Democratic Party

Hillary was incredible!

Here’s her introduction, narrated by Chelsea Clinton:

And her speech:

Wow!  Ted Kennedy was electrifying.  He showed up and delivered a fantastic speech despite having had surgery earlier this summer to deal with his brain tumor.  Who could have thought that Kennedy would be outdone later in the evening?

Michelle Obama gave one of the best speeches I have seen.  It was incredible.  She made the case not just for Barack Obama, but for Democratic ideals.  Ours is a party that is not content with the world as it is, but wants to strive for the world as it should be.  That is the center of Barack Obama’s message, and Michelle delivered it perfectly tonight.

It’s going to be a great week for Democrats.

Looks like Hillary is getting what she wants at the convention by having her name placed in nomination.  Although, this announcement probably officially ends any chance she had of the Vice Presidency.  I always assumed that pushing for her name to be placed in nomination was a bargaining chip to try to get VP.  Anyway, here’s the statement:

Since June, Senators Obama and Clinton have been working together to ensure a Democratic victory this November. They are both committed to winning back the White House and to to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver. To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Senator Obama’s and Senator Clinton’s names will be placed in nomination.

“I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton’s historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion,” said Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Obama’s campaign encouraged Senator Clinton’s name to be placed in nomination as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests.

“With every voice heard and the Party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama President of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again,” said Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are looking forward to a convention unified behind Barack Obama as the Party’s nominee and to victory this fall for America.

Barack Obama sent a letter to the DNC Credentials Committee requesting that the Michigan and Florida delegations be seated in full in Denver.  While I agree with Obama that they should be seated with full delegations, I think he made a mistake here.  He should have let the full delegations be seated when they had the original meeting.  He had the nomination wrapped up at that point (for all practical purposes) and should have used the opportunity to bring the party back together.

The argument from many in the Obama camp was that if they gave in, it would look like they are beholden the the Clintons; it would have made him look weak.  I don’t think it would have though.  He still would have won the nomination, and would have lessened the tensions between the two campaigns.  Furthermore, by requesting full seating at this point, Obama is essentially acknowledging that his motivation previously was simply political.  This type of thing goes against the image that Obama has built of himself, and could hurt him a bit.