Fox News: Divided They Stand
Democratic Party elders who hoped the emergence of a presidential nominee would end the bitter divisions of the primary race got a startling reality check Wednesday. One day after Barack Obama clinched the nomination, supporters loyal to Hillary Clinton kept up the fight and in some cases antagonized Obama and his campaign.
Even as more than a dozen superdelegates drifted to the Illinois senator Wednesday, Clinton backers flooded the office of one Obama supporter on Capitol Hill with threatening calls and some urged other Clinton-ites to shift their support to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Meanwhile, bloggers on Obama’s Web page and major liberal Web sites threw charges and slurs at Clinton for refusing to concede the race Tuesday night in New York City. “Hillary Showed No Class!” read one headline on Obama’s community blogs page.
The strife among supporters underscores the challenge ahead for Obama and Democratic leaders working to bridge the party divide in their quest to galvanize voters on a message of hope and change, and take back the White House. Clinton could ease some of that tension Friday, when she is expected to drop out of the race and endorse Obama.
But supporters on both sides of the Democratic fence almost immediately began drawing a line in the sand Tuesday over what likely will be the big question facing Obama over the next few months: whether he should tap Clinton to be his running mate. If there’s middle ground on the issue, it was hard to see Wednesday. Former President Jimmy Carter, now an Obama supporter, told the Guardian’s Weekend magazine that picking Clinton “would be the worst mistake that could be made.”
Meanwhile, Clinton supporter Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, wrote the Congressional Black Caucus asking its members to urge Obama to place Clinton on the ticket. Clinton supporter Lanny Davis also was circulating an online petition pushing for the joint ticket, saying such a match-up would be “unbeatable.” In an interview with FOX News he denied that Clinton was bullying her way into the No. 2. slot.
CBC spokeswoman Keiana Barrett told FOX News, though, that the caucus “is not considering any appeal and will support Senator Obama’s right to make his own selection; like all other nominees have done in the past.”
Obama named a three-person team to spearhead the vice presidential search Wednesday. And the campaign is tight-lipped about whether they’d seriously consider the overtures for Clinton to be his running mate. The campaign was also tight-lipped about Clinton’s refusal to concede after the final two primaries Tuesday night. Obama said simply that she was “understandably focused on her supporters.”
But she stunned Obama supporters and several Democratic strategists by not acknowledging his historic achievement. While Clinton extended her congratulations to Obama for running what she called an “extraordinary race” Tuesday night, her address almost took the tone of a victory speech, rather than a concession, as she talked up her supposed popular vote advantage. At one point, supporters started to cheer “Denver! Denver!” — a nod from them that she should take her fight to the August convention.
Democratic strategist Bob Beckel said whoever made the call to not recognize Obama’s delegate majority Tuesday night was “stupid,” and he said she effectively jeopardized her chances at being the No. 2 by doing so. After Obama’s victory, there was some scuttlebutt about Clinton backers breaking for McCain. Cristi Adkins, of the newly formed Clintons for McCain group, told FOX News she wants Clinton backers to throw their support behind McCain and not the presumptive Democratic nominee because they have more in common. “I can fairly comfortably give all of my passion over to McCain should Hillary Clinton be bullied out of the White House,” she said.
“I look out for my children and I fear Senator Obama. He wants change, what kind of change is that?” she said, adding that it’s going to be “very challenging” for Obama to pick up Clinton supporters.
Obama will have fence-mending to do with Clinton supporters, especially women voters. Amid all the talk about a first black president, many women are deeply disappointed, in some cases furious, that Clinton’s own historic campaign fell short and that Obama’s campaign undercut her along the way. Obama himself must heal the rift with women, said Clinton fundraiser Susie Buell of San Francisco, or a new brand of “stay-at-home moms” might sit out the election. “I know that women are very worked up right now,” she said. Obama “has never apologized for the way Hillary has been treated.”
Emotions boiled over at last weekend’s televised meeting of a Democratic Party rules committee, when some women chanted “McCain ‘08″ after the Clinton team lost its bid to win more disputed delegates from Michigan. Many party insiders believe that, over time, most Clinton supporters will decide that a reluctant vote for Obama is better than a spiteful vote for McCain. Still, polls underscore Obama’s challenge.
FOX News exit polls from the South Dakota Democratic primary — where Clinton scored her final victory of the campaign Tuesday — showed that 30 percent of voters there would be dissatisfied with Obama as their nominee. Healing the wounds will require a strong endorsement by Clinton of the man who beat her, says Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Obama’s most prominent female supporters. And the reality of the presidential stakes will sink in, too, she says. “As time passes and everyone begins focusing on the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama,” she said, “I think the medicine is going to be a little easier to swallow. But right now I think it’s really hard for these women.”
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, S.C., also said Wednesday that his office has been deluged with angry phone calls from people identifying themselves as Clinton supporters. Clyburn, who endorsed Obama Tuesday, told FOX News Radio there were racial overtones in the calls and that some of the callers used “names that I would not repeat on this show today.” He said some threatened to “sabotage this election.”
He later told FOX News that “there are a lot of immature people in this country, and those of us who are mature are going to have to work that much harder to overcome that.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Obama is the clear nominee, and that it’s time to “rally around” him. Other Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill made a strong call for party unity. Washington Rep. Adam Smith, an Obama supporter, told FOX News there was absolutely no bad blood between Obama and Clinton. “We’re rather happy this morning,” he said. “We have secured the nomination. There is no consternation whatsoever about what Senator Clinton said last night.”
Even as more than a dozen superdelegates drifted to the Illinois senator Wednesday, Clinton backers flooded the office of one Obama supporter on Capitol Hill with threatening calls and some urged other Clinton-ites to shift their support to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Meanwhile, bloggers on Obama’s Web page and major liberal Web sites threw charges and slurs at Clinton for refusing to concede the race Tuesday night in New York City. “Hillary Showed No Class!” read one headline on Obama’s community blogs page.
The strife among supporters underscores the challenge ahead for Obama and Democratic leaders working to bridge the party divide in their quest to galvanize voters on a message of hope and change, and take back the White House. Clinton could ease some of that tension Friday, when she is expected to drop out of the race and endorse Obama.
But supporters on both sides of the Democratic fence almost immediately began drawing a line in the sand Tuesday over what likely will be the big question facing Obama over the next few months: whether he should tap Clinton to be his running mate. If there’s middle ground on the issue, it was hard to see Wednesday. Former President Jimmy Carter, now an Obama supporter, told the Guardian’s Weekend magazine that picking Clinton “would be the worst mistake that could be made.”
Meanwhile, Clinton supporter Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, wrote the Congressional Black Caucus asking its members to urge Obama to place Clinton on the ticket. Clinton supporter Lanny Davis also was circulating an online petition pushing for the joint ticket, saying such a match-up would be “unbeatable.” In an interview with FOX News he denied that Clinton was bullying her way into the No. 2. slot.
CBC spokeswoman Keiana Barrett told FOX News, though, that the caucus “is not considering any appeal and will support Senator Obama’s right to make his own selection; like all other nominees have done in the past.”
Obama named a three-person team to spearhead the vice presidential search Wednesday. And the campaign is tight-lipped about whether they’d seriously consider the overtures for Clinton to be his running mate. The campaign was also tight-lipped about Clinton’s refusal to concede after the final two primaries Tuesday night. Obama said simply that she was “understandably focused on her supporters.”
But she stunned Obama supporters and several Democratic strategists by not acknowledging his historic achievement. While Clinton extended her congratulations to Obama for running what she called an “extraordinary race” Tuesday night, her address almost took the tone of a victory speech, rather than a concession, as she talked up her supposed popular vote advantage. At one point, supporters started to cheer “Denver! Denver!” — a nod from them that she should take her fight to the August convention.
Democratic strategist Bob Beckel said whoever made the call to not recognize Obama’s delegate majority Tuesday night was “stupid,” and he said she effectively jeopardized her chances at being the No. 2 by doing so. After Obama’s victory, there was some scuttlebutt about Clinton backers breaking for McCain. Cristi Adkins, of the newly formed Clintons for McCain group, told FOX News she wants Clinton backers to throw their support behind McCain and not the presumptive Democratic nominee because they have more in common. “I can fairly comfortably give all of my passion over to McCain should Hillary Clinton be bullied out of the White House,” she said.
“I look out for my children and I fear Senator Obama. He wants change, what kind of change is that?” she said, adding that it’s going to be “very challenging” for Obama to pick up Clinton supporters.
Obama will have fence-mending to do with Clinton supporters, especially women voters. Amid all the talk about a first black president, many women are deeply disappointed, in some cases furious, that Clinton’s own historic campaign fell short and that Obama’s campaign undercut her along the way. Obama himself must heal the rift with women, said Clinton fundraiser Susie Buell of San Francisco, or a new brand of “stay-at-home moms” might sit out the election. “I know that women are very worked up right now,” she said. Obama “has never apologized for the way Hillary has been treated.”
Emotions boiled over at last weekend’s televised meeting of a Democratic Party rules committee, when some women chanted “McCain ‘08″ after the Clinton team lost its bid to win more disputed delegates from Michigan. Many party insiders believe that, over time, most Clinton supporters will decide that a reluctant vote for Obama is better than a spiteful vote for McCain. Still, polls underscore Obama’s challenge.
FOX News exit polls from the South Dakota Democratic primary — where Clinton scored her final victory of the campaign Tuesday — showed that 30 percent of voters there would be dissatisfied with Obama as their nominee. Healing the wounds will require a strong endorsement by Clinton of the man who beat her, says Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Obama’s most prominent female supporters. And the reality of the presidential stakes will sink in, too, she says. “As time passes and everyone begins focusing on the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama,” she said, “I think the medicine is going to be a little easier to swallow. But right now I think it’s really hard for these women.”
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, S.C., also said Wednesday that his office has been deluged with angry phone calls from people identifying themselves as Clinton supporters. Clyburn, who endorsed Obama Tuesday, told FOX News Radio there were racial overtones in the calls and that some of the callers used “names that I would not repeat on this show today.” He said some threatened to “sabotage this election.”
He later told FOX News that “there are a lot of immature people in this country, and those of us who are mature are going to have to work that much harder to overcome that.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Obama is the clear nominee, and that it’s time to “rally around” him. Other Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill made a strong call for party unity. Washington Rep. Adam Smith, an Obama supporter, told FOX News there was absolutely no bad blood between Obama and Clinton. “We’re rather happy this morning,” he said. “We have secured the nomination. There is no consternation whatsoever about what Senator Clinton said last night.”
posted by Daily Observer at 5:49 PM
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