Day 2 - No way, no how, No McCain!

Hillary supporters once again dominated the news, as well as whether Hillary herself supported Obama. There was much discussion about her speech, before it ever happened. Would she show enough support? The answer it turns out was, Yes!

Hillary gave the speech she needed to give. She wasted almost no time in announcing her support of Barack Obama. “I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.” Any questions?

There did come a moment when I worried she sounded too much like she was campaigning for herself again.


“I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism, didn't have health insurance and discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care.

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said to me: "Take care of my buddies; a lot of them are still over there….and then will you please help take care of me?"

I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn't know what his family was going to do.”

Then she went on to list why she ran for office. She built this up perfectly. She essentially got all her supporters to think, “Yes, this is why we wanted you as President.” Then Hillary posed the question. The same question asked by many liberals and Democrats to the members of PUMA.

“I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”

Well, PUMA, were you? Later she points out exactly why no self-respecting supporter of Hillary should support McCain.

“Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend.

He has served our country with honor and courage.

But we don't need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt ...home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart. “

In thinking about these PUMAs, I’m reminded of a book I read several years back: Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist. Barabbas is the man whose life was traded for Jesus. Barabbas is set free. Jesus hangs on the cross. Barabbas wants to believe in the Messiah, but struggles throughout the book. In one of the final chapters there is a riot in Rome. People are starting these fires and trying to burn Rome to the ground, Barabbas joins in because he hears people shouting, “It’s the Christians! It’s the Christians!” Barabbas believes it IS the Christians and wants to join their cause. However, it was a Roman plot to blame the Christians as an excuse to arrest as many Christians as they could. He was duped into supporting the enemy.

There have been suggestions that the PUMAs and other organizations like them were started by Republicans to foment division in the Democratic party. After all, many Clinton supporters did say that if Hillary didn’t get the nomination, they would vote for McCain. So it’s in the Republican’s best interest to have division and keep that message out there. Whether they actually did this or not, I don’t know. But if anyone still says they would rather vote for McCain instead of Obama, well after tonight, they can no longer say they support Hillary.

DNC convention day 1

I love watching the convention coverage. I love watching the way the different networks cover the same thing. PBS definitely has the most unbiased coverage. One thing I wanted to talk about on this first day of the convention: Hillary Clinton Supporters.

On MSNBC, the most liberal of news networks, the primary question asked over and over again was about PUMA (Party Unity My Ass, no seriously this is what it stands for) a group that refuses to support Obama, because they love Hillary so much. Every person was asked, “Do you think Obama can win over these Clinton holdouts?” The answer is, “NO”. No one said this, of course, but it’s true. Die hard Nader supporters continued to support him, even though voting for him meant a better chance of Bush being re-elected. Why? Because they’re zealots, fanatics. I don’t mean this as a bad thing. If you’re so passionate about something, or someone, you should support it no matter what. What I don’t understand are the people who say they’re going to vote for John McCain.

Let me get this straight: You loved Hillary because she was a woman, was fighting for health care, women’s issues, helping the middle class and a change from the last eight years. But because she didn’t get the nomination, you’re going to vote for an old white man, who doesn’t believe in health care for all, is stridently pro-life, has voted against giving equal pay to women, wants more tax cuts for the rich, and all but promises to continue Bush’s policies for at least the next four years. I know it’s not politically correct to say so but…THAT’S RETARDED! Rachel Maddow, my 2nd favorite Rachel, put it better when she said it was “Post-rational”. To put it even another way, “it makes the kind of sense, that’s non”

As an American, you have the right to vote however you want. But there was a gay man who said if Hillary didn’t get the nomination he was voting for John McCain. The same McCain who doesn’t believe gay people should be able to adopt a child. With the possibility that the next President will nominate a Supreme Court Justice, do you really want to risk giving McCain that power. Gay Marriage is still a state by state affair, Roe v. Wade is hanging in the balance, why risk it if you think these issues are important? Unless you don’t really care about issues and just picked someone you wanted to win. Now, like a petulant child you’re going to flip over the chess board, because you lost. You don’t have to support Obama, you don’t even have to vote for him, but if you care a lick about politics then voting against your own views is stupid. There is no other way to put it.

Though I have to say, if there was ever a chance that Hillary Voters could be won, it was tonight. Michelle Obama gave a moving speech. She brought tears to many women’s eyes. Her speech essentially said, if you’re looking for a strong, smart woman, here I am. If you want a woman who shares your values, here I am. Michelle essentially showed herself to be Hillary 2.0. Educated. Strong. A mother and a lawyer. A wife and an equal. We know you wanted Hillary, but could we interest you in a Michelle? Of course, we’re dealing with fanatics and no amount of logic will change their minds. I just had to join with Chris Matthews in showing my exasperation at these people.