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Tuesday, August 26. 2008
The Torch is Passing
The Democratic National Convention is taking place as I type. Got to see and hear Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi open the day. Well, Howard Dean opened the convention with a swift smack of the gavel. Wish he had won the nomination four years ago.
Nancy Pelosi is the power these days, as Speaker of the House. She, for the most part, controlled the votes of the Super Delegates, at least those in the House of Representatives. My guess is Obama will become president and that party’s standard bearer, but the real power will be seated in the Speaker’s chair and that will make for a formidable party come January 20, 2009.
Also wondering, how strong a role will Joe Biden play as Vice President? He hasn’t been “junior” to anyone in decades. But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Obama and Biden have to be elected first and that’s a big “if.”
The Karl Rove attack team employed by the McCain campaign has had an effect so far. The latest polls have McCain and Obama in a dead heat and people are still trying to link Obama to Usama bin Laden, when in fact, McCain has more in common with bin Laden than Obama: both like using war, death and destruction to achieve foreign policy goals.
But the first night of the Democratic National Convention was all about Senator Ted Kennedy, the elder statesman of the Democratic Party, and maybe a little about Obama too.Michelle Obama gave her speech and unlike her usual style, Michelle Obama didn’t speak extemporaneously; she stayed on message. What got most of the pundits talking was the end of her speech when the two Obama daughters came out on stage and upstaged not only Mom, but Dad as well who was on screen from Kansas City, Missouri.
It’s all about the family … and it’s tiresome to see every day, all day. Half the Commercials on TV center on business, the other half around “the family.” But politicians these days have to prove they have “family values” and are church-going Christians to get elected.
Not all of course. California Republican Pete Stark is an atheist! Three cheers for him!
Not all Americans are religionists nor do all Americans get married and have children. Not all Americans want to get married and have children. If there’s one disappointment about the Democratic Party it’s their efforts to appear more like the Republican Party. Maybe that’s what they need to do to get elected. All they really need to do is point out and make the case that voting Republican is a vote against the working class’s best interest, whether you have a family or not.The highlight of the night for many though was Massachusetts Senior Senator Teddy Kennedy, first honored by a tribute video, introduced by his niece, Caroline Kennedy. Then, as if it really had been a secret, the Old Lion took the podium. Even 1,400 miles away, watching it on TV, the speech was stirring — and reminded everyone that this wasn’t the party of just the Clintons, but of the Kennedys and has been for nearly 50 years — and — Ted Kennedy was passing the torch, as the pundits like to say, to Barack Obama.
Monday Night wasn’t the first time Ted Kennedy compared Obama to his late brother, our 35th president, John F. Kennedy. Sixteen years ago some tried passing off Bill Clinton as the “next” John Kennedy, but no one was buying it. Clearly, in Ted Kennedy’s mind, the torch is being passed to Obama’s generation, bypassing Senator Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton. Interesting dynamic and surprisingly, few pundits noticed it.
Maybe, in this sound bite, beat-you-over-the-head era, little subtleties like that are missed as the reporters and pundits alike scramble to get the loudest echo; it’s all reverberations of the same themes, like, will the Hillary voters vote for Obama? Or will they cast their votes for McCain. I’ll bet 90% of the Hillary backers will cast their vote for Obama.
The Clintons though, are still well-loved by the Democrats, myself included and the best Hillary Clinton can achieve now is to be a serious and seriously influential senior senator with the power to shape and control legislation in the U.S. Congress and that may prove to have more influence over America than being president, especially if the Democrats win 11 more senate seats.
And Bill Clinton? It’s time for him to take his seat next to Jimmy Carter and cheer on the nominee and his running mate. Hopefully, when President Clinton speaks Wednesday Night, he will stay on message that Barack Obama is the nominee and Joe Biden is his running mate. His wife made a good, history-making charge for the presidency, but now it’s time for the Clintons to step aside.No such qualms about Hillary Clinton staying on message. She wants a Democrat in the White House come January 20, 2009 and she won’t impede that, especially if it will benefit her position in the Senate. Let’s get honest, this isn’t all about altruistic and noble pursuits. Even the most humble of public servants are corrupted a little by power and I wouldn’t even suggest Hillary Clinton is one of the most humble. But I like her and hope she becomes the Majority Leader some day.
Imagine both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader are women, strong women. Now that would change the course of American politics.
Which brings up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Seems no one else has mentioned Reid. We’ve heard from Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean, but the Senate Majority Leader has been absent from the proceedings, which is odd because the next president of the United States will be a sitting senator and mostly likely will be the senator from his party.Which brings up my little conspiracy theory: Hillary Clinton was promised Reid’s position as Majority Leader so Reid has to stay relatively silent during this convention and election season. Sounds crazy, but why has the most powerful person in the Senate not been seen on the talk shows or even mentioned?
Maybe I’m too cynical. Obama did select Biden as his running mate. I should try and have a more positive attitude. That is, after all, the central theme of Obama’s message.
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