HRC Hits It Out of the Park

As I write this post, the Democrats have just nominated Barack Obama as their nominee for the President of the United States. Hillary Clinton called to stop the roll call vote and name Sen. Obama the nominee by acclimation. The crowd roared to "second" the proposition by Senator Clinton. You could hear a pin drop when Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked for those in opposition to the proposition. Either the party is unifed, or no one was brave enough to not take the lead of Hillary Clinton.

Late last night, Senator Clinton gave a heartfelt speech on the 88th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. She didn't spend as much time as I would have expected about women's rights. She gave a strong endorsement of Barack Obama. She said that both her and Senator Obama are fighting for the same goals. She also attacked Sen. John McCain. She quipped, "It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together in the Twin Cities because they're awfully hard to tell apart."

I know some are upset that Sen. Clinton did not say that Obama is ready to lead. I'm not worried about that. Former President Bill Clinton will speak tonight, and he may explicitly say that Obama is prepared to lead. The Republicans are already creating attack ads saying that Clinton said Obama was not ready to lead; and even today, Clinton hasn't said it. If you ask me, these unfortunate attacks are like throwing mud at a brick wall and seeing what sticks. If she said, "Obama is ready to lead," it would have been something else.

Senator Clinton was the headliner of Day 2 of the Convention. However, the Democratic National Convention also featured a multitude of good speakers. On Tuesday, Dennis Kucinich, Mark Warner, Janet Napolitano, and Brian Schweitzer, among others, gave very thorough speeches. I couldn't understand why these so-called "24-hour news channels" only showed one or two speeches a night. YouTube has given me the opportunity to see these speeches. From now on, I'll watch the DNC on the internet. Hearing prominent politicians speaking is more compelling than listening to a couple of talking heads blather.

I abhor how the mainstream media likes to sensationalize everything. Media Matters has a great article on how the press concocted a story after Sen. Clinton gave a strong endorsement of Barack Obama. She hit it out of the park. She could not have said it any better than she said it.

Tonight, Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, will speak. I expect him to be the "bad cop", throwing hard blows at John McCain. I know the Democrats have talked about McCain's house gaffe. But think about it if the flip was switched. If the Democrats nominated an older nominee with the Republicans nominating a middle-aged man, the Republicans would have said, "If he can't remember how many houses he has, how can he remember what happened in his last Cabinet meeting." The Democrats don't usually do that. It's just not in their blood. Maybe Joe Biden has it in his blood.

Biden is competing with Bill Clinton as the headliner of tonight at the DNC. It will be interesting to see what Clinton does in his speech. He has appeared to still have bitterness with coming to terms with the loss of Senator Clinton. He had a spokesperson give out his endorsement of Obama. He's been accused of racism. Clinton actually wants to come out for Barack. Not just because it will lead to a more unified party, but because he can redeem his legacy among the Democratic Party. It should be an interesting night.