Aug 25 2008
More Popcorn!
First, there’s this:
DENVER — Barack Obama’s choice of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate heightened tensions between the Democratic candidate and supporters of former rival Hillary Clinton, giving Republican John McCain an opening to woo these voters.
While most Clinton delegates had anticipated Sen. Obama wouldn’t choose the former first lady as a running mate, his first joint appearance Saturday with Sen. Biden in Springfield, Ill., left many of them frustrated.
“There’s a lot of pain that needs to be addressed,” said Laura Boyd, a Clinton delegate in Oklahoma. Ms. Boyd said she held out hope Sen. Clinton might have been chosen.
During the long Democratic primary fight, Sen. Obama had said Sen. Clinton would be “on anyone’s short list” for vice president. But reports last week that Sen. Obama’s vice-presidential-search team hadn’t vetted the New York senator rankled many Clinton backers.
Then there’s this:
DENVER — Fewer than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s supporters in the presidential primaries say they definitely will vote for Barack Obama in November, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, evidence of a formidable challenge facing Democrats as their national convention opens here today.
In the survey, taken Thursday through Saturday, 47% of Clinton supporters say they are solidly behind Obama, and 23% say they support him but may change their minds before the election.
Thirty percent say they will vote for Republican John McCain, someone else or no one at all.
Then there’s this:
DENVER — As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is “Securing America’s Future.” The night’s speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
And this:
Enraged by reports that Sen. Clinton was not even vetted to join the Obama ticket, some of her delegates are now circulating a petition to force a floor vote on Clinton for vice president. It’s hard for these diehards to understand why Clinton, who garnered 18 million votes, was passed over for Biden, whose standing in the polls was the same as comedian Stephen Colbert’s.
Not to mention this:
At first, the atmosphere seems quite friendly for Obama. Luntz asks the Democrats in the room to raise their hands. Four people do so. Then he asks for the independents; about 15 hands go up. And then he asks for Republicans to raise their hands. There are none.
That in itself seems to show a pretty significant change. In information sheets the voters had filled out beforehand, twelve said they voted for George W. Bush in 2004, while just five voted for John Kerry. (Four either voted for other candidates or did not vote at all.) What that suggests is that people who voted for Bush just four years ago have no interest in being seen as Republicans now — surely not good news for McCain.
But the undecideds seem willing to separate their dislike of the parties, and the Republican party in particular, from the presidential candidates themselves. When Luntz goes around the room, pressing each person to give his or her best one-word description of Obama, these are some of the answers:
“Scary.”
“New.”
“Terrifying.”
“Charismatic.”
“Unknown.”
“Innovative.”
“Inexperienced.”
“Change.”
“Hopeful.”
“Smooth.”
“Unaffordable.”
“Apocalypse.”
Yes, one guy did say “apocalypse,” which suggests he might not be all that undecided. (On the other side, a couple of people say they’ve recently made up their minds to vote for Obama.) Then Luntz turns the one-word question to McCain:
“Scary.”
“Dependable.”
“Strong.”
“Patriot.”
“Veteran.”
“Bush Two.”
“Older generation.”
“Experienced.”
“Honest.”
“Older.”
“Integrity.”
“Repeat.”
And this:
Remember when Barack Obama wanted to change the manner business got conducted in Washington? If that seems a long time ago, it retreated further in the distance when Team Obama admitted yesterday that running mate Joe Biden had a son consulting MBNA, a credit company who had a lot to lose if a bankruptcy bill Obama opposed became law. Biden actively supported the bill, which made their investment in consultants look wide indeed
Oh, and this:
Barack Obama’s political mentor got accused by several witnesses of calling a black Hillary Clinton delegate an “Uncle Tom”. Emil Jones, retiring from his post as state Senate president, confronted a group of delegates over their refusal to support Obama in Denver, which sparked a heated exchange.
And the convention hasn’t even really started yet!
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