I found this latest article from Women's Wear Daily to be particularly insightful into the arrogance and frontrunner mentality of the Clinton campaign in thinking that it was the inevitable winner of the Democratic Primary.
The original deal, she said, included an interview with Clinton and a Leibovitz photo shoot for the December 2007 issue at the Clintons' Chappaqua, N.Y., home. After thinking everything was set, Reed months later was informed the deal was off. She said she was told, "We already have the women's vote in the bag," and that Wolfson said, '"We thought we were going to be in a bigger dogfight. We don't need you anymore.' This was right before Iowa. What an idiot!"
The women's vote in the bag? Before a single primary election had occurred? Astounding. It appears that Obama is thawing the Clinton freeze on her most adamant supporters, but I hope that stories like this continue to make their way out into the mainstream media--mainly, because it will help all the die-hards blaming external factors for Clinton's loss to realize that she had possibly the worst-run campaign possible during the first half of the primary season.
Every election year there are candidates whose arrogance or lack of leadership or organization cost them the chance to win election--and most of the time, these people are men given the skewing of gender in election politics. It should be a mark of feminism and equality to be able to say that a woman is as likely to screw up her campaign for the same reasons as a man, and accept it and move on to a stronger candidate the next time around.
If you're looking for a conspiracy for why Clinton lost, I would argue that it was a Conspiracy of Dunces in her campaign (Wolfson, Penn, etc.) that undermined the potentially groundbreaking campaign of Hillary Clinton.
He's so right. Since when is the publication of unfounded rumors on an unverified internet site justification for using national airwaves to "push-poll" those same scurrilous whispers?
It's sort of like someone coming up to you saying, "I don't believe it, but the bum that hangs out behind the 7-11 said your girlfriend went down on him." A quick right-cross to the informant's face solves the problem.
Consider this clip Jon Stewart's knockout punch on the media:
This announcement was quite a 'regalo' (anagram for Al Gore) today for Senator Obama in Flint, Michigan. Further taking steps to unify the party and to enhance his legitimacy and stature as the Democratic Presumptive Nominee, Senator Obama rolled out a major endorsement today from the man Democrats believe actually won the 2000 election.
Senator Obama continues to show the state of Michigan that he is serious about earning their electoral votes. First with former Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, and now with former Vice President and Presidential Nominee Al Gore, Senator Obama has made it a point to make these two huge, major endorsements public within the confines of the Wolverine State.
Beyond the fact that Gore is a superdelegate, adding to Obama's total, this endorsement adds particular heft to Obama's credentials. While Senator Clinton has endorsed Obama, you get the sense that there is political obligation to do so as the vanquished candidate. Gore, on the other hand, carries with him a moral gravitas with him, as a result of his 'victory' in 2000, his Oscar, his Nobel Peace Prize, and his general high standing among Democrats. While former President Bill Clinton has spent the primary season undermining and diluting his aura and statesman role in world affairs, Al Gore has remained unsullied by the primary fight and is viewed as an important figure in the Democratic Party.
In classic triangulation, Al Gore's endorsement is the tiebreaker pulling undecided Democrats and disaffected Clinton supporters to the Obama camp. Heck, if the man "who really won the 2000 election" believes Obama is of presidential timbre, why shouldn't I as an average citizen?
There was an interesting point brought up today by David Gergen in CNN's coverage--the idea of Gore as the key player in an Obama administration renegotiating the Kyoto Treaty (which expires in the next four years), and how early publicity for Gore in an Obama Administration would be a boon for the Illinois senator. Gergen enhanced the point to talk about Bill Clinton's status as an international peacemaker, perhaps in the Middle East, and also Hillary Clinton's role in delivering universal healthcare.
The commentators have mentioned how Obama has turned the Democratic Party upside down a bit and has claimed the mantel as the leader of this political party through his amazing victory over the Clinton legacy, his bringing forth armies of new voters registered or affiliated with the Democratic Pary, and his potent fundraising ability. A second point heretofore unmentioned is that by defeating Hillary Clinton and diminishing the Bill Clinton legacy, Al Gore looms even larger in the new generation of an Obama-led Democratic Party, and becomes the defining, most accessible figure of the Clinton Administration in this new Obama generation.
Gore has kept himself on ice politically for eight years, and has instead led the fight against global climate change just before the political groundswell for this topic became current. In the eyes of the younger generation, the Obama generation, Al Gore remains a relevant and an almost mythical leader in this regard.
The Obama victory over Hillary Clinton not only closes the door on the Clinton generation of the party, but reopens the door for Gore to re-enter the scene and re-engage the political landscape as Vice-President or Cabinet Member in the Obama Administration.
Al Gore was left to wander in the wilderness after his epic election struggle with George W. Bush, politically potent but without a post. Now he can come back stronger than ever, and build on his legendary status as the pre-eminent politician in the fight against global warming.
Al Gore and Barack Obama seem to be soulmates in terms of seeing an interdependent, globalized world in which the United States needs to be a leader not only in military might, but also in diplomacy, economics and ethics. Gore makes an eloquent case for an Obama presidency, with the full weight of his moral standing cloaking Obama in the tradition and history of the Democratic Party. When Gore talks about America needing to have "moral courage" to enact change and engage the world, he is speaking in a language that Senator Obama embodies, in a way that the Clintons never could with any genuine feeling. The mutual earnestness of these two men show that eight years separate their political careers, but their hopes and goals are compatible. The concept that we face challenges that should unite us as Americans and as global citizens is something that both men bring to the table.
Might this be the beginning of the Obama-Gore '08 ticket?
Below is Al Gore's ringing endorsement of Senator Obama:
With press interest waning for the remaining delegate news for the Democratic Primary, finding quick and reliable sources for this information is becoming more difficult.
From their site I've been able to find the add-on delegates from Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Vermont from this past weekend.
Pennsylvania was the third of three tests for Senator Obama's case for party unity from the past weekend.
In one test, Kentucky, he was awarded the add-on delegate despite being trounced by Clinton in the primary.
In another test, Texas, he was awarded two of three add-on delegates and was able to engineer a compromise to keep a Clinton supporter, female and labor (AFL-CIO) leader--all wrapped up in one person--on as an add-on delegate and then convince her to support him at the Convention.
The last test, Pennsylvania, did not go as well for Obama. This site shows the complete list of Pennsylvania delegates to the National Convention, and displays the names of the three new unpledged add-on delegates:
John Street Jack Wagner Lynne Abraham
Doing some further research, we can determine that two of these add-on delegates (Street and Abraham) are Clinton supporters, while Wagner is an Obama supporter.
Wagner endorsed Obama in April when Obama was gearing up for the Pennsylvania primary. As a Vietnam vet and Western Pennsylvania figure, Wagner's endorsement at the time was seen as very helpful to Obama's credibility with the demographic base of rural Pennsylvania.
Abraham's loyalties are harder to find but this Pennsylvania blog did post that Abraham was listed as a Clinton delegate on the state convention ballot for delegate selection to the national convention.
A 2-1 Clinton win in Pennsylvania among add-on delegates really was not that surprising given her victory in the state and her ownership of the Pennsylvania political machine, but in the context of Senator Obama becoming the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, expressing a call for party unity around him as the leader, and needing a victory in Pennsylvania in the fall, it would have been much more fruitful for him to have picked up all three of these delegates as a sign of support for his candidacy.
Minnesota and Vermont add-on delegates will be posted in the next post.
