I love Hillary Clinton. I LOVE Hillary Clinton. There. I said it twice. Last night at the Democratic Convention when Hillary confidently walked on stage in her bold, orange pant suit, she was, well, boldly confident. She had a job to do, she knew what that job was, and then she proceeded to hit it out of the ball park.
Hillary spent most of her speech talking about why she ran for office and the ideals she believed in—things like health care for everyone, a healthy economy, a better life for the average Joe, and a greener America. She challenged her followers to look inside them: Did they vote just for her or for what she believed in? Because every reason why she ran for office is why she now supports Barack Obama. It was a powerful speech. I had goose bumps—I was close to tears. (In all fairness, I have a low threshold to tears. I even cry at Massengill commercials.)
But don’t just listen to me. Here’s a few early morning reviews:
Rush Limbaugh exclaimed, “Have you EVER seen a convention more excited about the loser than the winner? You saw it tonight. And you saw it in 1976, Regan/Ford.”
"She was like Harriet Tubman, keep it going....It was like a relay race, she was passing the baton," wrote MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
Phil Trounstine, Democratic strategist and Obama supporter: ''Sen. Clinton did everything she needed to do. She made it crystal clear to all of her supporters that it is their duty to fight on for her by supporting Barack Obama. If he becomes president, it will be in part because Hillary Clinton had the grace and strength to re-unite her party.''
Ruth Sherman, author and communications consultant summed it up best with, ''I've never seen her this good, not even close. It was well-written, confidently and oh-so-passionately delivered. It was totally authentic. Whatever doubts about her support for Obama existed before she came up to the podium should now be erased. In particular, her framing of the issue of who her fans were in it for -- her or the Marine, the cancer patient, the single mother -- was a perfect appeal. The most persuasive moment, I believe.”
Even those less supportive had a hard time attacking her speech. Rich Lowry of The Corner, in his article titled, Hillary Clinton and the Bare Minimum, wrote, “What wasn't in the speech—anything remarkable, personal, or truly warm about Obama—speaks eloquently of how she still feels toward him. Consider this passage:
And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he'll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.
If revitalizing the economy, etc. sound like pretty impressive accomplishments, the reason Obama will be able to do them is because he's a Democrat. And in the same breath she's bragging about the Clinton presidency. What so great about Barack Obama? He happens to be a member of the same party as Bill Clinton. Nothing she said tonight will be incompatible with what she'll want to say if Obama loses in November: Told you so."
Regardless of the nay sayers, I will stand firmly with Hillary Clinton by supporting Obama and Biden. I truly believe that if America has any chance of recovering from 8 years of Bush Politics, it is with Barack Obama. After all, America has seen tough times and terrible presidents before, and she’s always bounced back swinging.
If you want a greener America, a healthier economy, and health care for everyone, then you want Barack Obama. If you want a President who will put the average American first, then you want Barack Obama. If you are tired of old-school politicians and the lies and deceptions of the Bush administration, than you want Barack Obama. If you want our soldiers home from Iraq, then you want Barack Obama. If you want America to be the country she should and could be, the great country she once was, then you want Barack Obama.
The time has come to unite against the politics of personal agendas and the lies and mistakes made by the current President and his administration. The time has come to say NO to Republican politics as usual. The time has come to bring our men and women home from Iraq and start focusing on the needs of America and Americans. The time has come to elect Barack Obama as President.
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4 comments:
I didn't see her speech or any of the convention for that matter, but I'm glad she did a good job. Good for her! It couldn't have been easy.
Having said that, I'm not voting Barack Obama, because his voting record and actions show he doesn't believe in what he promises any more than George Bush meant his promise in 1999 that he would break the hold OPEC has on our country; how he was going to help the middle class; how he was going to keep the strong economy we had with the upcoming bad times.
But like Bush, Obama actually voted for bloated government spending, against the Democrats and with the Republicans. He's voted FOR increased spending in Iraq and keeping the troops there until he got the nomination. He's against better health care for adults; millions will still be left with nothing under his Presidency. He's against oil companies, but takes millions in donations. And more.
So like the administration we have now, he says one thing and then does the opposite.
Thanks for your support for Hillary's speech but I disagree with your assessment of Obama. The National Journal's 2007 Vote Ratings website states that "Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the most liberal senator in 2007, according to National Journal's 27th annual vote ratings. The insurgent presidential candidate shifted further to the left last year in the run-up to the primaries, after ranking as the 16th- and 10th-most-liberal during his first two years in the Senate."
Per Washingtonpost.com and the US Congress Votes Database, "Barack Obama has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 96.0% of the time during the current Congress." This does not sound like Bush to me.
Not my assessment; just reporting what he voted for. It's on FactCheck and under Voting Record on OntheIssues:
- his health care plan will leave millions of people w/o health care, and provides nothing for any adults. His own campaign office admitted that his proposed plan will do nothing for those millions of people.
- he voted NO on reducing federal spending by billions!
- he voted on an energy plan that benefits oil companies.
- he voted to keep soldiers in Iraq, all the way up to and including 2007, until Spring in 2008 when he became a front runner for the the nomination.
- his own people admit that he so called $2500 gain for middle class families is a lie.
- he voted YES on giving billions to the military instead of standing firm with Democrats to get the president to stop blank checks and set up deadlines.
- he is against gay marriage.
- he lied about his oath to be in Congress to play to the fundamental Christian right.
- he refused to do his Constitutional duty to support Hilary Clinton and others push for impeachment on Bush and Cheney.
I admit that it was me who said he reminded of Bush and his campaign promises. I said that because the whole thing about promising something doesn't show in the actions. Of the major issues -- economy and oil pricing, healthcare, and Iraq, Obama's actions are the opposite of his promises.
Hey, I'm not saying McCain is any better. Just saying I don't trust the man's words because his actions say a whole other thing.
Great article. Nice to see Hillary get some respect.
JD at I Do Things
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