Summer CE Week #6: “Clinton Delivers Emphatic Plea for Unity”
DENVER — With her husband looking on tenderly and her supporters watching with tears in their eyes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton deferred her own dreams on Tuesday night and delivered an emphatic plea at the Democratic National Convention to unite behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama, no matter what ill will lingered.
Mrs. Clinton, who was once certain that she would win the Democratic nomination this year, also took steps on Tuesday — deliberate steps, aides said — to keep the door open to a future bid for the presidency. She rallied supporters in her speech, and, at an earlier event with 3,000 women, described her passion about her own campaign. And her aides limited input on the speech from Obama advisers, while seeking advice from her former strategist, Mark Penn, a loathed figure in the Obama camp.
But the main task for Mrs. Clinton at the convention — reaffirming her support for Mr. Obama in soaring and unconditional language — dominated her 23-minute speech, and she betrayed none of the anger and disappointment that she still feels, friends say, and that has especially haunted her husband.
Declaring herself to be “a proud supporter of Barack Obama,” Mrs. Clinton urged Democrats to put aside their loyalty to her and unite behind Mr. Obama — or risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.
“Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose,” Mrs. Clinton said, beaming as the convention hall burst into applause. “And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.”
She added, “No way, no how, no McCain.”
Mr. Obama praised Mrs. Clinton’s speech as he watched Tuesday night from Montana.
“That was excellent, that was a strong speech,” Mr. Obama said from Billings. “She made the case for why we’re going to be unified in November and why we’re going to win this election. I thought she was outstanding.”
With the television cameras trained tightly on Mrs. Clinton on stage and former President Bill Clinton in a V.I.P. box, Mrs. Clinton smiled broadly at times and punched the air with ferocity during the tough talk against Republicans, while Mr. Clinton lovingly looked on tight-lipped. And yet, reality intrudes: many of her top fund-raisers said this week that they were still refusing to work for Mr. Obama and were angered by their treatment at the convention.
For their part, Obama advisers were full of expectations. Several of them repeated how “gracious” Mrs. Clinton had been this week. Privately, though, aides say they and Mr. Obama have been eager to move on from Mrs. Clinton’s star turn at the convention, which has been a source of melodrama for Democrats who have not entirely healed from the duo’s bruising primary.
Among them are the Clintons themselves: While Mrs. Clinton is in the midst of a “catharsis,” friends say, Mr. Clinton remains angrier than people realize about the Obama campaign’s portrayal of his wife as deceitful and of his administration as middling and his political tactics as, at times, racially charged. Friends have been urging Mr. Clinton — who speaks on Wednesday night — to move on, and counseling the couple to focus their energy and emotions on Mr. McCain.
At one point in her speech, though, Mrs. Clinton herself paid homage to her husband’s successes — in one sense, making up for the absence of praise from Mr. Obama.
Mrs. Clinton also provided some of the night’s sharpest lines of attack on Mr. McCain in her convention speech. “It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart,” she said, referring to the site of the Republican National Convention.
Introduced by her daughter, Chelsea, who called her “my hero,” Mrs. Clinton was met with a lengthy, loud standing ovation. She sprinkled her opening remarks with personal touches, delighting the crowd by thanking “my supporters, my champions — my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits,” a reference to her signature sartorial style.
“You never gave in, you never gave up, and together we made history,” Mrs. Clinton said.
With delegates waving banners that read “Hillary” or “Obama” on one side and “Unity” on the other, Mrs. Clinton encouraged supporters to rally behind Mr. Obama for the sake of struggling Americans she met during the campaign.
“I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me?” Mrs. Clinton said. “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?”
Mr. Clinton became teary at several points during his wife’s speech, and even Mrs. Clinton, who has been so steady this week, seemed to grow misty a couple of times as she thanked her supporters profusely and recalled some of the Americans she met along the trail. Some parts of the speech devoted to Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, in turn, had a bit of a workmanlike quality, but on the whole her speech echoed with the emotional lyricism that she showed in June when she dropped out of the race and told supporters, “It would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.”
Far from giving a valedictory at the Democratic convention, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers said she wanted the speech to reflect the leverage that she retains in the Democratic Party — that she, far more than Mr. Obama, has the influence to move her supporters to his side. (The Clinton camp did not even provide a final draft to the Obama campaign well in advance of delivery, working on it until the last minute.)
At the same time, advisers said, Mrs. Clinton wanted to ensure that her star turn at the convention could never be portrayed as insufficiently enthusiastic, should Mr. Obama lose the election in part because swaths of her supporters ultimately did not vote for him. Mrs. Clinton is almost certain to run for president in 2012 if Mr. Obama fails this time, several Clinton advisers said Tuesday, and any such plan could possibly founder if the Clintons’ negative feelings show through this year.
The reports of friction between the Clinton and Obama camps were officially dismissed by both sides, and there were signs some Clinton supporters were giving up the fight, with a pro-Clinton demonstration Tuesday petering out.
Mrs. Clinton also had a brief, backstage chat with Michelle Obama at an Emily’s List event earlier; aides to both described the conversation as friendly. During her remarks, meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton made a warm gesture to encourage women in the room to embrace Mrs. Obama.
“Wasn’t Michelle Obama terrific last night?” Mrs. Clinton said to applause. “I know a little bit about how the White House works, and if the president is not exactly on our side, call the first lady — and Michelle Obama will answer that phone.”
“It’s not just about politics,” she said, referring to the distinctive struggles women face as candidates. Her tone broke from its determined cadence and became, for a second, slower and almost hushed. “It’s really personal,” she said.
Still, there were displays of support for Mrs. Clinton that had nothing to do with unity. In her speech on Tuesday at the Emily’s List event, one woman shouted from the audience, “Hillary in 2012!” Mrs. Clinton did not appear to hear the remark; the woman, Karin Schumacher of Denver, had volunteered for Mrs. Clinton, and said she planned to support Mr. Obama.
In the convention hall, several women said they were bracing for a difficult 24 hours as Mrs. Clinton fills a supporting role rather than the lead part.
When Kelly Friendly, a Clinton supporter from Wellesley, Mass., was asked if she would vote for Mr. Obama, she said, referring to Mrs. Clinton: “Absolutely. She just told us to, didn’t she?”
This comes as a surprise to me. I expected Hillary to try and dominate the convention so as to discreetly support McCain. And I really think that Hillary is starting to show better sportsmanship than she has in the past, she seems to be making a turnaround to someone who I may vote for in the future. As for Bill, he is just a sore loser (once again). I really think it is time that he just begins to butt out of his wife’s political life, especially with the amount of influence he appears to have on it. I’m glad Hillary can bash the republicans, I figured she would have left that out. I’m also glad that she is trying to sway her previous supporters to forget about the gender issue, because many of her supporters were women, because Hillary is a woman; not a legitimate reason to vote for the president of the United States. I really liked her line about how it makes sense that McCain and Bush meeting in the Twin Cities because they are so alike. It really is true though; as many people and many articles have stated: McCain is going to be another Bush, something America probably doesn’t want.
Last night when I watched the Democratic National Convention on television, I felt that Clinton’s speech helped people believe in Obama and his policies. Towards the end of her speech, I felt that there were no questions about Obama’s experience in government and his readiness to become president.
There was still one problem that I had with her speech. It didn’t seem to focus on Obama’s qualities, but rather it was a speech for her and her supporters. Clinton managed to say that Biden was wise and an excellent choice for VP, but there were no comments or praises about Obama. I think that she wanted people to believe in Obama, but didn’t muster enough strength to fully say she supported Obama. This may make people think that the Democratic Party can never be united.
But the night was still very special for Clinton, because it marked the day when women got the right to vote. I think that her inclusion of this in her speech made women want vote and change the way the government is running today. This helped rally her woman supporters together to support Obama.
I think that anyone who had doubts about Clinton’s speech were blown away. I think that this speech is what will help Obama in the presidential election.
I believe that this kind of sportsmanship is missing in our politics nowadays. If her speech is as heartfelt as it says that it was then I have hope for the future for our politics. Too much of it seems to be with or against us kind of thinking. I also think that this is a brilliant political move on her part, by supporting Obama this year she can assure herself that he will support her in the next election should he lose this one and not run in the next. She may have just made a four year investment that yields the presidency. It was not a very risky move on her part, if Obama does not win then people will blame her supporters of being to obstinate to vote for a man who was once their enemy. So her chances aren’t that great, I would say one in eight, to get the presidency next time around, but when you have nothing to lose why not take the chance?
I think Hillary Clinton making this plea of unity was a very mature and friendly thing for her to do. But with Hillary saying that she will run again in 2012, it sure makes this ‘emphatic plea’ seem more selfish then selfless. Why would Hillary do anything but tell her supporters to move onto Obama when her potential election in 4 more years is on the line? I do think it is funny that even though Clinton seems to be so ‘for Obama’ many of her top fundraisers aren’t. It seems like she should be able to convince them. Plus, if they couldn’t have her as their nominee, shouldn’t they want another democrat? And of course Bill Clinton would be mad about how the Obama campaign portrayed his wife. I mean he out of everybody should know that rival politicians will do/say anything about their opponent. He probably shouldn’t be taking them so seriously. What I truly cannot believe is the how cocky and full of herself Clinton is. Saying that she has more influence on getting voters to vote for Obama than Obama himself has? That’s just crazy. I do find it interesting though, how much power Hillary Clinton has over her supporters. I mean someone saying they’ll vote for Obama just because Hillary told them to, is some major control over people.
I think that this is a brilliant move on Mrs. Clinton’s part. Support Obama now, to show that you will support a fellow Democrat, which presumably will give you the support of the entire party once Obama either looses or is done in office.
What bothers me though, is that she seems to hope that Obama will not pull through on this election. If she thought that Obama would get elected, all of her supporters would more willingly sway his way and there probably would not be a Clinton 2012 slogan already being thrown out there by her supporters.
This just seems like a ploy to gain political backing, which could work, if people don’t see it like that. She has to make people actually believe in her support of Obama, and that seems easier said than done with her devout supporters.
Another thing that amazes me is the “power” that she has over her loyal supporters. At the blink of an eye, Hilary’s supporters (apparently) turn into Obama’s supporters because, “She just told us to, didn’t she?” Do her supporters really believe in the unity of the Democratic party, or do they just honor Hilary’s request of their support?
“Hate, extreme prejudice, let’s dismiss this” (Big Boi of Outkast, “The Whole World”) hopefully, this is not just a “move” by Mrs. Clinton, but an actual unity of the party.
I agree that Hillary Clinton’s call for unity was very mature. Throughout the race for the Democratic nomination, Clinton seemed somewhat immature. At the convention, though, she proved me wrong. Her speech showed that she is not a sore loser and that she respects Obama and supports him. She also contributed to the Democrat’s biggest argument against McCain, the similarity between him and Bush, by comparing them to the Twin Cities.
It seems, though, that a democrat would vote for a democrat, no matter which democrat wins the nomination. However, it’s better to be safe than sorry. For the millions who voted for Clinton, I believe this speech is enough to push them toward voting for Obama.
While Mrs. Clinton was busy proving her maturity to the nation, Mr. Clinton still had some ground to cover in order to make-up for his immaturity throughout the Democratic nomination. On Wednesday night, however, I believe he changed the minds of millions. From what I saw, no anger or resentment against Obama showed through his speech. In some ways, he continued his wife’s speech by urging her supporters to vote for Obama. Both Clinton’s showed respect towards the Obama campaign, even after all the mud-slinging that took place during the nominations. The Clinton family will play a major part in this race as we close in on election time.
“It would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours (Mrs. Clinton).” Who does she think she is? Michael Phelps? Someone really needs to sit down with Mrs. Clinton and have a heart to heart discussion with her about, oh…, how she is no longer in the race for President and get over it until 2012.
I really do not understand why she would promote herself for the 2012 election while a fellow Democrat is in the race for the 2008 election. Yes, she is trying to show her support for Obama by giving, vote Obama speeches. And yet it always comes back to her. Such as if the President is not doing his job, just call the first lady, because…oh yeah, I’ve been there. Obama would be better off without her undercover campaigning.
I also find it amusing that she told the women (and men) that were going to vote for her to vote for Obama. Now she thinks she’s a god? This also shows that she once again believes she should be in Obama’s place. I wonder what kind of message this sends to Obama? I do sound harsh toward Mrs. Clinton, but that’s just the way I see it.
This article comes as a surprise to me a bit.
Mrs. Clinton urging her supporters, mostly her women voters, to vote for Obama is a bit of a shock. I personally thought that Hillary, being a bit too manipulative to me, would want McCain to win since she wasn’t able to. But I am glad that she has done this.
I hope that she isn’t just putting up some front and “manipulating” more.
I think that it is wise of her to stop complaining and finally grow up and realize that if she couldn’t win then at least someone who has basically the same beliefs as she, could.
Just as i have asked in a previous post, why would you not want someone who is in the same party as you to win when you no longer have a chance? That wouldn’t make much sense. But seeing as Hillary is making the effort to get those women supporters of hers to vote for Obama, I guess she is understanding that concept. And exactly what she said about not being able tell McCain and Bush apart nowadays, I agree with that. McCain and Bush seem to have the same qualities and being from the same party, have pretty much the same beliefs. Now, if the country doesn’t really seem to be functioning that greatly under Bush, and McCain is very much like him, I definitely would not want a continuance of what we as a country already had to go through.
I think that all i am really able to say at this point is, Thank You Hillary for coming to your senses. =P
In response to Bryce Follett:
I completely agree with you that Bill Clinton is a sore loser. It’s time for him to let go and let Hillary have her own political life. Even though he was probably her biggest advisor along her campaign trail, and possibly the reason why she got so far, he needs to loosen his grip on her campaign.
However, even though Hillary Clinton was still bitter coming into the convention, I doubt she would have tried to discreetly support McCain in her speech. A democrat is a democrat, and if she was loyal enough to her party, she wouldn’t sway voters to the Republican side.
In response to Johanna:
As much of a pain in the butt as Hillary was, I don’t really think that she is trying to get people to focus on her. She was being a pain in the butt because she couldn’t figure out how to support John McCain in order to secure her 2012 election. Therefore she has now backed off and supported Obama (to her husbands displeasure). She has to publicly endorse Obama so she won’t earn herself a bad reputation among her party, she’s not making Obama’s campaign about her. She’s learning how to play politics a little smarter now, and not being so harsh as before.
To Vickie
Do you really think a woman, who’s known for being on the manipulative side, would go to the convention and try to make the spotlight shine upon her? No, that would be a bad move. Hillary Clinton is smart, and she knew how to make the convention work for her, in the best way possible. Clinton made a speech that not only had no bitterness from her loss, but also made her look like a selfless person who was dedicated to the party and the country. So if by coming to her senses, you meant that she realized she needed to stop dwelling on her lost campaign and prepare for the next one, then I agree.
It sounds like Hillary Clinton delivered the perfect speech on Tuesday. From the snippets of her speech it’s easy to tell that she is still hoping to run for president in 2012 and I think it will be a good primary race again. I do admit that this speech was not to be expected but it was delivered very well. Of course she is still going to run for president in 2012 and even the article says that the Clintons are already planning ahead. They are setting things up so it is easier for them in 2012. But Hillary was absolutely correct when she told the convention that unity was necessary because I believe that without it the Democrats will “risk continuing Bush administration policies under the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.” I say this because I know that currently there are some Hillary supporters that plan on voting for McCain. This speech was a big help to Obama as well. It guarantees that not all of Hillary’s supporters will vote the other way, which I’m sure some will now that McCain has chosen a woman as his vice president, and it will be a good boost to the campaign going into the presidential debates.
Well, well, well. It appears that Hillary is putting aside her grudge against the victorious Obama and she is making an attempt to support the man. Interesting. I personally would have preferred a divided democratic party and a vengeful Hillary. At least some of her supporters still seem to be ready to take revenge on Barack. And now, with Pallin running, they have even more reason to betray the Democratic nominee. I do believe that Hillary will want Obama to win, cause she isn’t evil, just incorrect in her political views, but at the same time she is definitely planning to run again and snag the presidency should Obama suck at president or never even make it into the office. I do believe that some democrats will still write in Hillary’s name on the ticket, which is useless, but at least they will be making a statement and sticking to their leader. When in doubt, stick to your big guns.
Now I need 40 more words exactly. Hmmm… okay, as much as I don’t like hillary I believe she did show some character when she read her speech to the democrats and asked for unity among the party. Also, Bill did well at appearing to support his wife’s nemesis. Maybe they can work together after all, I only hope that they never get the chance to.
Megan, knowing, myself, that Hillary is a smart woman, it makes it a lot easier for her to manipulate things to go her way. Sure her speech showed selflessness but maybe if you dig a little deeper she knows that she IS making the spotlight shine on her for the future’s sake. Ok, she was trying to get her supporters to vote for Obama as a sense of unity, but when you think about it, she is only doing that while she can so she will be the one getting the votes next time. In my view, Hillary is simply trying to let people think that she cares just so she can guarantee her votes for the next election. I don’t think she really wants unity, I think she is just using what’s there for the time being until she can have her chance again, and if pretending to care is what she going to do to win votes for next time, then so be it. I only view her this way because I don’t think someone can change so quickly from one moment not wanting Obama to win at all to telling her supporters to vote for him. It’s a bit to quick of a change to not be more for something else.
In response to Cyle
I agree with you completely that this whole speech seems to be just a manipulation of people to get backing for the next election. I’m not her so I obviously can’t say this for a fact but, is Hilary really in this to help unify the democratic party or is she just playing the whole I’m a good person backing the person I lost to card so she can win the primaries for 2012? And how scary is it that just because she says so that some of her followers will just automatically vote for Obama? I mean they obviously are too shallow to look at more than just faces because if they cared about what the candidates opinions were it would take more than Hilary saying “Vote Obama!
Why must so many politicians be fake? Did Hillary really mean what she said with her whole heart, I doubt it? Clearly there is some animosity despite Hillary’s attempt to conceal it. Look behind the scenes, there is friction and there is no way to deny it. Her speech was so gracious and wonderful and all that other stuff filled with rainbows and flowers. It was all political, why are so many people fooled by her actions?
Toward the end of this article something popped up that was extremely vexing for me.
Kelly Friendly (what a great peace loving name) was asked if she would vote for Obama she said, “Absolutely. [Hillary] just told us to, didn’t she?” Is Kelly a cool-aide drinker? Will she sacrifice herself for Hillary? Why do these people blindly follow others? I don’t care if she votes for Hillary or Obama or McCain, but when her reason for voting for Obama is Hillary told me so I have a problem with that.
Behind the scenes the Clintons and the Obamas are not pals. Yet they so easily fool people into thinking they are. Words do not matter when they are hollow. So much of it is so political and not truth. Isn’t that what we want is truth. Or is it who we want the truth from? Or what kind of truth we want?
I think that it is good that Mrs. Clinton is trying to heal the wounds from the primaries. She can see that the Democratic Party has a much better chance at winning if they are united, then if she had kept going the way she was going and hold this huge grudge against Obama for beating her. The democrats need to be united, or the republicans will just be able to pick them apart one by one. I can see why Clinton would want to keep the door open for herself though for 2012 election, but she should also appear to have faith in her party’s candidate, or people will realize that she is mostly just hoping for his demise. This article claims that the Clinton’s feel “hurt” by the words and actions of the Obama camp. If she is going to be in politics, she needs to not let those things bother her. She should know that, and I think that she is doing to try and villainize Obama. The fact of the matter is, though, is that she was just as bad, if not worse, to Obama. Neither of them ran a “clean” campaign against the other. It is a good thing that Clinton is trying to unify the party in hopes of getting Obama elected, I just wish that her intentions were true.
I believe that the words from Hillary Clinton, “No way, no how, no McCain” were a little harsh. I believe that she is doing a good job rallying for Obama, but it is not necessary to bash on McCain. Since Hillary is not in the running anymore for president she is trying to get all of her supporters to vote for Obama and I do believe that it is going to work from the responses of the crowed. Of course Obama “praised Mrs. Clinton’s speech.” She is obviously pulling many votes in his direction. He should be praising her.
I agree with Clarin when she says that Hillary Clinton is in favor of Obama, but it is weird that most of her fundraisers aren’t for him. And if Hillary Clinton is going to be in the race again than she should begin rallying support for her too. Clarin also has a good point because Clinton does have amazing control over the people and I believe that Clinton is persuading the people very well.