Trying to bring the Democratic Party back together, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will meet today in Unity, N.H., to encourage their bases to join and elect Obama as President. Now, not only does the location for this union blatantly drill the theme into voters’ heads, it serves another symbolic purpose – both candidates received exactly 107 votes there in the January primary.
Just last night, Obama wrote Clinton a check for $2,300, the maximum amount an individual can donate to a campaign, to help make up for the millions of dollars of her own money that Clinton poured into her campaign. Though his contribution doesn’t break the bank, it symbolizes the Obama campaign’s efforts to make amends with his former rival’s – while trying to recruit the Clinton supporters to his camp.
Was this gesture enough to encourage Clinton supporters to do the reciprocal action and donate $2,300 to Obama’s campaign? Now that Obama has declined using public funds for his campaign, he must bank – pun intended – on the people who have previously thrown their weight and wallets behind Clinton.
Will a symbolic “unity” event in Unity do the trick? What do the Democrats need to do to rally the base?
Hundreds came out to mourn the loss of Tim Russert, anchor of “Meet the Press” and chief of NBC’s Washington Bureau, after he died from a heart attack last Friday. The politically elite, such as President Bush, John McCain, and Barack Obama, joined media staples and throngs of fans in honoring and remembering Russert’s work.
Acclaimed as being one of the most impartial political commentators, Russert showed up to each show on which he appeared — “Meet the Press,” “The Today Show,” and a mass of other political shows on various networks — highly researched and prepared. He asked tough but fair questions of each of his guests.
Robert Novak wrote in today’s Chicago Sun Times, “Because of Russert’s preparation, appearing on ‘Meet the Press’ was like a visit to the dentist.” Yet, that never stopped serious politicians, authors, and commentators from appearing on the show week after week.
As NBC ponders how to replace Russert in his multitude of roles, the political world keeps its fingers crossed to have someone as fair and serious as Russert was when it came to his interviews, not just a talking head looking for ratings.
Though Russert gave me the cold shoulder when I tried to talk to him at the New Hampshire primaries — which I held an unfair grudge about — I join with the rest of the public in honoring his work and the developments he made for the industry. An expert in both the media and politics, he will be sorely missed.
Now that Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president and Hillary Clinton has thrown her weight behind her formal rival, we must look toward the next step. All the talk in Washington lately has been trying to predict who each candidate will chose as his running mate. Obama has come out and said that this is the most important decision he will make before taking on the presidency.
Diving into the speculations, there are many options these men can look at. Clearly, many people in the Democratic voting base would love to see Clinton on the ticket with Obama, having the politicians work together to overcome their 18-month battle and unite the Democratic party. Others say that if Obama includes Clinton on his ticket, it detracts from his message of Change, going back to the Clintonian political era in the West Wing.
A suggestion for Obama running mate that sounds intriguing is General Wesley Clark. He has a similar voting record to Clinton’s, which could appease the Clinton base. He also holds a military record that could rival John McCain’s, yet he opposes the war in Iraq. He would bring experience in national security to Obama’s ticket, where so many criticize Obama’s inexperience.
Fewer rumors have been circulating about McCain’s pick for VP, although last night I heard a humorous choice. A radio personality at an awards dinner joked that McCain had selected Ted Williams to join his ticket, because 13 years his senior, Williams would make 71-year-old McCain seem younger.
Who would you like to see on each candidate’s ticket? What would they bring to the election and administration?
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has been making the rounds in the media circuit discussing his new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, which hits book stores tomorrow. He claimed that he does not think President Bush or his administration consciously deceived the American people, but said that they engaged in propaganda regarding entering the Iraq War. He also gave the inside view of hiding Valerie Plame’s CIA outing.
Some of the more cynical political analysts believe this book is McClellan’s way of righting his name in the public eye, disassociating himself with the drowning Bush administration. Some of the optimistic ones say that he just feels the public should know what went on behind the closed doors on Pennsylvania Ave. Perhaps the truth lies in a happy medium, as McClellan attempts to clear his name and conscience while making him seem less of a Bush lackey.
What repercussions do you think this book will have on Bush and his legacy? What about with the current presidential race?
This weekend culminated a lot of the pressing issues of the presidential campaign. Barack Obama and his family resigned from their church, stating that because of the controversies surrounding Rev. Wright’s sermons, they can no longer worship in peace. He said he would prefer to worship in a place that doesn’t feel like a political circus, like Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ has become.
Additionally, the rules committee of the DNC decided that it will seat the delegates of Michigan and Florida at the Democratic National Convention in August. This comes as both an advantage and a blow to Hillary Clinton. She stated all along that she wanted all votes to be counted because it wasn’t fair to the Michigan and Florida residents that voted if the delegates could not be seated at the convention. Now that they have seats, but only count for half of a vote, the delegate math still does not look favorable for Clinton. What do you think will happen?
