I would say that the ability to forgive and forget in the DNC is about as likely as those who hate Bush forgiving and forgetting. Hillary has burned some bridges with many of the top leadership in the DNC and I dont think any of them will stand for her to be on a combined ticket with Obama. In fact her being on the ticket may well destroy Obama's support base of newer voters that he did bring out. This is all conjecturer on my part but I guess we will find out wont we?

Originally Posted by Inkslinger

I won't vote Obama if Hillary's on the ticket.

That is an interesting view.


I also know other people like you...

Originally Posted by deepthought

I doubt very seriously that he will take Hillary. She has too much baggage. Further the reality of Republicans voting for her in the Democratic primaries to keep her in the race. So her stated mass appeal is overstated. More than likely the DNC leadership and his closest advisers will pick what they feel is a suitable candidate. I doubt seriously Hillary will be considered. Maybe if she had bowed out gracefully she would have been considered. As it stands her efforts to make her case for a vp slot will fall on deaf ears. She should have bowed out when they asked her to a month ago. Then maybe she would have been considered.

I think it will be one of these Arizona's Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim Kaine of Virginia; foreign policy experts like former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd or Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; or other senators such as Missouri's Claire McCaskill and Virginia's Jim Webb.

Then again he may got this route he could look outside the party to people such as war critic and Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel or independent New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Or he could look to one of his early prominent supporters such as former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota or 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards. Or he could try to bring on a Clinton supporter like Indiana's Evan Bayh.

As I have said I doubt she will even be considered with the way she has handled herself in recent months. The arrogance, refusal to be able to see her defeat and also her attempts to destroy Obama's reputation with her inference that he's actually muslim. Her attacks that really hit personal with Obama.

Well said.


But,unfortunately,the information i am receiving (from insiders in the Democratic Party) since yesterday,indicates that a Obama/Clinton Presidential ticket could happen...


Why?...


Because of this :

-Senator Obama is receiving at this precise moment a lot amount of pressure from many people in the Democratic Party (Hillary´s supporters,of course,especially Senators,Congressmen,and other Top Party leaders...) to include Hillary.


Is sad,but is the reality.

(oh well...Clinton as Obama´s running mate will be a massive,funny "feast" for the Media!...).

I hope he picks al sharpton.

Originally Posted by Inkslinger
I won't vote Obama if Hillary's on the ticket.

Originally Posted by elvispresley

That is an interesting view.


I also know other people like you...

BG hit it on the head. It's the globalist in Hillary that turns my stomach....better a socialist I say. At least our dollars are well spent here at home and not in the Illegal War investment.

Originally Posted by Burning Giraffe

I won't vote Obama if he had a gun to my head. That said, Obama needs to pick another strong and charismatic (and young) Democrat who shares similar ideas. So you won't see another Globalist Democrat like Hillary on the ticket. It'll be another Social Democrat, I'd bet. Obama knows he can't lost the general election, so he's going to consolidate power in the Democratic Party.

Maybe Rep Keith Ellison? opcorn: