Yes, Hillary has run a tough race, but what about what Obama did?

[stevietheman]

Sure, we should congratulate Hillary on a historical run for the White House, and for her tenacity in keeping the race going for so long. (even as we criticize many of her tactics, which might have hurt the nominee)

But, let's look at what has happened here...

1) The person everyone overwhelmingly expected to sweep most of the caucuses/primaries before the season began is not getting the nomination. Even with nearly half of the party behind her, it's not happening.

2) Often criticized for "not closing the deal", the upstart candidate who started way behind in the beginning has indeed built what must be called a movement campaign that has incrementally swept the nation. A "dark horse" (pardon the term) has actually won the process!

3) An African-American is going to be the nominee! A huge historical and potentially healing moment for the nation is upon us.

4) A man who will obviously be able to talk circles around the Republican nominee will be our candidate in the debates and in this campaign. Have we had a candidate this adept at articulating Democratic ideals and policies in recent decades? I don't think so. Obama will easily be the Democrats' "Great Communicator".

5) A man who has drawn such a tremendous groundswell of interest from new political participants, especially the young who usually ignore politics, will be bringing all these new voters to our side in November! Not to mention the great interest of many independents and some Republicans.

6) A man (and his family) who are far more photogenic and will easily bring back notions of Camelot are on our team! The man can't take a bad picture, can he?

7) And perhaps most importantly for Democratic chances in November, our presumptive nominee has created a HUGE grassroots donor base of individuals all across this country -- talk about public financing! And we know this will make a President *not* beholden to corporate special interests. And it's about time for that!

Yes, we can easily think of scenarios where we will lose in November. But let's not forget all the positives of what we have to work with. We have positives coming out our ears! (not to mention the Republicans are still in a downward spiral with poor finances)

On edit: added #7.

[reflection]

Win or lose, he and the party have a lot to be proud of.

Here's hoping for the win though.

[ksoze]

10. Hey, I want a President, not a tak show host

Photogenic, great orator, healing moment? We need a CEO and CIC for the country not an MC.

[CakeGrrl]

11. Based on the way their campaign finances were run, we're getting the better of the two.

n/t

[truedelphi]

13. And that's why it will be great to have Obama

Hillary is very good at talking about all that she has accomplished, but just what did she accomplish??

She wonked out a policy on Health Care that was thousands of pages long, and then pretty much folded when the GOP opposed it. It also didn't get ANY popular support because of her statements that "it will only cost the average family with a $ 24,000 income a mere $ 4,000 a year."

She voted for the IWR, and she wants to nuke Iran.

She did things for various children's health programs, but Obama is for those same things.

Here's Obama:
His bold legislative work on the Illinois Death Penalty, and how he made a difference between life and death:
http://www.icadp.org/page236.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/12/obama.death.pena... /

His sponsorship of a bill that brought health insurance to 150,000, including 70,000 uninsured Children, again, during his time serving in the Illinois Statehouse:
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/12/14/f...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200712170003

His work on both the Immigration bill during his time in the US senate and his sponsorship of Ethics legislation (something he did both while in the State House, and in the Senate) that called for some of the most impactful reform regarding lobbyists since Watergate (as he likes to term it):
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2007/12/14/f...
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/07/01/200...

http://tinyurl.com/329zfc

I also am of the firm belief that Michelle Obama truly will never ever forget her middle income upbringing. I think having the African American community constantly reminding the First Couple of the bad hand many people in America are dealt will make a profound difference.

Whereas right now Bill Clinton's experiences are shady things like hanging out with Russian mineral rights developers.

[stevietheman]

14. We've had a CEO the past 7 1/2 years -- how did that turn out? n/t

n/t

[EffieBlack]

21. Maybe you can find another George W. Bush to vote for

[Chulanowa]

23. Do we, now?

Here's one who's been both an CEO and a "Commander in Chief"


We do not need a CEO. America is not a bottom-line corporate piracy.
We do not need a "Commander in Chief." we are not a military dictatorship

We need a president. Someone who can flex their personality and knowledge in order to sway people and move them to get the right things done, who can converse with world leaders on the level of equals, rather than tossing Saudi Salad and trying to get the German PM into a chokehold.

My suggestion to you would be to get your priorities straightened out a bit. If you really want to make your wallet and your dick feel bigger by voting for a CEO / CIC kinda guy, hey, there's McCain for you, rich fuck militarist. Knock yourself out. But neither of our potential candidates - and certainly not the leading one - display those... qualities.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Any reasonable person would think that the one who BEAT the tough-race-runner...

would be even tougher.

But not Clinton fans!

:rofl:

[truedelphi]

16. I join you in a roll around the carpet

:ROTFL:

Hey who was to know Clinton supporters would someday be good for some laughs!!

[LSparkle]

2. He has started a MOVEMENT, with MILLIONS of donors ...

THAT's what makes me so proud of him and our party. Obama has,
in effect, run a campaign through "public financing" -- supported
primarily by millions of SMALL donors, not money from PACs and
lobbyists. The netroots will be an integral part of every
campaign from now on -- God bless him for that!

[stevietheman]

3. You're right, I forgot to mention that -- and that's a *very* important point. n/t

n/t

[dailykoff]

4. Oh bullshit. She's run the most vile, dishonest, right-wing toilet

campaign since Junior's "reelection" hoax in 2004. She doesn't deserve congratulations from anyone with a brain cell.

[stevietheman]

7. I understand your sentiment, but we need to start healing for November.

Hillary has definitely made a lot of critical errors, and may have hurt Obama for the fall, but we really need to pick up the pieces and move on. We still have a long time to go before November, and by the time the election gets here, we won't be huffing and puffing about Hillary any longer, nor should we. By then, she will necessarily have to be on the team, or even she knows she will be political toast.

[IsItJustMe]

9. I like posts that tell it like it is. Straight, to the point, and bull shit.

[Peace Patriot]

22. Whatever you think of Hillary's campaign, the point of the OP is a good one.

What Obama and his supporters have accomplished is ASTOUNDING. Six months ago, my assumption was that Hillary would be the nominee, in every scenario I could think of for the near future of our country. I thought the DLC & co. had too much of a lock on power and money for any insurgent campaign to succeed, especially an insurgent campaign driven by the anti-war majority in the country, many of whom who flocked to Obama's campaign because he was the only candidate left standing who opposed the war. I'm not crazy about Obama's actual policies on many issues--and I fear that his supporters are going to have to deal with considerable disappointment on some of them, if we manage to elect him--but I never, ever expected such a grass roots movement to arise this early in American Revolution II. It is the essential ingredient for reforming the country--an activated citizenry. And that they have achieved the nomination against an entrenched pro-war, pro-establishment is awesome.

It may be that the rigged voting machines are just laying in wait. The Bushbot corporations who own and control the 'TRADE SECRET' code in their innards STILL have the power to determine the results of any U.S. election. And maybe the fascists have some other scenario in mind. Look what they did to Jimmy Carter with the rigged oil crisis of that era, and the U.S. hostages in Iran incident. We're under the thumb of some real, real bad people, with enormous power over us. There are MANY things they can do to sabotage an Obama administration, and make way for Hitler II. Indeed, if you look at all the pending economic and foreign policy crises, you can read it as all set up to crash down on the head of a Democratic president.

The global corporate predators who are running things ran the really tough candidates out of the race. (I'm thinking particularly of Edwards, but also Biden, Clark and Kucinich). Obama is not tough in that way. He may be personally tough--he's certainly weathered a tough campaign, and weathered it well. But I mean in his analysis of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, and his potential dealings with the real powers--the war profiteers and multinationals, and the Saudi and Chinese U.S. debt-holders. It is a minefield, and if he tries to bust heads like Teddy Roosevelt, or truly reform the U.S. economy, like FDR did...well, the fact is that he isn't likely to do that--not if his stated policies hold true. He is not a reformer--or not a big reformer. But it may be irrelevant what he intends, if the fascist plan is to set him up for the fall. And then we will wish that we had a president like FDR who said: "Organized money hates me--and I welcome their hatred." Or like his cousin Teddy whose slogan was "Speak softly and carry a big stick!" Is Obama capable of wielding "a big stick" if he has to? I dunno. I really don't. Stay tuned.

But the fact that he has been catapulted into the nomination--and may well be catapulted into the White House as well--by this incredible political uprising that his campaign has become, is the real story. His supporters and what they have accomplished is the real story. And the fact that Hillary, with all of her advantages at the start, has kept her campaign going, despite its numerous mistakes and very bad decisions (such as hiring Mark Penn, a paid agent of a foreign government, Colombia, with one of the worst human rights records in the world), and despite her inability to stop Obama's insurgent momentum, is only a side story. Yeah, she's pugnacious. So what? Bush and Cheney are pugnacious. Pugnacious for what? --is the question. A lot of people can't see the "for what?" part--except personal ambition.

In hindsight, it's not all that surprising--that Clinton could not close the deal. But putting hindsight aside, it is amazing that she hasn't. And that is mostly due to Obama's dedicated grass roots supporters.

[TexanDem]

5. Absolutely give him credit! He's David who's bringing down Goliath!

[Symarip]

6. On the Indie Channel on Sirius

They had one of Edwards' campaign managers (I think a financial guy). He basically said, "a year ago if someone were to tell me that Obama would raise over xxx million dollars AND have most of his donations come from small donors, I'd have called them a liar and laughed. He now has all the resources in the world to go forward... I suspect he's smart enough to not count his victories until after the General Election is over."

I completely agree, especially with the last part. As long as there's a campaign to carry and an opponent, we can't stop fighting the fight.

I'm making another 25 dollar donation after work, just for the fuck of it.

[truedelphi]

17. I can't afford Sirius so please keep letting all of us know

Things like this.

It does cheer one up!

[Bucky]

8. I'm sorry, but that's just old news by now. The hip new thing to talk about is Clinton's tenacity.

Besides, all Obama did was inspire people and build a strong grassroots organization overnight. What do organizational skills and inspiring people have to do with being president?

[TahitiNut]

12. Did you know that a former President CAN be appointed to the Supreme Court?

I find that to be an interesting notion to contemplate. In 2009, Obama will be 48 years old. In 2017, he'll be 56 ... with a WEALTH of experience and a legal background. Interesting, no??

I'm no giddy fan of his political positions by any stretch of the imagination. He's a moderate, at best. But I'm impressed with his intelligence and mental organization - clearly, an asset in legal matters.

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Taft did that, didn't he? nt

[TahitiNut]

19. Yup. William Howard Taft is the only former President (so far) to be appointed to SCOTUS.

Of course, it's not much of a "claim to fame" that it was Harding that appointed him as Chief Justice, since Harding was (arguably) one of the worst Presidents in history (before George set a standard so low that it's unmatched).

[JerseygirlCT]

20. Yes, at least Bush has excelled in one thing, huh? nt

[Texas Hill Country]

15. obama has run a very good race, there is no denying that.