Why Obama Doesn’t Want Clinton Democrats

~~By Grail Guardian

It’s 44 days until the General Election as I write this and after a long and hard fought primary season the Democratic Party, and the Obama campaign specifically, are still unable to get over their terminal case of CDS. I can’t help but ask “Why”? For the uninitiated, CDS stands for Clinton Derangement Syndrome, usually defined as the uncontrollable impulse to rail against all things Clinton (Hillary, Bill, Chelsea, Hillary’s supporters, and basically anything connected to centrist positions).

Team Obama not only masterminded the overthrow of the Democratic Party to form the “New Democrats” (remember the May 31, 2008 coup when all semblance of the rules were overthrown at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee), they literally declared the nomination belonged to Obama despite the fact that:

• Hillary Clinton won more of the popular vote than Obama (when the Florida and Michigan primaries are included as originally voted)
• Automatic (also called Super) Delegates are unable to actually cast a vote until the national Convention
• Obama did not actually have enough Super Delegates “locked in” to declare himself the winner when he did
• Hillary Clinton didn’t contest the illegal theft of earned delegates in Michigan, despite her legal right to do so

Clinton suspended her own campaign, as she had promised during the primaries she began to campaign for Obama, she asked her fundraisers to jump to Team Obama, and eventually Clinton herself served as the conduit to end her historic campaign by interrupting a roll call vote at the convention to ask for Obama’s nomination by acclaim. Yet still the Oborg continues to harass Clinton supporters. Team O bloggers continue to infiltrate web sites that had been pro-Clinton. Commenters continue to compare John McCain and Sarah Plain to Clinton, who they now conveniently claim as one of their own. Web sites continue to be hijacked and crashed. The Main Stream Media continues to fawn over Obama as messiah, ignore every negative story posted about him on the Internet, and call anyone disagreeing with their views a racist. And Middle Class voters continue to be insulted, marginalized, and discounted.

So at this late juncture, one must ask why it is that so many of the Oborg continue to fight dirty against the moderate, centrist voters that refuse to support Obama, rather than to sensibly go after them? After all, Obama went after the right wing and evangelical voters with his votes on FISA and promises to continue funding George W. Bush’s Faith Based Initiative, so why not court the center? It only makes good political sense that once the cries of “you have no where else to go” and “you’ll fall in line eventually” were obviously falling on deaf ears that the next move would be to go after this significant voting bloc with gusto and speed. But with just over 6 weeks left, the taunting and harassment continues unabated.

So let’s look at the possibilities:

McCain LIVE at the Clinton Global Initiative, Obama by Satellite (Too Busy Cramming for the 1st Presidential Debate the NEXT DAY?)

In my most recent “The Past Week” post for September 7-13, I commented on the Clinton-Obama meeting in NYC on September 11 and how Bill promised he would be going out to work for Obama as soon as his Global Initiative meeting was over (the event is from September 23-26). (Video link and a discussion of the body language at that meeting here.)

Well, looks like Mr. Clinton has decided to get a little ahead of the game…sort of. Maybe.  Well, read this try to figure it all out…

There it was, a little squib on Time’s website  yesterday (Tuesday, September 16) that said:

Obama, McCain to Speak to Clinton Global Initiative

The two presidential candidates will participate with the likes of Queen Rania, Gordon Brown, Hamid Karzai, Al Gore, Michael Bloomberg, Lance Armstrong, Bono and more in addressing the fourth annual meeting.

Obama by satellite.

The little squib didn’t mention how McCain would be speaking, but there was a link to another page which featured the entire press release.

About midway through the long list of participants and meetings, I saw the mention of McCain and Obama’s appearances.

Both United States presidential candidates will have a role in the Annual Meeting. Senator John McCain will deliver the opening remarks live at the “Integrated Solutions: water, food and energy” plenary session. Senator Barack Obama will address meeting participants via satellite.

Here’s a rundown on the session:

PLENARY SESSION: Integrated Solutions: Water, Food & Energy

Thursday 9/25/08, 9:00 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.
Metropolitan Ballroom

During the 20th century, more people than ever benefited from clean water, plentiful food, and the mobility and comfort of an oil-based economy. World grain harvests quadrupled and world oil production grew 180-fold during the last century. However, our food, water, and oil reserves are increasingly strained as resources are depleted, natural systems become strained, and world population increases. The rising price of oil and increases in biofuel production are driving up global grain prices. New oil-extraction opportunities are heavily water- and carbon-intensive, and increasing demand for water is lowering water tables around the world. Because water, food, and energy issues are so closely related, solutions addressing one should address all three. This panel will discuss ways to use water more efficiently, expand food security, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to create a more sustainable future.

Program Participants:

Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent, NBC News
T. Boone Pickens, Founder and Chairman, BP Capital Management
Robert Zoellick, President, The World Bank Group

(Quite a group…Tom Brokaw, who is the only one at NBC who occasionally tries to act like an adult, along with Pickens and one of our “favorites,” Robert Zoellick.)

Oh, we know that Barack is terribly busy on the campaign trail these days (maybe Obama will be off trying to win over people in one of those hick towns he loathes so much) and I’m sure he would have wanted to be there.  Or maybe not, if he didn’t want to upset his minions by appearing in person with Pickens or Zoellick.  On the other hand, the meeting takes place the day before the first Presidential Debate on September 26 which will be moderated by Jim Lehrer. The focus will be on foreign policy and national security, so Obama probably will be CRAMMING on the subject of the Logan Act and practicing how to talk without a teleprompter!

But you’d think he want to meet all those foreign leaders, now, wouldn’t you?

If Obama were the only one of the two included, and appeared via satellite, I wouldn’t have been at all curious.  But the fact that McCain is taking a day off the campaign trail and appearing LIVE–the day before the first debate–well, now isn’t that interesting?

McCain is either very confident on the debate subject or Bill Clinton wants to get him good and tired before that debate the next night in Mississippi…OR

Do you think there will be a nice photo op featuring McCain and Clinton shaking hands and smiling??  I’m thinking back to just before the Democratic Convention when Bill explained the differences between Candidate A and Candidate B and then asked “who would people vote for” in a comment perceived by many as a dig at Obama.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to see what happens at the Global Initiative and to what extent the media will ignore the McCain appearance…and let’s see if Obama’s absence from the meeting pays off in any way…

***

(Hat-tip to Matthew Weaver who posted a short diary on this at No Quarter on Tuesday.)

For a full schedule of the Global Initiative meetings, see here.  A link to the attendees is on the sidebar if you are interested to see who’ll be there…)

So, Now Hillary Should “Bring a Casserole” to the Convention??? (Update 1X)

Hey, gals, on the heels of listening to the obtuse Howard Dean saying  “even women, they’re more successful in the Democratic party than they are in the white, uh, excuse me, in the [laughs] Republican party”… and hearing how Nancy P. thinks we are “ungracious, now we’re supposed to embrace the suggestion that Hillary should “bring a casserole” to the Convention??

Well, Salena Zito, a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial page columnist thinks so!!! (See below for Zito’s bio and be not amazed.) In a column picked up by RealClearPolitics, Zito explains how the Democratic Convention won’t be as “contentious” as many pundits and bloggers are saying and then she goes on to give Hillary some sage advice:

If Hillary is seen as a sore loser, her chances to be the nominee in the future will be slim to none — and she knows that. The night of her convention speech, a wise, radiant, confident Hillary should take the microphone and give her staunchest supporters the voice they want on a national stage. After highlighting their struggles, she should pivot to why Obama is the better solution than McCain, and then crown herself as Obama’s surrogate for those voters.

Despite numerous news reports and blogs second-guessing her intentions and pondering a possible overthrow of the convention in some Clinton coup, the possibility of her committing such political suicide is slim to none.

(snip)

If anything, both Clintons should leave the crowd (and people back home) panting for more.

Hillary knows that this is Obama’s moment and that she would gain nothing from bad behavior. She will take the high road, hold her feelings in check, and focus on the policy issues she cares about passionately.

From the ashes of her failed campaign — not unlike the SS Titanic setting out, with her as the unsinkable Molly Brown — she can then rise higher than ever.

OK, we already know that Hillary Clinton is NOT about political suicide.  And she’s been “radiant” for months…does the term “radiant” apply to men, by the way?  Has Obama been “radiant”??  And what is this nonsense about “bad behavior,” as if the woman who EARNED more votes than any other person in primary history needs to be reminded that she must be a good little girl?

And what is this about the Titanic??  Does Zito think that boats at the bottom of the sea rise out of ashes?  Whaaa?  Obviously, she sees the Clinton campaign as the Titanic, with Hillary having spent a lot of time getting staffers in line in a valiant effort to “save” it from sinking.* No mention, of course, that Hillary was skunked by the DNC’s elaborate fix and unrelenting media bias which enabled the Precious One.

Zito again swoons over “Obama’s moment” and suggests:

This convention is Obama’s moment — his hour to welcome America into his home, the Democratic Party — and he deserves to set the table any way he wishes.

Hillary’s job is to bring a casserole dish and to serve it with a smile.

Jeebus, what did I just read??

Ok, so what kind of casserole should she bring? Isn’t that the crucial question we should be asking now??

Should it be the ever-popular cream of mushroom soup/tuna casserole?  Perhaps the classic green bean/cream of mushroom side dish??  Something with a little leftover turkey in it, perhaps?? Should she wear a pink, frilly apron when she delivers it?  Or perhaps she should serve it in stilletos and a topless French maid’s outfit?

Shoot, Hillary doesn’t like baking cookies, and you expect her to bring a casserole???  How about bringing her brain along as an appetizer??

Ah, but Zito does recognize that Hillary might have another role: She thinks that Hillary could “go with the ‘nuclear-unity option,’  withdrawing after her name is put in nomination and having the New York delegation move to make his nomination unanimous.”

OOOH, and then Hillary could “top all of that by becoming the surrogate anti-McCain hit man.”

How about THAT?  Bring the casserole, then act “manly” and do all the dirty work for Obama, who can’t possibly STOOP to that level!  I’m surprised Zito didn’t suggest that Hillary wipe his ass for him! But where ‘ya been, Zito?? In case you haven’t noticed, he’s stuck his little toe in the mud already and has by his side his lovely wife Michelle who likes doing the hit-man job…

Hey, gals..after witnessing Obama’s finger and brush off, watching the DNC sit there while the misogyny of the media flowed, watching fearless leader Dean slighting women in his latest wanderings in NPR interview-land, and then reading Zito’s crap, I’ve come up with my OWN suggestion for Senator Clinton:

Hillary–bring the casserole, nice and hot, and dump it on Obama, Dean, and Pelosi’s heads…and let someone else clean up the mess!  Salena Zito, perhaps?

****

Salena Zito’s bio courtesy Townhall.com

Salena Zito is a political analyst, reporter and editorial page columnist. She has also reported on Pennsylvania politics for The Weekly Standard. A board member of the Center for Media & Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation, she honed her skills working on the campaigns of George H.W. Bush, Senator Rick Santorum, Bush2000, Bush-Cheney 2004 served on the senate staff of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. Miss Zito has interviewed one on one Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director General Hayden, Homeland Security Director Chertoff, Attorney General Gonzales and First Lady Laura Bush. Zito spends a third of her time on the road interviewing legislators as well as current policy makers and the contenders that are running for president in 2008.

*I wonder if Salena Zito even knows anything about Margaret Brown beyond what she’s seen in movies or on Broadway? She probably thinks Brown was just like Debbie Reynolds! Or, if she IS working with full knowledge of Brown’s life, she sure cheapens the reference by throwing in the request for the casserole…

From The Encyclopedia Titanica:

Margaret became a founding member of the Denver Woman’s Club, part of a network of clubs which advocated literacy, education, suffrage, and human rights in Colorado and throughout the United States.

***

By the time Margaret Tobin Brown boarded Titanic at Cherbourg, France, she had already made a significant impact in the world.

Margaret Tobin Brown was one of the first women in the United States to run for political office, and ran for the Senate eight years before women even had the right to vote. On July 25, 1914, with Alva Vanderbilt (Mrs O.H.P.) Belmont, she organized an international women’s rights conference at Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, which was attended by human rights activists from around the world. A lifelong advocate of human rights, Margaret was also a prominent figure following the Ludlow Massacre in Trinidad, Colorado, in April 1914, a significant landmark in the history of labor rights in the United States.

UPDATE

Read the latest from Froma Harrop “It’s No Longer About Hillary” to get started on “The New Agenda”…