To the end, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on different pages

A tale of competing quotes:

"Now the question is: Where do we go from here? And given how far we’ve come and where we need to go as a party, it’s a question I don’t take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight. ... In the coming days, I’ll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way."

-- Hillary Clinton, in New York City.

"Tonight ... after 54 hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end. ... Tonight, I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America."

-- Barack Obama, several minutes later in St. Paul, Minn.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Ed Sugden]

Their speeches summed up their campaigns and their personalities. Clinton: defiant, utterly lacking in generosity, and proud. Obama: triumphant, generous beyond any reasonable expectation, unifying, and visionary.

Obama is our nominee in the Democratic Party-- on to the White House!

[WMLA]

Hillary showed tonight exactly why she should NOT be VP or anywhere in Obama's administration and why she lost the race for the Democratic nomination that was hers to lose!

Hillary tonight showed us all, why she is a loser!

Boo, Hillary.

[ellen fields]

Barack Obama gave an incredible speech tonite. John McCain seemed to be reading his cue cards, and not very well. His smile was faked, his supporters were cued and really, it seemed as if the same person made every sign that was being held up. The crowd itself was pretty small.

Contrast that with Hillary, who gave a disappointing but heartfelt speech. She seemed sincere tonite... I believe that she cares about healthcare, but if she really cares about the country, I hope she gets behind Obama soon.

Obama's speech was beautiful. He speaks beautifully, but he also speaks honestly. And he speaks to the things that really are concerning me, the things that really matter. I love that he is committed to not using religion, for instance, as a wedge to create problems. He takes the high road, and he has my respect for that.

And he really impressed me when he called to all of us to unite as Americans. its been way too long since anyone seemed to care about that.

[Matthew]

Obama is not "our" nominee of the democratic party. I like millions of others voted for and am still supporting Hillary Clinton. Until Sen. Obama illustrates that he too has substance beyond a vague push for change, I'll be keeping my vote and pocket book on the sidelines.

[C Collins]

Mr Sugden:
I saw the opposie in the two quotes. Obama said nothing generous. He said "I can stand here and I can blah blah."

Clinton said she wants to do what is in the best interests of the party.

I heard pride from Obama, not from Clinton. I heard no defiance from Clinton.

[Wreck]

Keeping your pocketbook and vote on the sidelines is certainly your prerogative, but that is just playing into the divisions Senator Clinton has sown within the Democratic party in her self-serving, seemingly never-ending grasp for power. Just realize that if you let your bitterness from the loss of your candidate in the primary control your political senses, you will be as responsible as anyone who votes for Senator McCain should he be elected. That includes responsibility for his policies and actions. Come on, are you so bitter about the primary that you would let that happen?

[Tunde]

Obama is the nominee. Period. For those who want to vote against their own interest by voting for McCain, go ahead. I hope you all have a first born you would like to sacrifice for McCain's war. Go ahead, knock yourself out.

Obama played by the rules, raised more money than Clinton because he was able to connect with more Americans than she was, won the delegate fight by not ignoring the caucus state. Somehow we are supposed to ignore those achievements because Hillary wants to hold the party hostage. Goodluck.

[Alessandro Machi]

Of course they're on different pages, it's the media that keeps trying to create an ending, almost as if the media can't take a breath if they don't know what is going to happen next.

Barack is only the PRESUMPTIVE nominee. Until Barack Obama actually owns up to the caucus state cheating that created statistical anomalies that point to his side cheating, he won't be the official nominee in my book, and he won't be the official democratic presidential nominee until Denver anyways.

I like the guy and I think he's terrific, but cheating to win goes against the very tenets he espoused during the campaign. I'd rather see Barack as Hillary's VP for 8 years, and then Barack will probably have the necessary experience to be a great president.

I'm fighting for you Barack, if I am right, you may get 16 years in the White House rather than 8.

http://www.Hillary-Wins.com
http://www.Florida-Michigan.com
http://www.CaucusCheating.com
http://www.CaucusConfession.com

[Susan]

Obama's flattery of Clinton in his speech wasn't gracious, it was self-serving. He knows that Clinton supporters are as likely to support McCain as him. I am a Clinton supporter and although I will not support McCain, I will find it very hard to support a man who talks so easily of change but has absolutely no record of making any. Talk is cheap.

[BJ]

UNBELIEVABLE!

I still cannot get over the media bias! Hillary and Barack basically had the same tone on their speeches, the only difference being, Hillary has not conceded!

YET, the pundits on CNN had the nerve to say, Hillary's speech was all about her, but Barack's was all about America... NOW figure out WHY Hillary supporters will never get behind Barack!

Hillary spoke about the 18 million voters who stood behind her, and she insisted that WE be respected!!! How is that all about her?

To the press and media: YOU have just elected John McCain the next president of the US!

[wow...]

I watched all three speeches today in their entirety.

McCain sounded a bit forced. And it was a bit sad to see him denigrate Obama calling his candidacy superficial on the day that is historic for achieving racial equality.

Hillary just gave a speech that sounded like she was ready to nominate Obama as HER VP. Which was sad because while Obama's speech was very gracious and magnanimous, her's was more of a pep rally for her continued candidacy.

Which is sad to see. Because Obama is now THE democratic party nominee. And everything she is doing now for herself is hurting the democrats chances in the fall election.

If Clinton and her bitter fanbase actually care about the issues she stands for, then they better start giving Obama support now. Because McCain's platform is the opposite of what Hillary stood for. So not supporting Obama will betray Hillary's issues.

But then you can't reason logic against strong emotions. And Hillary is only increasing the anger factor against her own party.

[Johnny]

Hillary's got it all - the charm, beauty and mental stability of Cary Nation.

[Helen]

Now I understand why Hillary Clinton is considered a divisive and polarizing figure. After Barack Obama won 11 primaries in a row back in February, it was apparent that it was mathematically unlikely that Clinton would win a majority of the pledged delegates. When she failed to win Ohio and Pennsylvania by the needed margins and Obama won more delegates in Texas in March, it was almost mathematically impossible for her to win. Instead of withdrawing she has made every effort to delegitimize Obama's candidacy knowing that he would be the nominee. Hillary Clinton is so divisive and polarizing that she has succeeded in dividing her own party. She has convinced some of her supporters that Barack Obama is the enemy and they are so consumed with vengeance that they would rather vote against their own best interest by voting for McCain instead of Obama, the candidate that shares Clinton's political philosophy.

[John Quimby]

I'm trying hard to see where we go from here.

What I'm seeing is that some of you think Hillary was robbed and should fight on to the convention for a do-over of the primary process on the convention floor.

On the other hand, there is an emotional attraction to offering a joint ticket - which might be smart politics but it contains real problems for Obama.

As much as some may dislike the idea, Hillary has already lost the delegate count and her situation isn't likely to get better if she insists on continuing her campaign. This is clearly not what the majority of pledged delegates and super delegates want. She fought hard but finished the race behind and bankrupt.

The VP question is open - but remember that she declined that possibility tonight. There are days ahead when that could change but Hillary supporters won't like what she'll have to do to earn it.

Before she can even be considered for VP, she will have to publicly concede to Senator Obama and retire from the race. She will have to offer her unqualified support from now until the convention and she will have to refuse the calls from her supporters to contest against Obama at the convention. She will have to agree to support his campaign for president in November and recognize him as the leader of their campaign. This is not humiliation based on gender. The same would be true of any competitor who wanted to join the opposing camp.

I think Hillary can be a strong compliment to Barack, but that is entirely up to her and she's not ready to bow to him just yet.

Perhaps that is right. She won another primary that her campaign worked hard to earn so why cheapen it by waving the white flag on a victory?

Now the question is: will she take a reasonable amount of time for things to cool and then accept an honorable defeat and a change in direction? She's pretty smart. And this may be the only road left to a sure thing.

If she yields completely at the right moment, she'll probably be offered a place on the ticket. If not, things only look worse for Democrats from here.

[Mitchell in NY]

It is extremely disappointing that Clinton has chosen to continue to seek to leverage her support in some fashion instead of moving quickly to help bring the party together. In her efforts she continues to use the specious notion that there is a "popular vote." Until they are told otherwise, the caucus states are entitled to hold caucuses. They should not be penalized for doing so. But this is exactly what a popular vote does to them.

"Why is Clinton Really Objecting to the DNC's Decision"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[Al Bundy]

I'm not voting for some guy with no experience, no military service, and a propensity to run away at the first sign of a war. Not to mention, he has an obvious black agenda.

[sd in pasadena, ca]

i have lost all respect for the clintons...shameless, irresponsible, devisive, with little grace or respect.
i am enbarrast that i voted for Bill twice, defended him and strongly considered voting for Hillary. As an African American I am truely, truely dissapointed with the Clinton's and their loss of sight as to who voted for them loyally and who help them when they where down and out...from the loyal white house secretary who kept secrets, to vernon jordan who helped strategize to the black community wo offered redemption...shame on you Hillary. Shame!

[Mlindsey]

Senator Clinton,

After tonight's speech, this message is not optional. In your speech tonight, you asked for people to come to your website to give you opinions as to what you should do next. First of all, it is very disingenuous to ask for someone to offer an honest opinion when the form for giving said opinion is already setup with a preamble that states "Stand with Hillary today and send her you message of support. I'm with you Hillary, and I'm proud of everything we are fighting for...... Message(optional):" If these messages are truly being read, and listening to messages is not "optional", then my message is a follows:

1) Congratulations on a successful campaign
2) The race is over - Barack Obama is the nominee for the Democratic Party for the presidential election of 2008.
3) You did yourself, your party, and your country a great disservice by not acknowledging that Senator Obama is the nominee in your speech tonight.
4) If you are truly ready to do what is best for the party, you will acknowledge Senator Obama's historic achievement tomorrow. No one expected you to endorse Senator Obama tonight, but there was nothing to prevent you from recognizing the history that was made tonight.
5) If you are truly interested in what is best for the party you should endorse Senator Obama sometime this week.
6) If you are truly interested in what is best for the party and what is best for the country, you will stop gloating about how you can win with Hispanics, older women, and "hard working Americans, White Americans," and start working to break down racial divisions within this party and within this country instead of encouraging.

It for those issues, especially item 6, that I ceased supporting your candidacy in January 2008 and gave my support to Senator Obama. Win, loose, or draw, we are better for having a Black man be able to make it to November than to listen to our fears that this country is not ready for that type of change. You may not ready for that change, or the change to life after the first defeat for the Clinton brand since the 1980s, but I am ready and so are at least 18 million other Americans that have voted for Senator Obama that are ready for change that we can believe in.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Michael Lindsey
Democrat

[Christopher Eaton]

That sour grapes look on Hillary's face is NOT becoming. Hillary, you lost. Let's work on defeating John's Not Sane McCain now. Period.