oh, snap! the shit was good tonight....the theme for the second night of the DNC was "renewing america's promise." if nothing else, it renewed my admiration for hillary clinton.
but i'm jumping ahead....
there's so much good shit to talk about tonight but i feel i must hold off on what i wish to talk about the most. i think i'll break this up into a few sections to help with the clarity.
the 19th amendment
yes, today marked the 88th anniversary of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote. in turn, the convention highlighted female senators from the democratic party. there are 16 women in the senate and 11 of those are democrats.
the following senators appeared and spoke about the following subjects:
--barbara mikulski (maryland): equal pay for equal work.
--barbara boxer (california): the environment.
--mary landrieu (louisiana): FEMA.
--blanche lincoln (arkansas): health care.
--debbie stabenow (michigan): middle class jobs.
--maria cantwell (washington): energy independence.
--claire mccaskell (missouri): fiscal responsibility.
--amy klobuchar (montana): lower taxes for the middle class, affordable college and health care.
just for your benefit (and because you need to know): women still only make 77 cents on every dollar a man makes for the exact same work.
also, lilly ledbetter, the plaintiff screwed by the supreme court over her equal pay case spoke just before the keynote address. it wasn't a great speech and she seemed a bit overwhelmed (and annoyed) by the noisy crowd, but it highlights the need (beyond reproductive rights) for more liberal judges on the bench.
great fucking lines
the evening, for the most part, was still shockingly lacking in the red meat department. i don't think the dems have to be ugly... but for vishnu's sake... let's hit back at the republicans! we need to define who we are but also what we're not.
at any rate...here are some of the highlights from tonight's speeches:
if you didn't tune in early, you missed a fiery speech from that lovable imp, dennis kucinich. he spoke just before 6pm CST and called over and over again: "wake up, america!" he fired up the small crowd present but ended with the up with people refrain of "up with health care for all! up with peace!"
hillary supporter and governor of pennsylvania, ed rendell, spoke around 6:30 and immediately hit the bush/cheney energy policy. he tied mccain to bush stating he votes with bush 90% of the time. and he had the great line: "the only thing green in john mccain's energy plan are the billions of dollars he's promising in tax cuts to the oil companies. and the only thing he'll recycle is the same, failed george bush approach to energy policy." AND...he went into specific energy plan policies.
steny hoyer went after bush's "historic failure of leadership" and said even mccain concedes we're worse off than we were four years ago. but you can't bring about change when you voted with bush 95% of the time in the past year.
howard dean repeated the common phrase heard tonight: "we need change, not more of the same, which is john mccain." he called mccain "four more years of george bush" and when talking about the republican party said: "their president is a disaster. frankly, mccain is a disaster."
kathleen sebelius, governor of kansas, said: "i'm sure you all remember that girl from kansas that said, 'there's no place like home.' well, in john mccain's version, there's not place like home. or a home. or a home. or a home."
senator bob casey of pennsylvania started a rousing chant of "not four more years. four more months." but his best line was "john mccain calls himself a maverick" but votes with bush over 90% of the time. "that's not a maverick. that's a sidekick." he also used the term "bush/mccain republicans."
the keynote address
former governor of virginia, mark warner, who is now running to be a senator from virginia...gave the keynote address this year. obviously, we couldn't expect anything close to what obama delivered four years ago. well, it wasn't close. he had some nice moments but, as david gergen put it: "it wasn't a barn burner." but he did call it an arresting speech and pointed out that it was the first time he's ever heard science and technology and the future mentioned in a speech.
i found it ho-hum. not bad... just nothing special. gene robinson called it a "non-partisan, partisan speech."
he did speak about how ideas, whether there's an R or a D next to it, are good if they're good. he also talked about how "no american need be left out or left behind" and that "you shouldn't have to leave your hometown to find a world-class job."
you know... good. just not great. tonight...there was only one great.
my girl!
oh hell, my lovelies. i think i got myself so worked up in anticipation of hillary clinton's speech tonight that i had to take half a blue pill.
it started just after 9:30 CST. a video tribute to hillary. and oh, yeah: i cried.
and then hillary took the stage at 9:42 CST and she delivered what will go down as one of the great speeches of this political season. i don't even know where to begin. the resounding applause that lasted throughout her speech? bill bursting with pride listening to her?
the masterful way she accomplished everything she needed to do and did it with dignity, empathy, wit and style?
tonight...hillary made me remember why i wanted her as president. tonight...she was presidential.
but more importantly...tonight she laid out her case for why you need to vote for barack obama.
she started her speech with why she was there "as a proud democrat... and a proud supporter of barack obama." she went on to say "whether you voted for me or barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose."
she spoke of how nobody can stand on the sidelines and that "we don't have a moment to lose or a vote to spare."
she said, "i haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches...to see another republican in the white house squander our promise as a country."
she spoke directly "to my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits. from the bottom of my heart.... thank you."
she consistently emphasized "barack obama is my candidate" and spoke of the "family of democrats" and of women's rights and gay rights. but perhaps her greatest argument was this:
I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?
and of course she talked about health care, health care, health care. she talked about obama ending the war in iraq honorably and responsibly.
and she hit john mccain: "no way. no how. no mccain."
she said with the way bush and mccain's agendas seem to parallel, it's fitting they'll both be in the twin cities next week. "these days it's hard to tell them apart."
anyway...it was just such a great fucking speech. and she ended with a brilliant, and powerful quote from harriet tubman. "when you hear the dogs barking. when you see the torches... keep going for freedom."
it was amazing....
and universal praise... even from those who don't normally praise her. keith olbermann said, "i don't know how it could have been better." rachel maddow claimed "she nailed it. she sealed it."
god...it was amazing. youtube it, my friends. she will blow you away. perfectly written. perfectly delivered. perfect message.
how can her supporters NOT vote for obama after her call to arms?
quick hits
okay...it's getting late and my blue pill is kicking in.
--in the house: michelle obama, joe biden, sheila jackson lee, jimmy carter and bill clinton.
--once again ann curry went in for the kill with governor rendell and asked only of the hillary feud (good word, sally).
--by 6:45 pm...hill's speech was already really built up by everyone from david axelrod to lisa caputo.
--chris fucking matthews asked "what is hillary's current plan for getting the white house back for the clintons?" caputo laughed and said, "oh, chris. how can you ask that question? for godssake!" when chris asked why she was laughing, he was serious, she said, "it must be a question fabricated to fill the 24 hour news cycle. her only plan is to campaign for barack obama and get him elected."
--i like lisa caputo.
--have you seen the commercials for the magazine the nation? it's just beyond bizarre and uncomfortable hearing sam waterston say "just the straight dope."
--have you noticed that even keith olbermann looks at chris matthews like he's a jackass. i get the feeling he wishes him away.
--at 7:07 they took the "commemorative panoramic" photo of the convention. it took about a minute.
--CNN broke the news that hillary will be attending obama's speech on thursday and will probably be asked on the platform with him at the end.
--james carville suggested to bill that it wouldn't be appropriate for him to attend. that hill and obama need to move the country forward.
--msnbc continues to disappoint. at least cnn shows some of the "lesser" speeches.
--from 7:30-7:50 the dems staged "america's town hall" and held a panel discussion about domestic issues. they answered emails and video questions. BORING! we're in primetime, people! we need big speeches! we need excitement! NO ONE but c-span was carrying that shit. yes...it was a nice opportunity to lay out a platform and rebuff mccain...but who cared? who was watching?
--crap! rachel maddow's "post rational" referred to clinton supporters. i only caught the end of that discussion last night. i probably wouldn't have brought it up.
--at 8pm, kathleen sebelius, a very sweet woman, i'm sure...delivered a snoozer of a speech. again...PRIMETIME and no red meat. no excitement.
--bob casey of PA is pro-life and was brought on to highlight obama's ability to reach out and respect individuals with differing views. in 1992, casey's pro-life father was "barred" from the dem convention. paul begala on cnn dispelled the lingering myth: casey refused to endorse bill clinton and wanted to give a 30 minute speech on abortion. ummm...not at the DNC.
--mark warner called thomas jefferson the "founder of our party." he may have been a dem...but it was a different democratic party: he was all about states' rights. that's a republican platform, my friend.
--i miss bill.
--i like governor brian schweitzer of montana. he has great energy and he's kinda goofy. but he got the crowd fired up and off their feet.
--cbs, abc, cnn & msnbc aired the great hillary tribute film. nbc was at commercial.
--bill could be seen mouthing the words "i love you" over and over again to hillary as she took the stage.
--hillary fucking rocked it.
final thoughts
whew...it's been a long night. but i suffer for you, my lovelies.
as i said...tomorrow night we switch to foreign policy and since mccain is building his campaign on the iraq war and his five years as a POW... i expect more attacks tomorrow night.
i mean, the wrong track numbers for the country are at historic highs! where are the attacks? the GOP will not play nice... we can't afford to play nice while they run off with the election.
tomorrow night bill speaks and so does v.p. candidate joe biden. should be another night of good speeches. they both have a special way with words.
but nothing will compare with hillary's speech tonight. she may have outdone teddy kennedy...
great ending to a mediocre night. and on that note: good night!
obama/biden 08
e.
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