RECENT POSTS
- Oprah, Health Care Lobbyists, Among Recent Visitors to White House
- An Obama Thanksgiving Menu, with an Extra Serving of Pie
- White House Thanksgiving Traditions: Broken and Observed
- Obama, GOP Air Differences Over Jobs, Economy In Thanksgiving Addresses
- White House State Dinner Party Crashers
- Obama to Lay Out Emissions Goals in Copenhagen
- Free Bird
- The "Good" War
- The Presidential Planner
- Under the Stars, Obama Toasts India’s Prime Minister
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
Clinton, Obama, and Unity
June 27, 2008 9:19 AM
I’m on the Obama campaign plane right now. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, just got on. They match. He’s wearing a white shirt and baby blue tie, her pantsuit is the same color.
They just sat down next to one another on the plane.
Yes, they’re aware that we’re watching and filming from the cheap seats at the back of the plane.
We’re about to fly from Washington, DC, to Unity, NH, for the big UNITY show.
Hopefully it will be more convincing than last night.
"It was like a dentist's appointment," said one attendee of the "unity" meeting between Obama and Clinton and her top fundraisers at the Mayflower Hotel last night.
Much remains to be negotiated -- will Clinton get a roll call vote at the convention, as she wants? What will be her role on the campaign? Will Bill Clinton ever say anything nice about Obama?
And just how much of Clinton’s more than $10 million in debt will Obama help retire?
Before the event, Obama finance committee chair Penny Pritzker wrote a $4,600 check to Clinton from her and her husband.
"We're helping. It's important," Pritzker said.
Obama and his wife Michelle made a similar contribution.
The notion of the winner helping the loser retire her debt is kind of an odd thing, on its face, however commonplace. Clinton continued her campaign despite Obama’s all-but-insurmountable delegate lead and despite a lack of funds, going into debt to attack his fitness to be commander-in-chief.
And now she wants him and his supporters to help pay that back.
That, in fact, was the big applause line last night. "I'm going to need Hillary by my side campaigning during his election, and I'm going to need all of you,” Obama said, telling the crowd of Clinton supporters that he had told his top moneymen and moneywomen "to get out their checkbooks and start working to make sure Sen. Clinton -- the debt that's out there needs to be taken care of."
Standing O.
"I recognize that this room shared the same passion that a roomful of my supporters would show,” Obama also said. “I do not expect that passion to be transferred. Sen. Clinton is unique, and your relationships with her are unique." But he added, "Sen. Clinton and I at our core agree deeply that this country needs to change."
Clinton for her part thanked her supporters and told them "we have to make it a priority in our lives to elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States. This was a hard-fought campaign. That's what made it so exciting and intense and why people's passions ran so high on both sides. I know my supporters have extremely strong feelings, and I know Barack's do as well. But we are a family, and we have an opportunity now to really demonstrate clearly we do know what's at stake, and we will do whatever it takes to win back this White House."
- jpt
June 27, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (171)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Len, the problem with the Good is that Hillary stands alone in the Senate now! Pelosi has made sure of that...along with the DNC and Dean! They will side with Obama because the blacks will continue to fill the coffers of the Democratic Party...money talks and bs walks! She would have more respect and a brighter political future because this country needs an honest person in the White House! This country deserves honesty and why not start now! Why not let the idiots that are ruining this country that we are mad as hell and we will throw every bum out of the Congress and White House that continues to betray us with their pork, their lies, and their misuse of the money that they take out of our paychecks every week!! Don't forget, they are OUR employees...if you were their boss wouldn't you fire them? I would...
Posted by: michafaith | Jun 27, 2008 4:14:47 PM
PT...try all the people that Obama has thrown off his bus...then try all of Obama's flip flop continuing even today!!!!
Posted by: michafaith | Jun 27, 2008 4:08:32 PM
Those who think age does not matter are just ignorant of the facts. The Presidentcy is a very demanding job and that person will need to have lots of energy to do it well. There is a GOOD reason why pilots have to retire at age 60. mc-more-war has already had too many senior-moments to handle the job well, plus he can't even use a computer. The Real straight-talker was right when he said the presidentcy is no place for an OLD man. Obama 2008!!!
Posted by: pt | Jun 27, 2008 3:48:47 PM
Bill could give three speeches and pay it off right now.
Posted by: bonnie | Jun 27, 2008 3:48:21 PM
Sorry Hillary, but there is no way on God's Green Earth that I'm voting for Obama.
Posted by: USmarine0331 | Jun 27, 2008 3:46:02 PM
To VOTER100: I'm eightyfour and my brain works like a computer. I speak and translate seven languages and I am not brain dead. I can sell people like you 100 times over and DON'T ASK ME WHAT I WAS ABLE TO DO WHEN I WAS S E V E N T Y!!! McCain is YOUNG.What has age to do do with his capabilities anyway. I have lived long enough to see primaries and elections before JFK. Obama is a DISGUSTING liar and he IS NOT FIT to be any kind of a political figure, let alone being president.
Posted by: I'm eightyfour | Jun 27, 2008 3:37:14 PM
P.U.M.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are everywhere and will NEVER vote for the fraud!!
Posted by: 40yearDem | Jun 27, 2008 3:02:05 PM
OK- I'm totally sick and tired of the shrill and jaded Hillaryites whining and braying about the sexism that did NOT sink her campaign. Let them go to McCain so they can cut off their noses to spite their uber-dramatic, grief-distorted faces. These welps need to learn that the way to fight any entrenched -ism, including racism, is to aim and fly above it, not give in to it with annoying whining. They should watch both Hillary and Obama for how this is done successfully. I guarantee you that none of these petty whiners can ever succeed in life by yapping and complaining. Good riddance - take your yapping to McSame - Obama doesn't need your devo, spoil-sport behavior in order to win.
Posted by: Pam from San Francisco | Jun 27, 2008 2:56:21 PM
carpenter.nyc, why in the world she he pay ALL of it?? For cryin' out loud. She gambled on a losing proposition - some of this is rightfully her own loss.
Posted by: Annie | Jun 27, 2008 2:52:45 PM
I'm getting really fed up with being told that as a former Hillary Clinton voter, I must automatically swing my vote to Obama now that this is out of the running. I've never been a party voter -- been independent all my life, and proudly so -- so why exactly is Obama my "only choice"? I like his positions on some things and McCain's positions on other things. Neither one is a perfect fit for what I want. And I find McCain much more genuine, believable, and sincere than Obama. Obama's behavior on campaign finance reform, FISA legislation, and gun control has convinced me that even if he can actually do the job of President (which I have always doubted), there is no guarantee he will keep any of the promises he has made to his constituents.
So what makes him superior to John McCain? We've spend almost eight years now with our government in the grip of a "charismatic" politican without a clue how to do his job, and apparently with no inclination to learn. With the help of a cooperative Republican Congress, he's made a total hash of our country. Now people want to put another "charismatic" politician without a clue in the White House again, again with a cooperative Party-dominated Congress??
A wild and uncontrolled swing to the left will not benefit America any more than neo-con extremism has done.
In any case, I'm *NOT* Hillary Clinton's mind-slave. My reasons for supporting her over Obama are long-standing and rational, and they don't go away just because she is not the nominee. Each candidate needs to prove their merit on their own to win my vote, and Obama is failing utterly in that regard.
Posted by: Annie May | Jun 27, 2008 2:35:26 PM
Obama would have won if Bill Clinton ran for the Dem nomination. So they owe him a debt, methinks...
Posted by: Rog | Jun 27, 2008 2:05:14 PM
Most of the supposed Hillary supporters posting to these boards are actually Republicans trying to stir up trouble. Don't pay any attention to them.
Posted by: Scotti | Jun 27, 2008 2:03:01 PM
He can't win without her? He's ahead in all the polls. The winner of the nomination does not have to bow down to Hillary or your personal quirks. If you don't like Obama, vote for McBush (the loser),this a free country. But losers don't call the shots here.
Posted by: Lawrence | Jun 27, 2008 1:52:59 PM
Hey Voter100, so you are saying that you would be in favor of suppressing the driving rights of those over 70 yrs old? Is this the kind of bigotry we have to look forward from the obama camp? Sexist, racist, elitist, and now suppressing the rights of older americans. To be honest, I am more scared of these 20 somethings driving around putting on makeup and talking on the cell phone more so than any elderly person. Grow up kid! I'm sure McCain has more sense than obama and hillary put together. Stop the obama camp bigotry!!!!!
Posted by: carolinanc | Jun 27, 2008 1:52:32 PM
Obama is a sanctimonious moron who continually berates single non-custodial black fathers to pander to the white populace. If he becomes president, his ignorance of the real problems in our society will be our downfall.
Posted by: ignius | Jun 27, 2008 1:48:24 PM
In case some of you have forgotten how this works: It's the person that wins decision as to who goes on HIS/HER ticket. The more you try to force Hillary on the ticket the more unlikely she will be. She will be on the ticket only if Obama wants it--in of story.
Secondly, for those of you that don't think that Obama is qualified, McCain may have been 20 years ago but face it he's too old to be the president. We don't want people his age to drive a car let alone run the powerful country in the world.
Thirdly, no one, and I mean no one can do any worse than the current Administration has. I'll just be glad when November gets here so I don't have to see Bush's face anymore.
Posted by: voter100 | Jun 27, 2008 1:43:40 PM
Reader in Georgia,
So you look like you are smarter than Hillary.
Because She is very clear that any of her supporter are going for maccain is out of question.
If she just talk this thing for her own political life even though Obama is dangerous, she is not qualified as POTUS either.
Posted by: cloud123 | Jun 27, 2008 1:40:12 PM
Many Hillary democrats simply don't think Obama is qualified. This is our biggest problem. Most of us don't like McCain, but the trouble is Obama is SO GREEN, and the problems are SO VAST, many of us simply don't think he's ready. Some of us will take our chances with him and stay in the party, others will bank on McCain, and a few will sit it out. But one thing is for certain. Phony photo ops aren't going to magically pull Hillary's voters, male or female, along. Obama has got to start talking to us, start addressing our concerns, because despite what the media says and what the Obama camp thinks, we didn't vote for Hillary because she is a woman, we voted for her because we thought she was a better choice. Obama and his campaign had better get that through their thick skulls.
Posted by: a reader in georgia | Jun 27, 2008 1:35:28 PM
obama would be wise to shed himself of some of the people he has had with him, and let sen. clinton help him.
with sen. clinton's help obama will be a good president.
Posted by: js | Jun 27, 2008 1:32:50 PM
you folks, need to stop watching cnn, msnbc,fox and any other msm outlet.
we need a dem in the white house.
if it is meant to be obama he will be,
the obama supporters, the black community, the msm have all been horrible to the clinton-what's new.
it has not and never will stop the clinton' from doing good work.
i don't need the obama people to SAY obama needs sen. clinton and bill I KNOW they do.
THEY KNOW THEY DO, (even if they don't say it)
Sen.Clinton is as smart as they get, and a lot of people quietly envy her
instead of saying "you know I am going to try and be as good at what I do as she is"
once again please, please everyone.
get you political news from cspan
leave the biased, hateful msm alone.
watching her o cspan now, just a PRO.
put a dem in the white house 08
Posted by: jgaw | Jun 27, 2008 1:28:34 PM
Post a comment


