I thought Hillary was brave and gracious. I smiled when she said, "Yes we can!" I was very moved by her speech.

Regardless of what everyone thinks, I believe I was wrong about her.

I wanted to say that before all the nasty started.

I really didn't want to watch this, but given all the time I have spent watching speeches and debates, I thought I would. I wasn't disappointed.

It was ultimate political theater.

This was the first time I have felt warm and respectful towards Hillary since January, having been her supporter until then. While not perfect, and there were a few opportunties missed, I thought she did an excellent job. Thanks Hillary.

I was very happy with the speech. It was better than I thought it would be.

The only thing I would have liked her to specifically remind her women supporters is:

The Supreme Court!
The Supreme Court!
The Supreme Court!

If women value the choice to make their own decisions regarding their own bodies, then they must support Barack Obama.

Other than not specifically saying it this way - scaring them off of even considering voting for McSame -- the speech was wonderful.

Good riddance to Shrillary
Better than her last narcisstic, divisive, deranged speech.
Hopefully will never have to listen to her again

And on Taylor Marsh, they are still obtuse, still defiant.
Ragging on Obama for playing golf today.

Pathetic.

It's really the most powerful message she could have sent to her supporters: It's not our time; it's theirs; and as difficult as it may be to except, we're going to help them make it happen.

"our time", "theirs"; 'we', '"them".

You're right. That sends a very powerful message.

This was not the time to talk about her own campaign -- she did enough of that on Tuesday night. She needed to tell her supporters why Barack Obama will make a great president. Instead, she talked about why she would have been a great president.

I was not expecting much, but I was disappointed. In many ways it was vintage Hillary -- talking about herself, her own accomplishments, and how dedicated her supporters are to *her* (the deathbed story). And of course, she only suspended her campaign and did not release her delegates.

"It's not our time; it's theirs"

That is the same divisive language that pissed me off the whole campaign. Somehow, if you have a vagina, Hillary speaks for you. BS.

How about a line or two about how a President McCain will nominate two or three SCOTUS judges? That the right to choose, the seminal issue of NOW, of the feminist movement of the last 40 years, is on the edge of the cliff, and McCain will laugh with glee as he pushes it over.

No, Hillary, don't mention that. That would risk losing some of your power over that "Vagina demographic" you claim as your sole possession.

If you blame Ralph Nader for giving Bush the election in 2000, isn't it fair to blame Hillary if Obama loses?

I just made a contribution to the Clinton campaign!

Has the sky fallen yet?

Her message is now up at

http://www.hillaryclinton.com

On the one hand, she needed to signal that she has built a movement of her own and to reinforce the idea that she is the undisputed leader of American women -- both as a genuine point of pride and as proof of her undiminishing influence.

Who does that serve? The party?

It was a good, gracious speech, one that was difficult for her to make. She deserves credit for it.

I'm interested to hear from the Hillary supporters. Does this make you feel better about supporting Obama?

She delivered.

Brilliant speech.

What was particularly remarkable was watching her work the crowd from 10%(?) boos, through 100% cheers. She knew she had to take them a long way, and she knocked it out of the park.

She has my respect.

I have to honestly say -- and anyone who see my posts knows I'm NOT an HRC fan -- I find the reactions on here a bit shocking.

I guess we call come to our own place of peace with her previous behavior in our own time, and while I still can't stand her personally, this was a really good speech.

It could have gone very differently.

Yes, this is the speech she should have given Tuesday -- given she knew for two months that sh was going to lose -- but she gave it.

And for that, I am grateful.

Will her rhetoric translate into real, honest to goodness action?

Only time will tell.

I'm just as happy to see her gone as the next person, but this was truly, a good speech...

...for her. ;-)

End of the Clinton Era

I know the cable news is hailing it as a perfect speech. But I have mixed feelings.

No. of times she used the word John McCain: 0

She auditioned for a VP slot.
She still remained 18m voters are chips she holds for bargain.

But, she did, in the middle of her speech, gave a strong endorsement.

I'm expecting her to share the stage with Obama in the near future in OH, PA or FL. Also, she has done a lot a damage to Obama candidacy in the past, this want a very good endorsement speech for Feb, but she didn't go far enough for June.

I have reservations, but hope she really wants to a democrat in the White House in 2008.

Folks, I dislike her immensely and have posted many negative comments about her before. But we need to move on and stop trashing her. Barack's not just "our" candidate anymore - we want her supporters to be his supporters too now.

It's not just lip service to put your country first - we NEED him in the White House. Which means we need more of our countrymen & women to join the movement.

The first rule of recruiting political allies is - don't insult them.

Although I've never been a Hillary-hater, her campaign has done some things which made me somewhat uncomfortable (more along the lines of old-style politics, rather than anything that would prevent me from voting for her in Novemeber had she been the nominee). However, her speech today touched me on an emotional level. Conceding is never easy, but she did it with grace, class and conviction -- and, frankly, I never doubted she would do so.

The point I've tried to make to bitter Clinton supporters on this and other blogs is that, despite a long, hard primary, the values and policies of Clinton and Obama don't differ so significantly that either candidate is deserving of the votes of each's supporters who believe in the same things. Obama's only real sin was being a tough political rival, in the same sense that I highlighted at the outset that Clinton fought hard.

I've only been a Democratic voter for only one fewer Presidential election than Hillary, and intraparty scrapes are commonplace -- which is why I don't believe in demonizing any other true Democrats (Lieberman notably excepted), even if I haven't always appreciated their styles. Hillary is one of us; Barack is one of us. Democrats only win when we stand together; when we allow ourselves to be divided, we get the tragedies of Reagan and Bush.

Hillary may still be president in 09.
I haven't given up on her. After all, once that Whitey tape comes out they will have to dump him won't they? If they dumped Hart over a little thing like 'monkey business' then surely they'll have to dump Obama over that.

No, I'm not giving up.

But if that day comes, and there's no August surprise and no October surprise,
.
.
.
.
.
well you know the rest....

President McCain!!

I voted for Obama and donated to his campaign, but I think all this animosity toward Hillary Clinton is pointless and counterproductive. The fact is Obama needs her supporters to win the general election, and for you all to antagonize those people by continuing to attack her isn't going to help him one bit. Whatever differences there are between Hillary and Obama, they're nothing compared to the glaring difference between them and McSame. The important thing now is to put a Democrat in the White House, and end the catastrophe that this nation has suffered through for the past eight years.

It could have been much, much worse -- there was always the possibility of a sabotage zinger, and she refrained from that. Thank you, Hillary. And, in the plus column, she spoke with convincing enthusiam. An apology for delay in acknowledging Obama was never going to happen, although I yearned for it.
Pheww. It's done. Now, does anyone else want to pony up for some travel tickets for HRC and WJC to an exotic locale, far away, to keep them off the campaign trail? Because this might be as reliably supportive as it gets.

Amen

Ok Kiddies...we are coming out of the woods and behold - the White House!

I categorically reject that Hillary is the "undisputed leader of American women"...
What an offensive thing to say.
In the last months, Hillary demonstrated that she would make a catastrophically bad President, She used the worst Rovian tactics of smearing and belittling, and blaming others for her shortcomings. She was dishonest as a general rule. She raised racism, and fostered division and distrust.
She was unable to present a positive message to win over voters from her opponents, and sought instead to demonize,
Your statement here presumes that American women would sign on to these tactics, as a group, as some inexplicably have done.
Hillary was tied to the worst corporate misconceptions of where the "center" of American public opinion lies. By belittling and demonizing any who opposed her, she evidently expected to win the votes of some racists and others out there who are happy to see her diminish Democratic and progressive. It was the DLC meme in action: the smear the liberals tactic that they have worked for years.
Hillary threw liberal Democratic values, and all of us, overboard in West Virginia to win the votes of a few thousand racists. That some feminists would support her doing that is a profound mystery to me.
That feminists would support her gas tax "policy", her MacCarthy-ite smears, and all of the rest of it, is hard to believe.
Hillary doesn't represent me -- not for a minute.

Good speech...

BUT: In postmodernity, no one single person is leader of any one group ("position as leader of American women"), especially since many, many women voted for Obama or (believe or not)Edwards.
Greg, Clinton/no one cannot position herself "leader" of any one group. Many, many women voted for Obama (especially Black women, thank you). I suggest reading/and maybe providing a link to Amy Sullivan's article in Time "Why didn't more women vote for Clinton??"

BUT...that's my beef with Clinton-worship and lack of perspective and lack of just a passing knowledge of post-90s "identity" politics. I don't wish to return to the 90s just so that Clinton may emerge from this election as some sort of triumphant figure.

Speaking of moving forward...

Is it possible for media (online and not)to move on, give the winner the room to choose his own VP and set up shop - and leave the Clintons alone?? (maybe we can think of it as leaving Clinton alone so that she doesn't have to talk about losing again and again...).

We have an economy and war and voting rights issues (machines/"fraud" cases etc., etc) to worry about.

In fact, maybe Election Central can think about postings about the things we will have to think about to make sure that all votes ARE counted this time (not in the Clintonian sense, but in the Ohio and small towns in Mississippi sense)??

I'm suggesting moving the discusion about
elections from a candidate-centered one (so that we aren't picking apart the Obamas everyday) crumble) to a discussion about process.

Process is what will matter in November when all those newly-registered and energized folk show up to actually vote (remember Ohio???).

So: Which states are changing out machines?? Which states are having "election fraud" fights in their legislatures??? To what effect????

Just saying...

Last comment about Clinton and Obama: I would suggest that if she wants to campaign for Obama for Appalachia (sp?), then she should do it alone or with state(s) officials. Why? The VP talk (which media in spite of Obama's camp saying in a million ways that will never happen)will just heat up again. So the media focus will be about body language and other bs, and not about the real poverty in that part of the country.

"graceful and eloquent" - Greg Sargent

I didn't see it that way. I saw it more as "they want concession, here ya go". At one point she ended every little section with "Barack Obama" and it seemed fake. It may just be her style of speaking. Everything she does seems fraudulent.

I can't really give her credit for finally doing this since she was forced to do it by her own supporters. I'm going to be waiting until she really puts in some quality time uniting the party and campaigning for Obama before I give her any kind of credit. She can't go from embodying and embracing Republican attacks on Obama to all is forgiven that quickly.
This was an OK beginning.

I wasn't sure how it would go today, but I'm pleased.

She had to talk some about her campaign, her supporters, her issues, her achievements. This was a farewell and thank you to her supporters in addition to being a concession and endorsement, after all. Plus, many aspects of her role in this election should be applauded and valued. Everything she said today about the importance of her candidacy was true. It is and should be, to some extent, about her.

And her decision to keep hammering on the need to support Obama was needed to help desensitize her supporters to the notion. (Remember when Edwards endorsed Obama. There were boos for Hillary there, but since then Obama has brought his supporters along by repeating and endorsing the praise. Now pro-Hillary comments always get cheers and the boos are saved for McCain and Bush.)

I also think it was the right choice not to go after McCain directly in this particular speech (though I trust she will in the future), since this was still an appearance (albeit her final one) as a candidate herself, rather than clearly as an Obama surrogate and Democratic senator. The message of that could have been ambiguous, because it might have seemed in this setting like she was addressing McCain in the spirit of a GE candidate.

This speech won't (and had no chance of) fixing everything. But it was a great start and the best effort possible, I think, in this particular speech. Her endorsement was unequivocal and as an Obama supporter and Democrat I appreciate that.

The line I take away from the whole speech is:

"as we join forces with the Obama campaign."

This meaning of this line should be taken literally. I have a feeling that the discussion at Feinstein's house had a lot to do with merging the Obama and Clinton campaigns under Obama's umbrella. As a corollary, Obama would of course pick up the going-forward expenses including salaries of those on her staff who choose to stay on. (Mark Penn has to go of course.)

Also, as part of the agreement I would have to believe that Obama has agreed to help her retire her ($30 million!) debt by holding fundraisers.

So, I think the Feinstein meeting was a lot more than small talk and involved some substantial agreements which were worked out even before the meeting.

I would also maintain that the topic of VP never came up.

Don't ask me how I managed to bug Feinstein's living room. :-)

I thought the speech was pretty good - however...am I the only one that noticed the grimace on her face when she first started talking about Obama?

I seriously thought she was going to hurl, or worse, just bag the speech and walk away. I kept yelling at the tv "Try to smile...just a little..."

She looked like she was smelling something dead, she got better as the speech wore on, but it was painful to watch.

I kept thinking, "You did this to yourself, if you'd conceded on Tuesday this would not be necessary."

The Clinton's are exhausting...wonder if Chelsea will ever get married?

I think she gave an excellent speech where it mattered the most, officially announcing the suspension of her campaign and clearly stating her support for Barack Obama - "I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.", "We must help elect Barack Obama our President", "I will be launched into space." (Did I hear that last one right??;)

Like others, I was stuck by no mention of John McCain. Hillary Clinton is in the best position to get through to her supporters who threaten to vote for him. Generally, helping to win over potential John McCain voters (her supporters or not) is the perfect role for her in this campaign. I hope that's what we'll see her doing from now through November.

All things considered, I feel Hillary Clinton's speech was an extremely important first step in healing the Democratic Party. It's time now for both sides to let go of their animosity for each other and fight the real battle. There's a crazy old warmonger who wants the White House. Not only can we stop him, we can put in office Barack Obama, the best hope for justice and progress that our country has seen in a long, long time.

I think it is fine that she did not mention McCain. A lot of her followers who are threatening to vote for McCain still have to calm down, and publicly calling them out today was not the way to do it. It would have been a distraction and a side issue. As it was her speech ran 26 minutes.

The way to defuse the McCain Mutiny is by deeds not lecturing. Going forward, Hillary has to show that she means it when she endorsed Obama. If she does that, they will start moving back.

By McCain too publicly wooing Clinton supporters, he is also showing tremendous weakness. What kind of strength is he showing when he admits he can't win with his own Republican base? It simply says he is running scared.

My basic reaction (now that I've blogged my personal distaste for it elsewhere), is that this speech, the "time" she needed to be ready to give it, and the pomp and circumstance of the venue, embody exactly the reason so many of us do not support her, and the reason so many others do. And what is we who truly do take issue with much of what was said this week need to remember is that this isnot about us or Barack Obama. It is about Hillary Clinton's supporters and what they need to be brought back inside the tent. It really is a situation where we have to trust her judgement of what is necessary in that endeavor, and her sincerity in doing it. To my ear, 75% percent of that speech was a call to continued struggle on the "front lines" of gender, and I don't see how that doesn't counterbalances and dominate her sufficient but conceptually limited endorsement of Obama. But if we are choosing to trust her motivations, and what other real choice do we have, then we have to conclude that such continued battle cries--what else do we expect from a feminist icon? (if she is one--subject for another time)--in her judgement are what is necessary to bring her supporters around.

I won't say I am not suspicious. But now that it is over, we have no choice but to move forward and build trust.

As an Obama supporter I can say this with total honesty:

I can sure appreciate having Hillary as an ally after having her as a foe.

She is one tough competitor.

And quite honestly, if it wasn't for Bill...
I'd probably want her as veep.

I also liked the family comment. We forgive family, and I forgive her--especially when I saw that she had put a signup for Obama's campaign on her website. I was so moved I donated to her campaign debt. This could have turned out so much worse--ending up at the convention. We cannot let McCain win in November. Let's begin that fight!

I actually liked the sober presentation for Obama. It hinged on the "stronger America" line, and the soberness fit.

It worked for me two ways.

First, I saw someone hard enough and strong enough to be president. A woman ready. A Democrat ready. No room for anyone from the right to claim otherwise. Imagine all the attempts to call us soft, and that voice, that face, and those words as the answer.

Second, I saw a drop-dead, rock-hard argument to anyone who voted for Clinton and is muttering about voting for McCain. The way to move forward and make the country stronger is with Obama. There's no room for symbolic protest nonsense on the November ballot.

Both are good things she did, and she did them very well by not smiling, by hammering it home so no one could escape the force of her position.

I'm glad. It's time to move on from this muck puddle. And I'm glad Clinton isn't evil like I was starting to think. ^^

last post was supposed to be a reply. Reply is fucked up.

This was the best speech she ever gave. Her speech was important, thoughtful, gracious and unifying. Many people are missing the fact that what she said was the bottom line truth. This is too important an election to give the Republicans another four years to ruing this country.

I went from not wanting her on the ticket to hoping Obama picks her.

My first post.

I've been waiting for one other person to state what I see as obvious. I've been all over the web reading stories and blogs and their attached comments for two weeks now looking for one other person to say it.

At last, DaddyD fulfills my quest:

I'm with David. Let it go already.

Mitchum, dude, I've felt the same way at times, so please know that I sympathize with you. But, politics isn't personal. And there's no need to lump all of Clinton's supporters into the same category as her most freakish goons. (Obama has his own asshole supporters too, y'know.)

May I suggest we follow Obama's lead: being gracious, and focusing on the important goals, not the petty fights.
Posted by DaddyD
June 7, 2008 2:06 PM

A great leader needs great followers.

Anybody who says they support Obama and at the same time spews the same kind of uncivil crap we've heard from dubya loyalists for 7+ years Just
Doesn't Get It.

The first step in repairing the damage done by those incompetent Oil Men currently occupying the White House is to pull our own selves up out of the gutter they've pulled us into.

I could say a lot of nasty things about Hillary and Bill but whose purpose would that serve? Not Obama's and not mine, that's for sure.

I'll just say 'nice speech, looking forward to more of the same and better'.

And I'll feel better about myself for having done just that and no more.

I'll save my rants for the GOP and its legacy of greed and corruption.

I don't see Hillary and the Eupreme court.Right aftwer the Nov elections she facing the largest case of election fraud,check out

www.paulvclinton.com NO way,she corrupt!

I thought the speech was certainly superior to any thing that I expected. I completely agree with those who say it's time to move on:
To the Obama supporters: Let's not take this election for granted. Save you aggression and energy for the general election. By continuously singling out Bill and Hillary, you only come across as whiny and frankly wimps. Every one knows that it is easier to vent and be aggressive towards some one who is on your side,and bicker amongst yourselves, even in your own family, than towards a true opponent. And make no mistake, Hillary and supporters still are part of your party.
To the Hillary supporters: Most ironic in my opinion are those who keep calling Obama supporters " a cult" or "Kool-aid drinkers". But the same people would follow Hillary even after SHE HERSELF has conceded and has asked them to support Obama! You HAVE to wake up! Honestly, you country and the world, is headed towards a very shitty place! I know it has worked out in the past.... but this time somehow feels different.
YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP

Really good post.

The Great and Growing Divide
Many of us watched today as Hillary Clinton said something that physically hurt to hear. She asked us to support Barack Obama. Loyal Democrat that she is, and true to her word, Hillary did the unimaginable. She asked the rest of us to support someone that many of us actually loathe. And that is putting it mildly.
But Hillary did something else today that is already having ramifications throughout the country. Hillary supporters are taking sides. And there are basically two camps. One camp that is sticking with the party and one camp that isn’t
Reforming the party from within is wishful thinking. The only way a party reforms is by humiliating defeat, running off the rails, or egregious abuse in the opposition party.
If BO is elected, they will be in charge of the party…in fact are in charge of the party as we speak. Try to go talk to them about reform. Go talk to them about counting every vote…about changing the caucus system to transparent primaries. Tell them how you feel about it. I think we all know what the attitude will be.
For me…my only recourse is to withhold my support from the current party leadership and the BO party leadership. It’s a drop in the bucket but I don’t feel like I will be complicit in Republican style tactics…even if they worked.
Ronmaven echoed the sentiment and clarified it:
The defeat of Obama would be the best kick in the pants for the DNC we could possibly deliver. You want to CHANGE the party? Vote for McCain. You want the party to only get worse? Vote for O.
To some, NOT supporting Obama is the moral thing to do. Ccwarrior perhaps says it best:
easy decision for me I will sellout the party that SOLD me out. and I can live with that. I would never dis-respect my daughters, and vote for Obama after the treatment they witnessed from him doing this election …NEVER
But I have saved the best for last. Before I put it out there I want to make one thing very clear. I have nothing but the deepest respect for linfar. She has been a staunch Hillary supporter and she is such an excellent writer. I just happen to totally disagree with her about Obama and unfortunately may have to write things in the future that criticize her positions. It isn’t something I look forward to.
But having said that I think that unfortunately linfar grabbed a mug full of the Cult-Aide today because low and behold, she quotes from none other than the Prince of Darkness himself (Jonathan Singer) to make her point.
from mydd
Singer: Can you speak to the online supporters, the people online who are so strong for Hillary, who don’t want to see her leave, as a strong Hillary supporter yourself?
Sen. Chuck Schumer: As a strong Hillary support I say, look, I was for Hillary all the way. I was sort of the first Senator to endorse her and I guess I’ll be the last off the bandwagon, which I guess will be tomorrow. But, having said that, I would say to all of the people online, there’s too much at stake to sit this out, to be angry, to be bitter. There is too much at stake. A Supreme Court with more Alitos and Roberts. A continuation of the war in Iraq.
A failure to have a healthcare policy that helps people. A failure to have an energy policy that frees us from foreign oil. All these are such huge things that we have to do what Hillary said there, which
is overcome, not look back, even though there are lot’s of disappointments, but look forward.
I expected these bugaboos coming from Schumer. But a little reality never hurt anyone. Except Cultists I’m told. We hear the same nonsense you would expect from otherwise seemingly reasonable people. The trouble is that they think they will be able to bamboozle and scare us with their line of bullshit.
Everything Schumer mentions is something that the Congress controls, not the President. Supreme Court… confirmed by the Senate. Iraq War funding…. controlled by Congress. Health Care policy…. written by Congress. Energy policy… written by Congress.
SO WAKE UP! And stop letting these people get away with lying to you.
The reason Bush has got away with so much and has done as much damage as he has these past 7 years is because of a weak, feckless and complicit Congress. A Congress that has allowed him to do everything he has done. Because a strong Congress acting in the best interests of the American people would never have allowed Bush to do many of the things they are so fond of complaining about.
Where were the Articles of Impeachment? The Speaker of the House said that they would never be introduced.
Why has the Congress continued to fund the war? The Senate Majority leader doesn’t know how to throw a knock out punch.
Why are Americans still being spied upon? WHY?!?
In fact, the Supreme Court that Schumer and others are warning us about has done more to stop Bush than all of the Democrats in Congress combined. So enough of these silly myths. I half expect Obama to come out next and state: “You are either for us or against us.” Wanna guess what my answer will be?
These spats. This falling apart is expected. And it will likely become more vicious and personal as the days wear on. I fully understand those that are toeing the party line. I used to be one of them. Until this year. Until the Democratic party proved to me that it didn’t really stand for anything any more.

If any of you have Clinton's speech on Tuesday and the one from today on DVR or TiVo or whatever it's called in your neighborhood, run them one after another ........ with the sound off.

There is, to me at least, a marked difference -- and the person I saw today is someone I find interesting and far deeper. One of the more intriguing things to come out of this campaign may be the changes that it has brought about in HRC. I keep telling my kids, "if you're hurting, then you're probably growing" and I think tgat both she and Obama have done a lot of both - hurting and growing - over the last few months. My best wishes for her:
1) that it becomes more difficult and perhaps impossible to speak of "Billary," that we start seeing them at two separate and perhaps quite different individuals, and
2) that she finds a role - ideally in an Obama administration - that is all hers and that fits her far better than (my opinion) the presidency would have done.

Anyway, whatever you think of my observations, try your own comparison. I found it quite fascinating.

this post is just as relevant as anything you folks posts here. since when did TPM become OBAMA talking points. get over yourselves as i read your garbage here as well and i don't complain.

Greg:

I have read your update, and I do appreciate it, expecially your emphasis that CLINTON is (I would say) "politically" positioning herself as a "leading women politician." (or something like that).

I will say again, however, that any discussion/postings about "woman," "women," and the Clinton candidacy/campaign must not use the word in an unqualified way. The women in that room were overwhelmingly white (as reported by the NYTimes).

The Clintonian throwback political use of "woman," "feminism," "leadership," simply (1)disappears (as a verb)too many, many women who have poured their/our hearts and souls into this primary season; and (2)disappears at least FOUR decades (let's not even go back to the suffragist/abolitionist writings of AA women) of forward-moving writing/thinking/activism/feminist writings by "women of color" that expanded the category of "women" to include more women than who were in that room yesterday.

Why is it important to be clear about the use of "woman" as a political tool/concept? If not careful, then the media (including TPM) become a partner in what I would argue is a manufactured women's "movement" emerging from the primary season that will become yet another "problem" for Obama.

Back to Federer who is breaking my heart right now (as in getting his behind kicked!).