Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight was arguably her best to date, and I encourage everyone to watch it, multiple times. In most of the video replays and news coverage you will see of her speech, there are a couple of things you might not pick up on.
First, the Denver Fire Marshall closed down the Convention Floor at 8:30. People could go out but no one could go in without permission from the Secret Service.
Second, the stadium was so packed that celebrities were mingling with any delegation who had seats. Ellen Burstyn, for example, saw an open seat with the SD Delegation and held onto it for dear life throughout Hillary’s speech.
And finally, when Hillary’s speech started, nearly everyone in the convention was holding a Hillary signature sign. By the end, those same people (myself included) were holding “Obama/Unity” signs. This did not happen by accident. On cue, after Hillary said “No way, no how, no McCain,” the Obama/Unity signs were dispersed, forcing everyone to put down their Hillary signs (for it’s nearly impossible to clap, cheer, yell, whistle AND hold two signs). I find this almost forced display of unity interesting because, even though I believe in it, there is no unity in the SD delegation. Tempers are flairing and, contrary to what it may seem, Hillary is not giving her delegates a clear message on what to do.
Anyway, there’s a little extra perspective to add to your viewing of Hillary’s speech tonight. Tomorrow is the voting which I’m going to try and live-blog. Interestingly, however, in an effort to maintain a facade of organization and, again, unity, the actual voting will not be taking place on the floor tomorrow when it is televised.
-Emily
(You can view photos from all of Day 2 HERE.)
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I really liked her point of, “Are you in this election for me, or are you in it to solve x, y, and z issues?”
I do not understand why about 30% of Hillary supporters want to vote for McCain instead of Obama. The differences between Hillary and McCain are far greater than the differences between Hillary and Obama. Do they favor McCain because they’re bitter? (Talk about biting your nose to spite your face!) Or, could they never vote for a black man? It’s probably a mix, but I think perhaps a majority of them are concerned about Obama’s lack of experience. But, as Nancy Pelosi said on Monday night during her DNC speech, “McCain has experience . . . being WRONG.”
I’m having a little trouble understanding this as well: why are the democrats so divided? This seems to happen repeatedly. It almost seems as if the dems are so focused on which civil rights statement they want to make with their candidate (a black man or a woman?) that they can’t center in on winning the election. While both candidates put forward policies that are not that different, people still seem to be divided on getting *anyone* that champions the policies they support into the White House. Does it run deeper to the fundamental ideals of the candidates? (are those even different?)
I heard that within the democratic leadership there is no divide and the party division is manufactured by the media. Emily, you seem to say it’s more real than that. Is this something that will heal before November?
Philip Baruth (novelist, VPR commentator, UVM prof) has been blogging about his experiences as a member of the VT delegation. Like you, Karl, his interpretation of “party disunity” is that it’s manufactured by the media.
He opens his post on Hillary’s speech with, “Let’s face facts: the national press has embarrassed itself in its unbounded desire to see not just Hillary Clinton, but the entire Clinton family at war with the Obama campaign. They have hunted up the occasional wild-eyed PUMA supporter (the acronym, of course, stands for Party Unity My . . . Aspiration for Single-Payer Health Care) and lavished air time upon them.”; he concludes with, “Tall thin “Unity” signs went up throughout the Hall, and the moment for the world to end had passed without a tremor. And everyone in the Hall seemed just fine with that. Except the national press. They looked lost, in a word. Like a team of unemployed Bigfoot enthusiasts who, having spent the bulk of their twenties hunting the Yeti and living with their parents, have suddenly been told, in no uncertain terms, to get a damn job.”
(http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=0492d09dfcfa41ba8bf0a423f5e1d175&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a0492d09dfcfa41ba8bf0a423f5e1d175Post%3a8667ac42-c16f-4f18-96c7-a5c776feb95f&sid=sitelife.burlingtonfreepress.com)
(What an absurdly long link.)