At Politico today, Aug. 8, 2008, the Denver Post’s Sherry and Mulkern report the thoughts and feelings of several Clinton delegates as the Democratic national convention rapidly approaches. Keep in mind that in her concession speech in June, Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign; she did not end it.
Sherry and Mulkern’s post begins:
“Brenda Krause is tired of fear mongering among the Democrats.
“The 55-year-old delegate to the Democratic National Convention doesn’t think the party — or its unity — is in any way compromised by her voting for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the roll call.
“When Clinton dropped out of the running, Krause mourned that her generation likely isn’t going to see a woman claim the Oval Office.
“That day, she vowed to stick with the New York senator.
‘“I’m not going to be coerced into something I don’t believe in,’ said Krause, who lives in Colorado Springs and owns a real estate office. ‘That makes me less unified. If they let me have my voice, I’ll feel more unified.’
“So go the voices of dozens of national delegates across the country, pledged to the New York senator, who say they are flummoxed about what to do when they are asked to cast a vote in a few weeks.
“Though the majority of the Democratic Party backs Barack Obama, an undercurrent of staunch and loyal Clinton supporters say they’ll fight all the way to the national convention, which begins in Denver in 18 days, to put her name on the ballot.”
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It used to be that the national conventions were real and sometimes it would take twenty or thirty votes to elect a candidate. So what? Now, the conventions are TV baloney, and it's all supposed to be a "done deal" before the first ballot. What does that say about us? That we don't have the patience to tolerate any process at all? That we can't allow debate without bitterness? Maybe this is a transition. We are moving from "smoke filled rooms" with crooked deal-making to a true open process. Maybe. But children today, the ten-year-olds, are watching. They see the bogus convention where "the fix is in." They see, and learn from what we do, not what we say. What will they build on this foundation?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Grumpy. I can't stand the fact that everyone considers this a "done deal". And the fact that the majority of educated Democrats believe that Senator Clinton conceded the nomination makes that much easier for Howard Dean and the DNC to shove it down their throats. Senator Clinton's name needs to be on the ballot in nomination. If that does not occur, then I don't honestly know what the Democratic party stands for anymore.
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