The Primary

As groundbreaking as this past democratic primary season was it also was very upsetting to see some of the race and gender issues it raised. It also exposed the insane and unfair way that delegates are awarded. I do not agree with republicans on many issues but they got one thing right, winner take all. Coming from the party that had and so many gripes about how Al Gore lost in 2000 and calls to eliminate the electoral college and go by popular vote this election proved they need to follow their own advice. It started on a winter night in Iowa with and unexpected upset win for Barack Obama that ignited a media frenzy around the freshman Senator. Then a week later with talking heads already calling the Clinton campaign dead she scored a win in New Hampshire that I still do not consider an upset. She then won Nevada and somehow Obama won more delegates. This scene would play out even more in the coming weeks and most of all in Texas.

Barack Obama then went on his well documented winning streak through small red states that have always voted Republican in November. That gave Obama staffers and supporters the argument that maybe he can turn some of them blue. Clinton retained big blue strong holds like California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. In the middle of all this was Michigan and Florida. They had their delegates stripped for moving up the primary dates. Of course the DNC did not count on needing them. Hillary won Florida with Obama on the ballet and Michigan without him on it. Had he been on it the demographic very much favored Clinton in Michigan.

Then came what was called super Tuesday part two, Ohio and Texas. This was to be where Obama was to put the nail in her coffin and finish his upset that by now had taken the collective media’s breath away. She scored a pretty decisive win in Ohio and even held him off in Texas. Then came the news that she had only gained a net 15- 25 delegates with these two huge wins. How can that be I might never understand. She did however live on to Pennsylvania where she again connected better with voters and won by another decent margin. Still, no big gain in delegates. It can be said that Obama’s biggest win was his first in Iowa. It gave his campaign it’s first sense of credibility and disorganized Clinton’s top advisers. It is also fairly certain that had Michigan and Florida had valid elections that she would be the nominee.

It was to late for the super delegates to swing her way no matter how much they may have wanted to. For that would have upset to many African Americans and young voters the party feared. There should have been extreme pressure put fourth by super delegates that if he was going to get the nomination without winning these huge swing states and in the end losing the popular vote that he would have to put her on the ticket. To just assume these states would fall in line with a man they did not choose to nominate just based on anti Bush sentiment seems foolish considering the only two term Democrat since FDR was named Clinton. Barack Obama is a great asset to the party and of course has great potential. He is however just a two year Senator who four years ago gave a surprise speech at the convention where few in his party knew who he was.

In 2004 John Kerry said he would have ran earlier but knew it was not quite his time yet and others were ahead of him. At only 46 and fresh on the national scene with many fans Obama would not have to have waited long at all. He could have garnered much useful experience and built up his resume in the Senate. He could have been a great VP choice on a Clinton ticket as the heir apparent. It would gave the party a good shot to control the Whitehouse for sixteen years and with good decisions kill the GOP for decades. As it stands now the party is fighting to get through it’s own convention with just a glimmer of unity. To come out of no where and take the nomination away from the candidate that for four years was the hope for so many people seemed much more overly ambitious than unifying. Even Hillary waited her turn while John Kerry lost in 2004. As far as the media bias goes I just think it was the big story they got caught up in. There were pockets of anti Clinton bias from people like Chris Matthews who said she was only a candidate because she was cheated on and people felt sorry for her while also saying Obama’s speeches set a tingle down his leg. The fact is the story of little know Obama bringing down the so called Clinton political machine was to juicy to pass up for them.

Then you had the race card. To call the Clinton’s racist is deplorable and some in Obama’s staff should be ashamed they stooped so low. They both have battle scars from the civil rights movement and no president ever did more for African Americans than Bill Clinton. To go from being called the first black president to being called racist for fighting hard for his wife when her challenger happened to be black was ridiculous. After that it was almost as if Hillary could no longer fight back to hard because of this perception. The Democratic leadership failed to defend her on this cause or against sexism and attacks from the right. They could not jump fast enough to stand by Obama when he was attacked. The Clintons could only watch as their allies and people whose very careers they helped make one by one started turning on them. Most shamefully New Mexico Governor and former Clinton cabinet member Bill Richardson. This was a man who could not kiss up hard enough during the early debates when she was the clear front runner. He then made is love of Obama known at a big rally when she was in trouble. Want to be VP much Bill?

When this process started I loved Barack Obama and figured I would vote for him one day but felt Hillary Rodham Clinton was more qualified at this time and her centrist politics would serve this country well in this time of left verses right. Then came the final move that ruined him in my eyes. For someone who makes big promises of working with both parties and unifying us all then in his first huge chance to do that and unify his own now broken party he refuses and selects Joe Biden. That does not validate his claims very much. It is now up to Clinton to try to unify the party when it should have been him. Of course if he loses it will be her fault and may hurt her chances in 2012. If he thinks that those small red states are going to all sudden go blue and he does not need her voters in Ohio, PA, Florida, and Michigan then to reference back to Bill Clinton, he is in fact living in a fairy tale. Just ask president Kerry how important Ohio is, oh wait that would be senator Kerry to us. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush know all to well, they both won Ohio twice.

My Candidate

Standing outside the Cleveland State University Atrium on a frigid and blustery late march afternoon waiting for the doors the Hillary Clinton rally to open, I could not help but to think what drew me there in the first place. I had always had a mild interest in politics and now I would have to be considered a junkie. I did some light door to door and phone bank work for John Kerry in the two weeks leading up to the election. I worked with Democratic operatives from across the country who had convened on my northeast Ohio town for his huge town square rally and learned the basic inner workings of a campaign.

I did this not because Kerry lit my world on fire, I was a Howard Dean supporter in the primary. It was after all the year of the anybody but Bush again movement. In the four years since, my politics have centered off from the far left that I started from. Back at the cold Cleveland Clinton gathering I stood there at the front of the line talking to people and watching the flamboyant campaign volunteer from New york try to quell the frustrations of the freezing crowd by making jokes and handing out Hillary swag. I had even managed to convince my very non political partner to tag along in the extreme weather he hates.

I was there because of the calm and down to earth leadership of this candidate. All three of these candidates are patriotic and want the best for this country. I never bought into the crazy anti Obama talk and do not believe John McCain is the Bush clone he is made out to be by the left. He may have sold out his maverick image and just maybe his soul to get the nomination of his party however. Hillary was the perfect centrist figure we needed after conservatives and liberals spent years dividing us into red and blue states. She is not flashy and seemed at home with everyday people from all walks of life. The days of guns, gays and abortion need to come to a end and she got that.

Finally inside, we took our spot five feet from the stage. The setting was great for her. A small stage with room to stand maybe four people and no podium. There were stairways leading to eight levels of offices and balconies all leading up to a skylight roof. Which I would later remember when she used the glass ceiling reference in her concession speech. We were warmed up by local and state politicos including the Governor and the late congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. The obligatory celebrity appearance even seemed more toned down. Ted Danson in an aviator jacket and his wife and close Hillary pal Mary Steenburgen in black knee high boots that my boyfriend loved, being the fashionista that he is.

When the former first lady walked out and to the roar of the crowd and quickly commanded their attention I saw a sincere connection between her and this lower to middle class audience. Being close enough to touch the Senator it was easy to see there was nothing fake or planned about her all the way down to her sensible flats. She gave a heartfelt stump speech that did not have the bells and whistles and long winded promises with very little detail that her rival used to make himself famous. I had early on been tempted by the two year freshman senator from Illinois but walked out that night knowing I had made the right choice.

A few days later she continued her tough comeback with a sizable victory in Ohio and an win in Texas that somehow still yielded more delegates to Barack Obama. Remember that Ohio victory as well as her trouncing win in Pennsylvania in November. Mr. Obama will be hard pressed to do the same against McCain. It seems the buyers remorse within the party has come to late and his fatal decision to snub her on his VP choice will cost him while she will live to fight another battle in four years.