Listen: Rachel Maddow – What’s Wrong with John McCain?
“…everybody acknowledges that the facts don’t matter…only matters what is said about the candidate regardless of their relationship to the truth”
“What ought to be the scandal in this campaign is the fact that John McCain is making stuff up.”
Sphere: Related Content“We are always Americans first”
Tonight my daughter asked me why I wasn’t on the moon. I tried to explain my frustration at the grandstanding that had gone on in advance of his speech, not to mention the fates colliding to make sure I couldn’t give it my full attention, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was until I saw this video.
As the daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter of a South Dakota pioneer family, seeing the image of Obama standing at Mount Rushmore at night was a profoundly moving sight. Even more moving? The expressions of absolute joy and yes, hope on the people in Minneapolis tonight. I felt as though I was robbed of the actual moment in some ways, but the images in this video reminded me of what makes me believe in this man, and in the faith of the people who came out and endorsed him today, and the state of Montana, who was the last to vote and gave him a wider victory.
I realized that I didn’t want to think about who would be his vice president, or how he would deal with McCain’s snark, or whether his supporters or her supporters would continue to be divisive.
What I wanted for this night, was to enjoy the moment, the snippet of history, the memory of the scent of possibility. To experience the impact of history being made, not just by Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, but by this entire country, where millions and millions of people went to the polls, made phone calls, donated what they could, wrote friends, wrote blogs, built communities around the web, on Twitter and Friendfeed and even “Plurk”, the latest place, and started to believe in the idea that things can change. Wars can end, and yes, politics of hope can prevail over politics as usual. I wanted, for this night, to shed division and remember that in the end, we are always Americans first. It took me awhile to let that wash over me, but it finally has.
Sphere: Related ContentI went to HillaryClinton.com
I went there like I was invited to by Hillary in her speech to give feedback as she invited me to. I’ve been on her mailing list for months. I’ve gotten every fundraising email she’s sent.
I went there to offer a contribution to help retire her campaign debt if she would show some class and grant Obama one moment in the spotlight.
But the only option I had was to send a message telling her I stood with her.
So I left.
Here it is, Senator Clinton. I will donate to your campaign the day you acknowledge that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party to help you retire your campaign debt.
The VP slot? That got thrown away when you said these things:
And I am just enormously grateful, because, in the millions of question: Who will be the strongest candidate and the strongest…
Who will be ready to take back the White House and take charge as commander-in-chief and lead our country to better tomorrows?
and this:
People in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories, all had a chance to make your voices heard. And on election day after election day, you came out in record numbers to cast your ballots. Nearly 18 million of you cast your votes…
… for our campaign, carrying the popular vote with more votes than any primary candidate in history.
But this has always been your campaign. So, to the 18 million people who voted for me, and to our many other supporters out there of all ages, I want to hear from you. I hope you’ll go to my Web site at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.
So hey, here’s my offer. I’ll donate to any fundraiser that helps retire your debt. But you have to step down.
Sphere: Related ContentTonight is HISTORICAL, yet trivialized by media
Barack Obama will earn the right to be called the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party tonight. This is an historical moment. It’s HUGE. HUGE.
What are the pundits talking about right now?
They could be talking about how monumental it is that this man has overcome the barriers that he has.
They could be talking about the incredible campaign he has run.
They could be talking about the sacrificial efforts of the people in his grass-roots campaign efforts. They could even have interviewed them, followed them, learned to understand them.
They could be talking about the people in the caucus states and the primary states, the voter registration drive, the way Barack Obama never stooped as low as he could have to win this nomination.
They could talk about the history of black people in America, how we’ve come from slavery to this day.
Instead, they’re talking (and talking and talking and talking) about Hillary Clinton and whether she should be his running-mate.
This, after they practically danced on her head to call the primary over before South Dakota and Montana had finished voting, and before the superdelegates made their declarations.
This is a day to celebrate a hard-earned and well-deserved victory for Barack Obama and his legion of supporters. Save the post-mortems for tomorrow, please. Can we just celebrate a little bit tonight? Without all of the worry about Senator Clinton?
To Senator Clinton and her supporters: Stand down. Breathe. Your candidacy was also historic and it has not gone unnoticed. But for tonight, let’s celebrate the common victory of seeing our party finally break the middle-aged white man barrier for our nominee, and then let’s figure out how to get on with the process of forgiving. But for tonight, let Senator Obama and his supporters have their moment. They’ve earned that much.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Truth About Barack Obama
I wonder if we should put this on our iPhones and iPods so we can whip it out and show it to the next person who asks if Obama is a Muslim, refuses to pledge allegiance to the flag, has flag pin issues, associations with Rezko, etc.
Probably so.
Sphere: Related ContentScenes from Iowa
Crowds at Iowa Barack Obama Rally, courtesy of Synthesizers (podcasting_news on Twitter)
