With over 2118 delegates pledged to his candidacy Senator Barack Obama claimed victory in his party's nomination during a celebratory rally held in St. Paul Minnesota Tuesday night. Senator Obama told a crowd of wildly enthusiastic supporters that, Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said—because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another—a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.Before his remarks Obama took a moment to thank his family and offered a special note of thanks to his grandmother whom he at one time equated to the racist Reverand Jeremiah Wright during his More Perfect Union speech on March 18th when he told enraptured reporters, I can no more disown (Reverand Wright) than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
Last night Senator Obama thanked members of his immediate family as well as those working on his campaign and took a solemn moment to recognize his grandmother this time in a more favorable light when he told a briefly subdued crowd, Thank you to my grandmother, who helped raise me....who poured everything she had into me. Who helped make me the man I am today. Tonight is for her.
What a guy. First he uses grandmother as a symantic wedge to prop up against the hate-filled racist Reverand Wright then he dedicates his campaign victory night to her. (Class act)
I guess his forebearing grandmother can come out from under the bus now.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee then went on to make nice with his nemesis of the past sixteen months, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
Oh brother, can he lay it on thick.
The Senator then took a moment to indulge in a little identity politics.
That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.
Next Obama riffs on the latest in Democratic talking points by painting the nation as being helpless, cast adrift and in dire straits.
We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning—even in the face of tough odds—is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as first lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency—an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I thought what got Hillary up in the morning for the past year and a half was the thought of beating the socks off Obama in the race to the Denver convention. Now Obama is trying to package Hillary in a new role as shill-in-chief for nationalized health care. Wouldn't you just love the people who did such a fine job of rescuing the citizens of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to also be in charge of handling your health care? If the political thing doesn't work out for him I think Obama could land a really cool gig as a Real Estate Televangelist on the UHF channels late at night.
The rest of the Senator's speech went more or less like, blah, blah, blah, new course for America, blah, blah, blah, John McCain, blah, blah, blah, Bush economic policies, blah, blah blah.
During the day as celebrations in St. Paul were being finalized by Barack's campaign, hard-bitten, no-nonsense Obama supporters like Chris Matthews were positively giddy, giddy I say, over the Senator's apparent nomination victory. The only thing more apparent than Matthews' glee at the mere thought of Obama's victory were the size of his Pom-Poms.
Earlier in the campaign Chris confessed to a furrowing up his leg whenever he hears Obama speak. Yeah, sounds like a personal thing to me.
Pat Buchanan has a great rejoinder for him.
William Bennet has a more sober view of My Old Party when he writes in the National Review about an Obama win.
And thus the Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of George McGovern, albeit without McGovern’s military and political record.
The Democratic party is about to nominate a far-left candidate in the tradition of Michael Dukakis, albeit without Dukakis’s executive experience as governor.
The Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of John Kerry, albeit without Kerry’s record of years of service in the Senate.
The Democratic party is about to nominate an unvetted candidate in the tradition of Jimmy Carter, albeit without Jimmy Carter’s religious integrity as he spoke about it in 1976.
Questions about all these attributes (from foreign policy expertise to executive experience to senatorial experience to judgment about foreign leaders to the instructors he has had in his cultural values) surround Barack Obama.
And the Democratic party has chosen him.