Clinton Backs Obama at Convention

On the one side were the die-hard Clintonistas, hoping against hope that their candidate could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after running one of the worst presidential campaigns a front-runner ever ran. On the other side were the Obamaniacs who were convinced it was all a trick to steal the nomination from the man who had earned it. In the end, though, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York backed Senator Barack Obama from Illinois at the Democratic National Convention last night with a solid speech that left no room for wondering.

Mrs. Clinton is not a first rate orator, no William Jennings Bryan, no Franklin Roosevelt, no Martin Luther King, Jr. She always comes off as insincere, or at very least over-rehearsed. Her gestures rarely seem natural, and she can break up a sentence with a breath that steals the power of the phrase. Last night, though, what she said mattered. How she said it was less important.

She was, to borrow a phrase from Richard Nixon, perfectly clear to her bitter-enders what was expected of them, “No way. No how. No McCain.” And then, later in the speech, she actually impressed with her humility, “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, it’s hard to say in some cases. The fundraisers of the Clintons are allegedly sitting on their hands. Yet, the truth is the Obama money machine on the internet dwarfs anything they could do for him. If the man from the Land of Lincoln isn’t the next president, it won’t be for lack of funds to compete. As for Mrs. Clinton’s 18 million voters, Mr. Obama outpolled her. Will all 18 million stay home in November? Of course not.

The last real hold out appears to be ex-President Clinton, who is still angry about charges of racism in the South Carolina primary and is livid over Senator Obama’s dismissal of his 8 years in the White House. What he said in South Carolina may not have been racist, but it was certain patronizing and arrogant. And if his wife chose to run on his record, then naturally, other candidates would have to belittle that record. Tonight, the world will find out if he’s going to play ball, but since his wife has done the right thing with more grace than one thought she possessed, his remarks hardly matter -- unless he demands the party nominate John McCain.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home