It weighs on me. Sarah Palin, with little substance but high TV ratings, is distracting the national debate.
Selecting her was a political stroke, but also an act of singular irresponsibility by John McCain. She is clearly not qualified to be a heartbeat from the Presidency of the United States, especially when in John McCain’s case that heartbeat would be that of the oldest president we ever elected.
But there it is. The cameras like her. The public seems to be attracted.
This election will not be decided by the votes of people who, like me, are passionate and follow every day’s news. We decided whom to vote for years ago.
The election will be decided by the 5-8% of Americans, many in swing states, who will make up their minds in the final weeks. And they seem to like looking at Sarah.
The Democratic Party needs a specific strategy to attract these relatively uninformed, relatively uninterested voters. They are important.
In my view, we have to fight fire with fire.
Only one person can take on Sarah: that’s Hillary.
In order for the Democrats to win, Hillary should go to blows (figuratively) with Sarah Palin, day-by-day, state by state, from now until the election. Hillary has to show clearly that Sarah is no Hillary, and use her appeal to working class voters to compete with Sarah’s.
Joe Biden cannot do it. With Sarah, he will have to walk a tightrope. A man cannot be tough on a nice lady and win, no matter how abhorrent her thoughtless politics might be. He cannot appear to bully her. It won’t help that Joe is hugely more qualified and knowledgeable on the issues than Sarah. That will just make it an unfair fight, and attract sympathy to her.
This is important.
Bob
Showing posts with label Hillary Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hillary Clinton. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sarah Palin – An Irresponsible Act
I respect John McCain, but I cannot respect his decision to make Sarah Palin his running mate.
She is not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with McCain at 72 years old, there is a good chance the Presidency will fall to her.
Palin is an evangelical Christian, an anti-abortion, anti-feminist woman, anti-gay, anti-gun controls, sometimes pro-creationism, who comes from a state dominated by big oil and intense corruption.
Palin has no national or international experience whatever. Her major responsible job before less than 2 years as governor of Alaska was as mayor of a town of 8,000. She was also Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year, so she knows how big oil works.
Her strategic plusses for McCain: She will play well with the evangelicals (who have been falling off the Republican bandwagon) and some of the working class who Hillary spoke to but who have eluded Obama.
The Alaska papers vacillate between “home town girl makes good” and horror at the possibility.
The sleaze factor is back. Why does this remind me of Spiro T. Agnew, for those of you who remember? People who think they can use government to further their personal ends. Google “Palin Trooper Gate” and see what comes up. Palin has been under investigation for pressuring the Alaska Government to fire her ex-brother in law, who is a state trooper, as part of her sister’s nasty divorce.
Will America fall for this? The Hillary people certainly won’t. Sarah Palin is as far from Hillary Clinton as could be.
Mr. McCain, this was irresponsible.
Democrats: Every vote counts!
Bob
Live Abroad? Need to Vote?
We make it easy. See www.votefromabroad.org
She is not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with McCain at 72 years old, there is a good chance the Presidency will fall to her.
Palin is an evangelical Christian, an anti-abortion, anti-feminist woman, anti-gay, anti-gun controls, sometimes pro-creationism, who comes from a state dominated by big oil and intense corruption.
Palin has no national or international experience whatever. Her major responsible job before less than 2 years as governor of Alaska was as mayor of a town of 8,000. She was also Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year, so she knows how big oil works.
Her strategic plusses for McCain: She will play well with the evangelicals (who have been falling off the Republican bandwagon) and some of the working class who Hillary spoke to but who have eluded Obama.
The Alaska papers vacillate between “home town girl makes good” and horror at the possibility.
The sleaze factor is back. Why does this remind me of Spiro T. Agnew, for those of you who remember? People who think they can use government to further their personal ends. Google “Palin Trooper Gate” and see what comes up. Palin has been under investigation for pressuring the Alaska Government to fire her ex-brother in law, who is a state trooper, as part of her sister’s nasty divorce.
Will America fall for this? The Hillary people certainly won’t. Sarah Palin is as far from Hillary Clinton as could be.
Mr. McCain, this was irresponsible.
Democrats: Every vote counts!
Bob
Live Abroad? Need to Vote?
We make it easy. See www.votefromabroad.org
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Convention Day 3 - Obama by Acclamation!
They did the deed! And they did it beautifully. Barack Obama is the candidate of the Democratic Party for the Presidency of the United States, and Joe Biden Obama is the Vice Presidential candidate.
It’s a dynamite team. Obama inspires. Biden fights. Both are brilliant. This is going to be good.
And it happened by acclamation. That means no vote was needed. The entire convention voiced (well, shouted) its approval as one. As if to show the complete unanimity of the support.
And the acclamation was a surprise act of grace and generosity by Hillary Clinton.
You can see this extraordinary moment (with a bonus blip of me in the picture).
The event was so thrilling, that I’d like to explain how it worked for those of you who like these fascinating details. Everybody else should stop reading.
The Acclamation:
First, Senator Nancy Pelosi, the Secretary of the Convention, called the usual role all. When we got to Democrats Abroad (right after Delaware), our Chair, Christine Schon Marques, made a great little speech about the 6-7 millions abroad whom we represent, and then cast our measly 12 votes. The contrast between population and votes was clear.
Almost every state voting had massive votes for Obama. This confused me, because I didn’t recall his winning by such huge margins. Someone told me that since 1980 candidates are not “really pledged” any more, so many Clinton candidates have shifted their votes to Obama.
When we got to California, they “passed”. That huge number of votes was not counted! I was confused, but we decided that California probably wants to vote last, so as to “make the difference.” Ah, well.
When we got to New Jersey, the state cast its entire 127 votes for Obama. All their Clinton people had defected. Massive cheering followed.
When we got to New York – here’s the clincher – things changed. Hillary Clinton came out from behind the delegation, walking slowly down the aisle to where the New York State delegation was sitting. The house erupted into cheers and applause. That took five minutes. When she finally reached her destination, her aide handed her a paper, which she read out loud:
“With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country let’s declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate, and he will be our president."
“Madame secretary, madame secretary, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the further conduct of the roll call vote. All votes cast by the delegates will be counted, and that I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of" the United States.”
Nancy Pelosi called for a “second” to the motion, as the rules require, and thousand cheered. She then called for a vote on the motion. And thousand cheered again.
The deed was done!
I later learned that the reason California probably passed was to allow this acclamation to happen. The states are called alphabetically, and if the California votes had been counted, Obama would have had enough votes to win before the voting got to New York.
Biden, too!
Then Joe Biden was ALSO nominated by acclamation. He gave a terrific speech, too. Heart-warming, tough, intelligent.
Bill Clinton’s Speech – The best.
For me, the highpoint was Bill Clinton’s speech, the last of the evening. When he stepped on the stage, we all remembered that at one point or another, we have loved Bill Clinton. He was the finest, wisest President since Kennedy. His administration accomplished so much, and left the country in better shape than it has ever been. It is a tragedy that the Bush Administration has trashed these advances, leaving behind huge debt, trade deficits, war, poverty, and social dislocation.
In his second sentence, Bill Clinton praised Barack Obama, said he was “ready” to be President, and said, “Hillary and I will support him fully in his campaign for the Presidency” (I paraphrase). This was an historic statement. It can change the future of the world.
Obama’s surprise visit.
Obama then walked on the stage. A surprise visitor! The house – which could not have gotten much more excited – went wild. Cheers, followed by a warm and short speech by Obama.
The evening ended with the Obama family and the Biden family (including numerous children, spouses and cute grandchildren) coming out on the stage for massive ovation.
The new age begins…
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.blogspot.com
It’s a dynamite team. Obama inspires. Biden fights. Both are brilliant. This is going to be good.
And it happened by acclamation. That means no vote was needed. The entire convention voiced (well, shouted) its approval as one. As if to show the complete unanimity of the support.
And the acclamation was a surprise act of grace and generosity by Hillary Clinton.
You can see this extraordinary moment (with a bonus blip of me in the picture).
The event was so thrilling, that I’d like to explain how it worked for those of you who like these fascinating details. Everybody else should stop reading.
The Acclamation:
First, Senator Nancy Pelosi, the Secretary of the Convention, called the usual role all. When we got to Democrats Abroad (right after Delaware), our Chair, Christine Schon Marques, made a great little speech about the 6-7 millions abroad whom we represent, and then cast our measly 12 votes. The contrast between population and votes was clear.
Almost every state voting had massive votes for Obama. This confused me, because I didn’t recall his winning by such huge margins. Someone told me that since 1980 candidates are not “really pledged” any more, so many Clinton candidates have shifted their votes to Obama.
When we got to California, they “passed”. That huge number of votes was not counted! I was confused, but we decided that California probably wants to vote last, so as to “make the difference.” Ah, well.
When we got to New Jersey, the state cast its entire 127 votes for Obama. All their Clinton people had defected. Massive cheering followed.
When we got to New York – here’s the clincher – things changed. Hillary Clinton came out from behind the delegation, walking slowly down the aisle to where the New York State delegation was sitting. The house erupted into cheers and applause. That took five minutes. When she finally reached her destination, her aide handed her a paper, which she read out loud:
“With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country let’s declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate, and he will be our president."
“Madame secretary, madame secretary, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the further conduct of the roll call vote. All votes cast by the delegates will be counted, and that I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of" the United States.”
Nancy Pelosi called for a “second” to the motion, as the rules require, and thousand cheered. She then called for a vote on the motion. And thousand cheered again.
The deed was done!
I later learned that the reason California probably passed was to allow this acclamation to happen. The states are called alphabetically, and if the California votes had been counted, Obama would have had enough votes to win before the voting got to New York.
Biden, too!
Then Joe Biden was ALSO nominated by acclamation. He gave a terrific speech, too. Heart-warming, tough, intelligent.
Bill Clinton’s Speech – The best.
For me, the highpoint was Bill Clinton’s speech, the last of the evening. When he stepped on the stage, we all remembered that at one point or another, we have loved Bill Clinton. He was the finest, wisest President since Kennedy. His administration accomplished so much, and left the country in better shape than it has ever been. It is a tragedy that the Bush Administration has trashed these advances, leaving behind huge debt, trade deficits, war, poverty, and social dislocation.
In his second sentence, Bill Clinton praised Barack Obama, said he was “ready” to be President, and said, “Hillary and I will support him fully in his campaign for the Presidency” (I paraphrase). This was an historic statement. It can change the future of the world.
Obama’s surprise visit.
Obama then walked on the stage. A surprise visitor! The house – which could not have gotten much more excited – went wild. Cheers, followed by a warm and short speech by Obama.
The evening ended with the Obama family and the Biden family (including numerous children, spouses and cute grandchildren) coming out on the stage for massive ovation.
The new age begins…
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Convention Day 2
Maya, Dennis and Hillary
For Democrats Abroad, the day began with a breakfast presentation by Maya Soetero-Ng, who is Obama’s half-sister. Like Obama, Maya speaks with great charm and intelligence. It’s a real pleasure to listen to her.
Both Maya and Barack have multi-cultural backgrounds. (Maya’s father was Indonesian). How odd that Obama, with an international background, has been accused of lacking “foreign policy” knowledge. Nonsense! He (and Maya) have a deep understanding of this multicultural world that we live in.
--
At the Convention
The burning question for weeks has been: Will Hillary and her people support Obama? It’s important that they do, if we are to win this election.
Today she made it magnificently clear that she does and she will.
First, Hillary visited the Democratic pro-choice women’s group Emily’s List together with Michelle Obama. I wasn’t there, but I hear they made a great team, and it was abundantly clear that Hillary will work hard to be sure Obama is elected. He has her full support. There were smiles all around.
At the Convention, a series of speeches built up to Hillary’s own speech, the highlight of the evening.
For me, the pre-Hillary topper was Dennis Kucinich. See it if you can. His energetic presentation was based on three simple words: WAKE UP, AMERICA! – Wake up to the great damage the Bush Administration is doing to our economy, to the lack of health care for many, to growing income disparities, by creating reliance in foreign oil, and burgeoning debt, etc. An electric speech!
Elizabeth Kucinich, who is English, is a friend of Democrats Abroad and spent time with us during our meeting in Heidelberg. She was happy to see us again in Denver.
The theme of the evening was economic, entitled Renewing America’s Promise. It focused on the suffering of working people under Bush, and the need to rebuild America’s middle class, a term which stretches to include the working poor.
Speakers included eight state governors, two US senators, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, as well as AFL-CIO President John Sweeny ad the President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards.
I like that we are not shying away from our values. The speeches made that clear. We are not afraid of being labeled “liberal”. This time, we are not letting the opposition determine our agenda. We are on “the attack”, as they say.
But we are only attacking on substantive issues. We are not making personal attacks (unlike the Republicans). In fact, at one point Hillary Clinton said that “John McCain is my friend and colleague, who has served honorably as a Senator for many years”.
We oppose McCain because his policies are wrong, are nothing more than a continuation of the destructive Bush years. But our side treats the opposition with respect.
Of course, Hillary’s speech was the high point of the evening. Introduced by daughter Chelsea, Hillary got a five-minute standing ovation when she entered. The profound love, respect, and gratitude that she engenders were palpable.
Hillary’s speech was close to perfect. Her work to advance the rights of women was a recurrent theme. She stated the values that propelled her work, and said that she supports Barack Obama because those values are his, as well. She gave him, Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama unqualified support. She was intelligent, gracious, and grateful for the support that is around her. You can read the speech online at www.nytimes.com. It’s beautiful.
The press was everywhere, looking for signs of conflict or harmony between Obama and Clinton. WABC TV, the New York City affiliate, wanted one of us to give live comments on Hillary’s speech.
CNN’s Jonathan Mann (a very nice guy) interviewed several of us, and said he wanted to report on Democrats Abroad as a matter of public service.
Just like yesterday, when CNN caught me dancing, today Fox TV caught me studying my palm. I got emails and calls from friends in New York about it.
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.org
For Democrats Abroad, the day began with a breakfast presentation by Maya Soetero-Ng, who is Obama’s half-sister. Like Obama, Maya speaks with great charm and intelligence. It’s a real pleasure to listen to her.
Both Maya and Barack have multi-cultural backgrounds. (Maya’s father was Indonesian). How odd that Obama, with an international background, has been accused of lacking “foreign policy” knowledge. Nonsense! He (and Maya) have a deep understanding of this multicultural world that we live in.
--
At the Convention
The burning question for weeks has been: Will Hillary and her people support Obama? It’s important that they do, if we are to win this election.
Today she made it magnificently clear that she does and she will.
First, Hillary visited the Democratic pro-choice women’s group Emily’s List together with Michelle Obama. I wasn’t there, but I hear they made a great team, and it was abundantly clear that Hillary will work hard to be sure Obama is elected. He has her full support. There were smiles all around.
At the Convention, a series of speeches built up to Hillary’s own speech, the highlight of the evening.
For me, the pre-Hillary topper was Dennis Kucinich. See it if you can. His energetic presentation was based on three simple words: WAKE UP, AMERICA! – Wake up to the great damage the Bush Administration is doing to our economy, to the lack of health care for many, to growing income disparities, by creating reliance in foreign oil, and burgeoning debt, etc. An electric speech!
Elizabeth Kucinich, who is English, is a friend of Democrats Abroad and spent time with us during our meeting in Heidelberg. She was happy to see us again in Denver.
The theme of the evening was economic, entitled Renewing America’s Promise. It focused on the suffering of working people under Bush, and the need to rebuild America’s middle class, a term which stretches to include the working poor.
Speakers included eight state governors, two US senators, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, as well as AFL-CIO President John Sweeny ad the President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards.
I like that we are not shying away from our values. The speeches made that clear. We are not afraid of being labeled “liberal”. This time, we are not letting the opposition determine our agenda. We are on “the attack”, as they say.
But we are only attacking on substantive issues. We are not making personal attacks (unlike the Republicans). In fact, at one point Hillary Clinton said that “John McCain is my friend and colleague, who has served honorably as a Senator for many years”.
We oppose McCain because his policies are wrong, are nothing more than a continuation of the destructive Bush years. But our side treats the opposition with respect.
Of course, Hillary’s speech was the high point of the evening. Introduced by daughter Chelsea, Hillary got a five-minute standing ovation when she entered. The profound love, respect, and gratitude that she engenders were palpable.
Hillary’s speech was close to perfect. Her work to advance the rights of women was a recurrent theme. She stated the values that propelled her work, and said that she supports Barack Obama because those values are his, as well. She gave him, Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama unqualified support. She was intelligent, gracious, and grateful for the support that is around her. You can read the speech online at www.nytimes.com. It’s beautiful.
The press was everywhere, looking for signs of conflict or harmony between Obama and Clinton. WABC TV, the New York City affiliate, wanted one of us to give live comments on Hillary’s speech.
CNN’s Jonathan Mann (a very nice guy) interviewed several of us, and said he wanted to report on Democrats Abroad as a matter of public service.
Just like yesterday, when CNN caught me dancing, today Fox TV caught me studying my palm. I got emails and calls from friends in New York about it.
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.org
Monday, August 25, 2008
Hillary’s tears.
I have to admit, I did not understand the depth of feeling of Hillary’s supporters, their sense that Hillary's loss is not right.
Yes, in public I have said for months, “the Hillary people worked hard for their candidate, so naturally they are disappointed”, and “Hillary has made history by being the first serious woman candidate for the Presidency”, and “Hillary Clinton has earned our respect for her tremendous contributions” and so on and so on. And it was all true.
But I didn’t really GET it. Until I saw the glimmerings of tears this week from women I respect. Until I saw intelligent women threaten to vote for …. well, if not actually to vote for McCain, then just not to vote at all.
I had sexist thoughts (I thought us gay guys were exempt) such as: “She lost. Why can’t they get over it?” and “Why are they changing the rules of the game by talking about the popular vote? It’s irrelevant!” I resented that any candidate would feel “entitled” to the nomination.
As a gay man myself, shouldn’t I understand the feeling that we are always dismissed unfairly when the good stuff gets handed out? Nope. I didn't.
But now I do. It’s not enough to say “Obama won fair and square”. It’s not enough to rely on their reluctance to criticize a black man’s victory. Something more has to be done and said. I think that will happen at the convention this week.
We need to put this behind us and unite for an unabashed victory in November.
Happily, today’s NY Times says we are already starting to. Polls from a week ago suggest that although only 43% of Clinton delegates have decided to vote for Obama at the convention, 80% will support him in the general election, and most of those will do so enthusiastically.
After all, a Democratic victory IS the most important thing. We must start repairing the damage from the Bush years as soon as possible.
I am sure Hillary herself believes that. I don’t think Hillary wants this tension to continue.
The vast majority of Democrats – both Hillary and Obama supporters - are people of principle above all.
I am confident we can heal this wound and go forward to victory.
It has never been more important.
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.org
Yes, in public I have said for months, “the Hillary people worked hard for their candidate, so naturally they are disappointed”, and “Hillary has made history by being the first serious woman candidate for the Presidency”, and “Hillary Clinton has earned our respect for her tremendous contributions” and so on and so on. And it was all true.
But I didn’t really GET it. Until I saw the glimmerings of tears this week from women I respect. Until I saw intelligent women threaten to vote for …. well, if not actually to vote for McCain, then just not to vote at all.
I had sexist thoughts (I thought us gay guys were exempt) such as: “She lost. Why can’t they get over it?” and “Why are they changing the rules of the game by talking about the popular vote? It’s irrelevant!” I resented that any candidate would feel “entitled” to the nomination.
As a gay man myself, shouldn’t I understand the feeling that we are always dismissed unfairly when the good stuff gets handed out? Nope. I didn't.
But now I do. It’s not enough to say “Obama won fair and square”. It’s not enough to rely on their reluctance to criticize a black man’s victory. Something more has to be done and said. I think that will happen at the convention this week.
We need to put this behind us and unite for an unabashed victory in November.
Happily, today’s NY Times says we are already starting to. Polls from a week ago suggest that although only 43% of Clinton delegates have decided to vote for Obama at the convention, 80% will support him in the general election, and most of those will do so enthusiastically.
After all, a Democratic victory IS the most important thing. We must start repairing the damage from the Bush years as soon as possible.
I am sure Hillary herself believes that. I don’t think Hillary wants this tension to continue.
The vast majority of Democrats – both Hillary and Obama supporters - are people of principle above all.
I am confident we can heal this wound and go forward to victory.
It has never been more important.
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? See www.votefromabroad.org
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