Clinton's Primary Remarks, Not A Convention Speech, Will Be The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

The media seemed somewhat relieved last night that Hillary Clinton's speech called for unity around Barack Obama. But did the media really expect anything less?? Realistically, it would have been political suicide to Clinton to deliver any speech that did not call for unity within the party. The Clintons are truly stuck in limbo, if they were to unequivocally support an Obama nomination and he were elected then she would have an uphill battle in 4 years to gain the nomination. Yet, if they lash against Obama and are perceived as being the cause of his November loss, then the far-left power brokers will further abandon them and they will be left in independent limbo.

The media, for the most part, was quick in immediately painting Clinton's speech as a move toward healing the divisions within the party and her support for Obama. But the media paid little attention to the fact that the powerful message of her speech only galvanized her supporters belief that she, not Obama, should have been the nominee. In the minutes following Clinton's speech, CNN which openly applauded and was relieved by her speech made the decision to interview some of Clinton's supporters on the floor. In the interview of an AA Clinton delegate, you could see the visible shock by CNN reporters when she stated that this speech only proved that Clinton should be the nominee; she reiterated that Obama was not experienced enough to be POTUS; that she would not vote for McCain; but for the first time in her life she would most likely not vote at all. CNN, of course, attempted to cut the interview short and made sure not to interview any more Clinton Delegates.

Clinton's speech for was well written and very, well delivered; yet, the first three quarters of the speech appeared as more of a Clinton Campaign speech than a glowing endorsement of Obama. The end of her speech, which was directly aimed to please the Obama campaign and DNC leadership did launch an attack upon McCain. But for the most part they were attacks that were so outrageous that they would only appeal to Obama's far-left supporters and would be overlooked by moderate Democrats. At the end of her speech, Clinton attacked McCain by stating, "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."

Hillary knows that moderate Democrats will not fall for such arguments. They understand that John McCain, who has experienced the worst atrocities of war first hand, would never rush to take this country into war. The Clintons know that their supporters understand that the women's pay issue carries little weight when the Obama campaign pays female campaign workers less than their counterparts. The Clinton's know that their supporters already recognize the fallacy of the "McSame" argument, as it is the argument that Obama supporters have made for months.

Hillary's speech was impressive, and her lengthy focus on the Women's movement was not a call for unity, it was a call for the female base of her support to never give up their fight. Clinton's female supporters, whom only represent a portion of the Clinton base that is not falling in line, will never take her speech as a call for unity and will only cement their belief that their fight is the right one.

The words of Clinton in Denver were powerful, but temporary. You will not see commercial after commercial stemming from the Obama campaign of excerpts of her speech. If Obama felt that Clinton's words carried that much weight he would have put her on the ticket. Instead, it is Hillary's speeches, attacks on Obama, and praise for McCain that will become the gift that keeps on giving. The McCain campaign has hours of tape and dozens upon dozens of comments by Clinton all ripe to be converted into commercials. In the end, it will be her own words in the primaries, words which were driven by and expressed her genuine feelings, not a politically necessary speech in Denver, that will be remembered by the general electorate.

J Brown
August 27th, 2008


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