Bob Schieffer Commentary: "Hillary Clinton Gave The Speech Of Her Life Yesterday"
By Logan Murphy Saturday Jun 07, 2008 12:10pm
This morning on Face The Nation, host Bob Schieffer gave props to Hillary Clinton for her speech yesterday. While noting that there were parts of her campaign that weren't pretty, and that she ultimately came up short, there were other victories to be found in her work.
Download | play 
Download | play
"...She told her followers that she had not run to be the first woman president, but had been a woman running for president and that the next time a woman runs, it will no longer be so remarkable. As a father of two daughters and three granddaughters, I believe she's right about that. She lost this race, but she has advanced the cause of women everywhere."
There are still lingering frustrations felt by supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as we can see from the comments. And nobody can argue that there weren't some pretty significant mistakes made by her campaign, but it would be equally dishonest to not acknowledge the historic nature of her running as well, and how she has opened doors (as well as delineated some media land mines) for future campaigns by women. Clinton's call for unity and rallying behind Obama was exactly the note she needed to hit and she deserves credit for that, as Schieffer points out.
It's important to remember that John McCain and the Republicans are on the ropes in the general public's estimation and they know it. Hell, McCain is already trying to co-opt Barack Obama's campaign themes, which is a sure sign he's scared to death. Their only hope is to divide the Democratic Party and pray that we fail to unite behind our candidate in the fall. Let's not fall for their trap.
Login or Register to post comments.
One of those "Come Together, Right now, Over Me" moments.
When I think about what women have gone thru, just to get the right to vote.(suffragette's)
I think that what she did was historic.
The same can be said for Sen Obama.
This has been an extraordinary primary, lets hope we can finish it with a smile on our faces.
Together, we can do it. Divided, we fall.
Like I've said elsewhere, the mainstream "reporters" and the professional commentator/ pundit class are fulsome in their praise of Hillary Clinton NOW because she's done what they've demanded of her for the last four months. The mainstream media is always happy to commend you for doing what they say you should.
Yes indeed, the corporate media he man women haters have been eager and willing to admire her for quitting, lo these many months. In fact I recall them encouraging her to do so on a daily basis for the past five months.
Hypocrits.
Clinton did exactly what the party needed her to do and she did it with style and class. I know many people were angry that she didn't concede right away but, as an Obama supporter I can see why she did it. Passions were running high on both sides and I think she realized that people needed a few days to let the news sink in and to cool off. She also need that time in order to begin steering her supporters (as many as possible) towards Obama. Now, with her endorsement the Democratic party can shift gears and go full throttle against McCain.
Of course she gave a great speech.
While pundits and bloggers were smacking her down with hate and vitriol, no one
ever listened to a word she had to say.
Its so amazing how fellow Dems chewed this candidate up.
Not even the self-hating republicans took it anywhere near this level
when it became apparent that McBush was their guy.
I hope some of the White House teleprompters are still working after
8 years of Bush. We've got a candidate who needs them just as badly.
it would also be dishonest to not acknowledge some equally bad mistakes in the obama campaign. and aside from the obvious, such as "those people" lines, the biggest mistake he made, and continues to make, is having absolutely no plan for universal healthcare. Now, that he also has no plans to end the war in Iraq immediately means even if he comes up with a plan for universal healthcare he'll have no money to pay for it. hooray for obama, and i'll be voting for him GLADLY over McCain, but let's hold our candidate to the fire. If he is really the candidate of change, he better start showing us how exactly he's going to change things. Or, obviously, nothing will.
There is only one candidate now. We cannot allow John McCain to be president.
Nobody's safe until Hillary's completely, officially out of the presidential line of succession. Just say no to eternal Bush/Clinton corporate rule. Some of you are too young to remember when people not named Bush or Clinton got to be the President. I assure you these are not mere fairy tales - the stories are true.
McCain is co-opting Obama's campaign themes that Obama co-opted from Bill Clinton who co-opted them from everybody who ever ran for President.
Want change?
Look in the coin-return slot of the pay phone.
I haven't come to terms with the way the media villified Hillary Clinton. And they did. Just like they did Howard Dean when he ran. But this time it was sexist even by women journalists. I will listen to Obama as these months go by. Right now, I can't vote for him. Nor will I vote for McCain. Right now I'm inclined to just not vote & let the boys fight it out without this woman voter. We'll see as it goes forward.
What is this bullshit about a Clinton dynasty? Having wife follow husband is NOT a dynasty. President Clinton was very much an entirely self-made man. It's not as though he and his wife had generations of entrenched power and privilege behind them (like the Bush family).
Referring to the Clinton's as a dynasty just cheapens the concept by broadening beyond real priviledged dynasties (Bush again).
Jeon Ji-Yung @ 9:
Hillary Clinton has lost but that's no reason to stop kicking her.
Maureen Dowd is at it today in the Times.
It's tough to stop punching. After all, everything the Obama campaign had was that he wasn't Clinton.
Now - we got to face that he is Obama - not much there.
It's tough to switch, but it seems the way to go now is to start the mantra that he is not McCain.
[deleted - please keep it civil. Sitemonitor.]
FBush @ 6:
I sure hope Obama has some substance to go with his style.........guy sure gives a nice speech, but that and $4.00 will buy me a gallon of gas.
it was a great speech....
at first, i was disappointed that she didn't ridicule that absurd notion that her supporters might vote mccain.....i trust she will make that clear in the near future; she was right to leave out any mention of that despicable old con-artist in that moment of victory for her and obama....
dems should run as if mccain didn't even exist, never mention the guy, ignore his dishonest attacks, challenges, etc.... only liars, thieves and adulterers support mccain....only fools believe in him.....
Yesterday you rolled a clip where a self proclaimed conservative good ol boy from small town Tennessee gave a tongue lashing to a Republican congressman. On CSPAN of all places! CSPAN, aka the Kristol & Kagan platform. Honestly, the Democrats could run a billy goat against McCain this year and McCain would lose. Its less an issue of Dems winning than it is the Republicans ability to hide as much of their screw ups as possible come November.
JHR @ 14:
Clinton's speeches talked about freezing interest rates for those facing foreclosure.
Creating tax breaks so that the green industry would be the next big thing to lift us out of this oil mess.
Taking away tax breaks for big oil.
Obama wanted to talk about walking on sunshine.
Ugh.
the race for pres. should be between obama and clinton. both are intelligent, both have good ideas, there are differences which is good for debate. it would be an exciting race which would get people to pay attention and think. instead we get this ignorant, stupid old man who's speeches would put every insomniac to sleep, while the msm will be sucking him off every step of the way. the republicans don't deserve a candidate.
Clinton received 18M votes. Obama received 18M votes. McCain received 9.8 M votes.
And the media is silent about that. I think they are trying to paint this as an equal horse race ("the polls show McCain and Obama in a dead heat!"=Little Wolfie Blitzer)
But it isn't.
The Dems need to come together to make this a blowout election.
Faux News Headline: Could a black president help or image aboard?
Fuck her! The only reason she finally conceded was because Democratic Party chieftains were finally able to put enough pressure on her to convince her to give it up. If she had her way, we'd be getting treated to more of her race-baiting and pandering right up until the day of the Democratic Convention. Finally, people to whom she actually listens were able to sit her down and say "Look, it's over. You lost. You keep this shit up, and we're going to end up with John McCain as President. It will be your fault if that happens" The writing was on the wall for awhile now; I see no reason to give Hillary any credit for actually reading it. Oh, and by the way, she's still holding on to her delegates. I wonder why that is.
Dr. (Bitter Hussein) Matt @ 19:
Oh yeah, because the white guys have done such a great job thus far.
Sure glad to see you Clinton supporters coming together. Ugh.
JaimeFuffufnik @ 8:
And not allowing John McCain to be president should be the first and foremost objective for everyone.
The best thing Clinton fans could do for her right now is do what she asked and support Obama. That's what she asked of you so why turn your back on her request now?
In 2000, independents were blamed for Gores defeat (rightly or wrongly). In 2008, many Hillary Democrats would rather a Republican win than vote for Obama. Will they be blamed?
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 22:
Oops, typo: "Could a black president help Our image aboard?"
need more coffee
pissed off patricia @ 24:
See quote #21, #22.
Not my party.
Too burned out on 5 months of that sort of "debate".
I never looked at this primary's race as a man or woman's race.
I never felt that Hillary will bring the change the country needed now, being so much connected to so many Washington PACS.
She was not straight forward about her vote of 'authorizing the President to use force' in 2002.
She went again and voted for another authorization against Iran..
She said she will obliterate Iran .
This beside many other issues were of big concern to voters.
I never cared whether she is a man or a woman...
The media is playing this game..but that's not why Hillary lost the race..
FBush @ 28:
[deleted, knock off the personal attacks. Site Monitor] and give your vote to McGrampa, [deleted]
I don't like that Obama wasn't there.
She should have combined her concession with an Obama rally to show unity, instead of it being 95% about her.
The debates and such are over now. We can keep pissing and moaning or we can learn from the past and move on. The choice now is simple. Four more years much like the last eight or something new and hopefully more positive. Sure, if you like you can not vote at all or vote for some other candidate. The chances of some other candidate winning this time are pretty slim. If you just stay at home, then no matter who wins you can't bitch about it with any authority since you didn't participate in the vote.
So do you want to celebrate winning in November and having more hope for our future than we have now, or do you want to be part of the reason we wouldn't be able to do that?
FBush @ 17:
It's so obvious who these two McCain shills are... stick around - Obama's about to substance the republicans right out of the white house... and the congress... and the senate. We'll see who has the last laugh.
It is certainly a dynasty. Weren't Bill and Hillary the "buy one get one free" Presidential duo, according to Bill himself? I don't think that current laws go far enough. First Husbands/Ladies should be ineligible to hold the office - as should all other immediate family members. No exceptions for Kennedys, Tafts, Rockefellers, Byrds, and certainly not Clintons or Bushes.
When the patriarchs of the two "politically opposed" (or so we're to believe) families are as buddy-buddy as Bush I and Clinton are, and the presidency goes from the former head of CIA Bush, to Clinton, to Bush's son, to (hopefully only in theory now) Clinton's wife... you don't have to go to Denmark to smell something rotten. Anything, and I do mean anything, would be better than more of that bullshit. Look at what it's gotten us thus far. Nostalgic types with hard-ons for the Clinton era should look carefully at what transpired during that time - more than a little of it would have fit just fine into the Bush agenda. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (this can, to be fair, be construed as "baby steps" in the right direction - but still it's weak sauce in a "free country"). DMCA. NAFTA. The continued degradation of the FCC. Relaxations on media ownership rules.
Fuck. That. Shit. Let's not view the Clinton years with rose-colored glasses. We do ourselves a grave disservice that way. Just because it looks good in retrospect doesn't mean it was any good for progressives. We don't need any more Clintons, or Bushes. They need to stop bogarting the White House already.
Of course she gave a great speech and delivered an enthusiastic endorsement. I have no doubt that Obama would have done precisely the same thing had the situations been reversed. That's what political professionals do.
The only hope the Republicans have in the fall is to keep this Clinton-Obama rivalry going, and based on the coverage today, I think they're going to try to make that happen. With such a weak candidate as McCain, they have no other alternative. Of course, they could always start another war before the election, but that's another thread.
Dietrich @ 10:
Obama, and McCain for that matter can both promise change until the cows come .
We had a change election in 2006 and we got change,
change for the worse. A congress in control by democrats that was almost as enabeling to the Bush crime family as the republican congress that prerceded it. The performance of the democrats was shameful, pathetic, and gutless. They deserve nothing in the way of reward for their cowardice.
I don't want change, nearly as badly as I want improvment
and neither Obama or McCain give much hope, nor did HRC.
These campaigns are not nearly so much about public service
as they are about self service.
1st Republic 14th Star @ 3:
Ted Kennedy went all the way to the convention down 700 delegates. The MSM, guardians of Truth, Freedom and, above all, The American Way responded to this 'arrogant display...' with
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((crickets))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Obama still = Dukakis
Remember we still have the possibility of martial law and no election, or there is always the republican stand by of voter fraud. How McCain came to be where he is tells me we are being set up. Remember Karl Rove is still in the picture and I am sure he is putting into motion a plan that will have no regard for human life...
I, for one, am happy I wont have to hear her lying thru her teeth repeatedly on the campaign
trail... lying as easy as she breathes.
WRG @ 33:
What was Obama's energy plan again?
Vote for Cheney's....
Oh, good.
Say! You dont' mind if I do not hold by breath waiting for The Magic Man to produce some real, workable policy do ya?
Thanks, you're a very generous person.
pissed off patricia @ 32:
I'm with you POP.
There is a groundswell growing in the USA, we should ALL strive to make sure this isn't stolen away once again. We have a Man of Vision now running in the General election. This is probably our best chance to change the direction of the ship of state.
If we can't take back the USA on this try just think about how much damage will be done with another Four years of Bush Policies, because THAT is what you get by voting Republican.
Media treated Clinton bad like you know they declared that Obama had no chance what so ever and she had a lock on the nomination.
Oh and the Clintons really did a great job race baiting. Really some top tier race baiting, but let's sweep that under the rug.
But those of you saying, "it was the media" is laughable and stinks of a detachment from reality. Obama won, that is what happened. Nobody pushed her out, they just knew how to do simple addition and stated reality or facts.
Clinton makes a lot of promises that go entirely against what she has stood for. Honestly, how many corporate shills can you surround yourself with, how can you push through nafta and sign more deals like it while you are in the senate, worked on the corporate board of walmart, don't know how to use a coffee maker, and then have people think you fight for middle/lower class voters.
[Deleted. Off topic. Open thread FOIA. You've been around long enough to know that-Sitemonitor]
Jeon Ji-Yung @ 34:
Progressive Punch ratings for:
Obama 41st in the Senate
Clinton 26th in the Senate
Enjoy some OJ with your fact free breakfast why don't ya?
While Senator Clinton was dealing with her battle, and Senator Obama was dealing with all the insanity about flag pins, his middle name, his minister, and all the stuff about how much did he love America, McCain was hiding in the bushes. Now the lights will shine on him more and I think we'll see a lot of Republicans saying, hold on just a minute, is this our candidate? They may say they will vote repub, but in that voting booth, they may not do that.
nittany @ 42:
'The math' that Howard Dean was rewarded for by Obama was fascinating stuff. Too say that the Dems know how to count, in this instance, is just plain ludicrous.
A.Citizen @ 40:
How much are you trolls being paid to spread the crap that your spewing...
Joe O. @ 5:
I don't recall hearing the word concede...suspend maybe. And Clinton cannot "steer" her supporters anywhere. She is admired by them, but she does not dictate how they vote. She did what she had to do, now it is up to Clinton supporters to decide who they want to vote for....many will not be voting for obama. Those are the cold, hard facts.
True, Obama doesn't have easy solutions to all the major problems simply because there aren't any answers. That may have been Hillary's principal problem. She tended to present herself as "Ms. Fix-It" and we all know it just doesn't work that way. The problems are just too great for even a President.
The Republicans have made such a horrible mess of things in this country that the only way out may be from the bottom up, not the top down. Sure, it's a roll of the dice with Obama, but what more can we lose?
WRG @ 46:
What does the USA want?
☺Tired old politician with no original thoughts (even steals campaign slogans of change).
☻New Politician with great Ideas (who can use the English language) and who can Excite the Nation and bring Hope back to those of us who feel the country has been lost.
Take your pick.
go Obama!
A.Citizen @ 44:
Absolutely! The extremely wealthy in the US actually fared much better under Clinton while the mean income continued to fall at about the same rate as under Ronald Ray Gun. America has really had quite enough of multi millionaire corporate shills doing the bidding of the military industrial complex. After Obama is elected, we need to eliminate the corporate MSM and start using facts to live by instead of the fantasies of the idiots who signed the PNAC document. The new media needs to go get those PNAC exposed so they can become defendants.
FreedomOfInformationAct @ 52:
Ditto - GO OBAMA!
Amazing isn't it that the media decries the influence of money into politics, yet a vast majority of that money goes directly from the political campaigns into the pockets of the media to pay for TV advertisements and coverage? I've always found that ironic.
Rico @ 55:
Watch how much free advertising they give McCain now that we have a nominee.
Underground Pirate @ 53:
Obama took months to shake off the hate-inciting lil' ol' Rev. Wright.
If you think that he's going to take on PNAC— that is pretty dam funny.
Is that the stuff of which you think he's made?
Maybe you didn't happen to notice what his first stop was the day after winning the nomination?
WRG @ 47:
Listen very carefully, sir. I am not a troll, nor am I a racist. I an co-chair of a chapter of Drinking Liberally, I was at YearlyKos.
If you think folks like me are going to take your ignorance, Obama did vote for Cheney's energy bill, your arrogance and tehn vote for Senator 'SnakeOil' you are sadly mistaken. But then that's already apparent is it not.
Look, do yourself and the others here a favor. Really, everyone would appreciate it if you'd take Mark Twain's advice when he said:
FBush @ 57:
Link?
Which are the repuglie trolls and which are really Democrats? Still feeding us hatred and divisiveness, telling us we are racists and woman haters, telling us how terrible HRC is, what a terrible person. They should learn that Barry Ballless is an empty suit. But no matter, unless of course Barry is indicted or it finally begins to sink in that he associates with criminals as normal course. But in one sense, Barry has accomplished something that I never thought would happen. I won't be voting for a Democrat for president. I won't vote for McInane either.
FBush @ 57:
Indeed, on this issue there is no diff between the two candidates. Further, anyone who thinks Obama is 'something new' is delusional. He's an old story 'wrapped in the Flag and carryinging the Cross...
Ron @ 59:
You don't know? Pathetic.
jimbo @ 60:
That's moving forward. NOT!
Oh yeah, and I wanted to add "women who have actual experience".
The MSM absolutely spewed a big bukkake on Hillary, but she added a pail to the jizz bath with her self-congratulatory tall tale of Tuzla (Maybe the little girl was the sniper?). The fact that she told that HUGE LIE more than once, even after the video was circulating on YouTube, was for me the final unraveling of her campaign. Then the lame and false excuses by Bill, followed by his lashing out at reporters...man, that was ugly.
Most of the criticism was unfair, but then some of it was perfectly legitimate. Hillary's ties to corporations, to the DLC, Tuzla, and her political liability of having Bill shadowing her campaign were all fair knocks.
Something else she failed to do was co-opt Barack Obama's base early on, undercutting his appeal. Maybe it was an impossible task, but Hillary needed to find a way to get support from Blacks and Hispanics and other ethnic minorities to widen her campaign into something more than its main base among progressive women. I'm not saying that was her whole base, but obviously Obama seized more of it than Hillary could get. In the end, Obama got more legitimate votes (by rule, Michigan and Florida really didn't count).
A.Citizen @ 62:
Now you are being pathetic.
"The way in which Obama got the nomination is similar to how Bush won in 2000 against Gore. All votes were not counted and they were not counted equally."
It was a joke of an election.
After the disrespect of the Clintons, I have never been prouder to be Independent.
Blindly supporting the corrupt parties is insane.
Blindly trusting these parties after what they have done to our country is ignorant.
Ron @ 59:
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=39525
Ron @ 56:
I expect that. Most of the big Republican money will be flowing into the hands of the 527's, where there are fewer controls and they get triple the bang for the buck. It works this way. A few thousand dollars spent by a 527 on an outrageous, scandalous ad in one obscure media market gets played over and over and over again as "news" 24/7 by the MSM "reporting" about the outrageous, scandalous ad. That's how it works. Easy-peasy.
If this is the speech of Hillary's life, can we now please have her leave the stage? Please, when she goes, can she take Diane Feinstein, Geraldine Ferraro, and Harriet Christian with her? They then can go vote for the McCain/Lieberman '08 ticket.
FBush @ 69:
So you don't think he should try to establish relationships with the opposition? Regardless of the issues I have with these groups I think by speaking to them, they can be marginalized.