Nomination thoughts

Random thoughts on the nomination process which has just ended:

1. Congratulations to Barack Obama. He earned the nomination by working hard, playing by the rules and not letting racism become an obstacle to securing the nomination.
2. Congratulations to Hillary Clinton for an impressive race, not quitting and pushing Obama to the very end. She has become to women what the Rev. Jesse Jackson was to African Americans in 1984. She demonstrated a woman can compete for the most powerful position in the world. One day a woman will become president of the United States. I am not convinced it will be Hillary.
   
3. Clinton blew it. The nomination was there for the taking and she simply blew it. She can blame sexism, her staff, the media, whomever she wants to blame but as the head of ticket she needs to take responsibility for this loss. She disrespected the other candidates and expected everyone to genuflect before her inevitable coronation as Democratic nominee.
4. We have discovered the Clinton machine is not as powerful as we all thought. I always considered the Clintons to be less than truthful and felt the extended primary time frame worked against Hillary. Manipulating the truth is the hall mark of the Clintons. The more time needed to twist the truth the more likely the plan won’t work. Hillary tried to have everyone believe she accomplished so much during her years in the White House. She claimed credit for her husbands accomplishments. The more time people had to dig into the facts, the less credible she became. The facts did not coincide with her statements and then her story seemed to change with the wind. The truth is during the Clinton presidency Democrats lost the Congress in record fashion, were beset by controversy, resulted in an impeachment and ended in pardons to some very shady characters. The balanced budget and welfare reform initiatives emerged from the Republican-controlled Congress. Clinton cooped those issues to become his own when he realized those ships could not be stopped. The strong economy and relative peace during the Clinton administration was due to the balance between the Republican Congress and the Democratic White House. To Bill’s credit, the achievements happened under HIS watch not their (Bill and Hillary’s) watch.
5. It is clear from the nomination results that while many Democratic delegates and super delegates respected the Clintons, they were not well liked. It is interesting that a number of analyst on CNN, MSNBC and Fox were saying how the appointments of Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi to their positions of DNC chair and House Majority Leader were signs the Clinton machine did not have the muscle everyone thought they did.
   
6. It upsets me Clinton supporters and some in the media appeared to believe that Obama needs to apologize to Clinton and supporters. For what? They each ran a hard campaign and she lost. She is now expected not to end her campaign but suspend it, what’s up with that? I am one of the few who does not believe he needs Hillary on his ticket.
   
7. The nomination was not stolen from Clinton, she lost fair and square.
8. Clinton damaged her reputation within the African-American community by trying to change the rules in the middle of the contest. From the very beginning Clinton knew Florida and Michigan were going to be sanctioned. When the Rules Committee made its decision only a Florida Obama supporter objected. Yet when Clinton realized she was losing and needed those votes she cried for a change in the rules to suit her purpose. She has a lot of fence mending to do. Obama does as well but as the nominee he is afforded some leeway.
   
9. Clinton can’t have it both ways. She is not the nominee therefore she must submit her supporter to Obama. Trying to muscle her way into the VP slot or the position of her choice is not smart. She deserves consideration but Obama is better off choosing some one else. She is better off returning to the Senate where she can build a credible record of achievement on her own and not one centered on her husband.

One final thought: I want to express a debt of gratitude to the men and women who fought, died and survived on the beaches of Normandy on this day in 1944. This country owes you so much for your sacrifices and accomplishments.

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