Hillary’s Concession…

Nearly three months after issuing a defiant semi-concession speech in New York at the end of the primary season, Hillary Clinton finally did what gracious losers should do---which is congratulate the victor and pledge support in their future battles.

From a forensics standpoint, the speech was probably the best that I have ever seen Clinton give. From her exhortation that she is a “proud supporter of Barack Obama” to the catchy “no way, no how, No McCain”, Clinton electrified a convention that some pundits continue to suggest is divided.

Clinton also clearly stated that she and Obama are “on the same team.”

In the process, she also called upon her supporters, the “sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits”, as she described, to get off of the sidelines and galvanize behind President Obama.

Clinton also cleverly, and rightfully, placed herself into the direct lineage of the Women’s Suffrage movement that started in 1849. Her remarks were fitting whern considering that yesterday marked the anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment that allowed women to vote throughout America.

I was also impressed with her nod to Harriet Tubman, an iconic woman in her own right who admonished her passengers on the Underground Railroad to “Keep going.”

Despite this fact, William Kristol of Fox News opined that her speech was a “failure” in that she did not “personally endorse Obama.” Kristol interjected that “she never said that she supports him after 8 months of campaigning with him.

This, of course, wreaks of spin for the Fox faithful anxious to split hairs following an extremely effective speech. As Chris Matthews and several other pundits pointed out, there have been other concession speeches, namely Ronald Reagan in 1976 and Ted Kennedy in 1980, where neither man heaped praise on Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, respectively. Clinton on the contrary mentioned her formal rival at least 10 times by name and said that he was “her candidate”. There is very little else that she could have said to make the point any clearer.

To her credit, Clinton also was the first major speaker at the convention to go on the offensive against McCain and Bush. Over the first two nights, the convention certainly had more of a “getting to know the Obama’s” feel than a pep rally to demonize the opposition. I do not know if that was by design, but with a number of polls suggesting that Obama’s slim lead is turning into a deficit, Im shocked at the lack of fire and brimstone on display.

Clinton drew raucous laughter and applause as she noted how appropriate it is that the
Republicans are holding their convention in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul because “lately McCain and Bush are hard to tell apart.”

This is certainly one of the Democrats key advantages in that McCain has spent most of the Bush administration criticizing him at every turn in both foreign and domestic policy, but as of late has been adroit at quoting chapter and verse of the Bush playbook.

Clinton successfully reminded Democrats of the major issues at stake including future Supreme Court vacancies, the energy crisis, the mortgage lending crisis, and the War on Terror.

Still, Clinton only touched upon broad themes without getting into specifics, a charge that has dogged Obama in particular over the past few months. Nevertheless, she certainly gets a not for avoiding the vituperative ranting about Obama from her previous speeches. In essence, I thought she did a good job of extending an olive branch, albeit long overdue.

Obama’s Thursday night speech…

Progressives and conservatives alike know that Barack Obama is truly one of the great orators of our age. While McCain and others have poked fun at what they consider to be the messianic nature of his speech content, the truth is that it is difficult to not feel excited after one of his speeches even when they lack policy analysis.

Thursday, it is time for Obama to deliver a wonkish, pedantic, narrowly tailored speech that gives America details into what he would accomplish within the first six months of his Administration. It is no longer enough to say “we will end the Iraq war responsibly.” Obama must show what his timetables are, how he reached the conclusions and what his contingency plans would be should our armed services be needed again in Iraq.

It is not enough to say that “we will solve the energy crisis." Obama must outlione how we will solve the crisis. The people must know how he will pay for the research and development for alternative fuel sources. Will he raise taxes? If yes, then upon which group and for how much?

Obama can ill afford to recite the Democratic mantra of “universal coverage” for all Americans. He needs to show how he will pay for this without levying even more taxes on the middle class and small business owners that are forking over disproportionate amounts of the same.

This may not be the attractive “we are the ones” type speech, but it is time for a change from his “we need a change” stump speech. If he fails to get specific, undecided voters may just be swayed by GOP attack ads that suggest that an Obama administration will socialize health care and jobs at middle class taxpayer’s expense. While that may seem unfair, perception often trumps reality. Obama has a primetime chance to establish reality right off of the bat.

Where are the Minority Pundits...?

I have to give BET credit for covering both conventions this year because truth be told, primetime convention coverage, while in high definition, is devoid of color this year.

While perusing ABC, CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC and Fox to hear analysis I rarely find any of the number of talented minority pundits manning the big chairs on the convention floor.

During the primaries, I became hooked on the perspicacious analysis of CNN’s Roland Martin and Jammal Simmons, so much so that I am shocked that neither is flanking Wolf Blitzer or Campbell Brown this week. Susanne Malveaux and Donna Brazille have only made occasional primetime appearances thus far. And, unless she appears while I make a refrigerator run, I have yet to hear much from Soledad O’Brien during primetime either.

On MSNBC, why isn’t Eugene Robinson and Michelle Bernard sitting next to Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann? Surely the intellectual giant Charlie Rose could place some minorities on his panel.

And while Fox has veteran Juan Williams and former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele to give occasional conservative analysis, neither is a mainstays during prime time.

I’m sure that there will be some who call this playing “a race card” but I could care less. The truth is that there is a lack of diverse perspective during primetime coverage of a convention that is filled with diverse delegates and onlookers. While lamenting the lack of black and brown pundits I was reminded of Chick D’s quote in “Don’t Believe the Hype: “In daytime radio is scared of me, because I’m mad, because I’m the enemy—they cant come on and play me in primetime, because I know the time and I’m getting mine.”

A prime example of someone “knowing the time” is former NBA great Charles Barkley, the TNT analyst who offered some blunt insight during one of the brief Susanne Malveaux sightings last night. Barkley opined that the poll numbers project a close race because of racism and the fact that some whites (i.e. Democrats/Independents) have yet to decide whether they can vote for a black man for president.

Barkley’s comments were certainly a nod to the so called “Bradley Effect”, coined in 1982 when popular former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who was considered the prohibitive favorite for governor, lost by a large margin because his projected white support did not yield white votes in the general election.

Similarly, there has been a paucity of minority issues, like Immigration, discussed this week. Many of those who are on the fence about Obama happen to be Latino voters, many of whom want to know, in detail, how he would handle Immigration.

Nevertheless, the minority press continues to ask the questions and debate the issues that may appear to be too controversial for prime time. I, for one, am hopeful that former GOP Congressman JC Watts planned 24 hour black news station takes off, because it would be great to hear and see diverse perspectives from “articulate minorities for once 

For Obama to win---Hillary Supporters must rally…

I sat with a blank expression as Ann Price-Mills, a black woman who happened to be a Hillary supporter, tearfully told a CNN audience that she doesn’t “even know if she will vote in November.” Her beef? That Obama’s “resume is too thin to lead America” and that “experience counts.”

My stream of consciousness at that moment was far too colorful for me to write on this family friendly blog, but suffice it to say that Price-Mills and other like her must look toward the future as Senator Clinton requested last night. These Clinton loyalists must first ask (to paraphrase Ron Reagan) whether they are better off today than eight years ago? If the answer is yes, then they would be well within their intellectual right to vote for McCain or stay home. If the answer is no, then the only logical conclusion is to vote Obama.

Similarly, they must ask whether extreme right wing judges, the ones who tend to side with employers in sexual discrimination/harassment cases and the ones that tend to side with restrictions on abortion, are important. If the answer is yes, then the only logical conclusion is to vote for Obama because McCain will certainly seek judges that are strict constructionists, a fancy legal term that simply means that they will not infer certain constitutional rights and protections to certain groups, including women.

Last, they must determine whether they or their families’ could afford to have a loved one hospitalized for an indeterminate period of time with no health care (which is actually an oxymoron because without health care the loved one will not see an extended stay hospital---but I digress). If the answer is yes, then of course Obama is the only logical conclusion because McCain supports the status quo, which means more profit for Big Pharmaceuticals.

As such, to quote my mother (and countless others I’m sure), Hillary’s supporters would be wise to avoid “cutting off their noses to spite their faces” in November.

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