Surrogate role suits Clinton just fine

June 26, 2008

When Hillary Clinton delivered a gracious concession speech in DC earlier this month, and threw her support to Barack Obama, Clinton’s Democratic detractors said she’d have to do more. Soon after, Clinton urged her top fundraisers “in no uncertain terms to throw their weight” behind Obama. And soon after that, Clinton announced a joint-appearance with Obama.

And today, Clinton actually took on the role of Obama surrogate.

Sen. Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance as a surrogate for Barack Obama on Thursday, in the process made a strong case to the Latino-American audience to which she spoke that the man who vanquished her in the Democratic primary was now the best choice to be elected president.

Appearing before the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials (NALEO), Clinton did not even mention Obama’s opponent, John McCain. Instead she laid out a comprehensive case for why the Illinois Democrat was best suited to advance the issues of the Latino community, in the process evoking her own campaign experience.

“I know this was a hard fought primary campaign, and I am very grateful for the passion and determination of those who supported me…but every issue you care about personally,” she continued, “every issue your constituents care about and every issue NALEO is fighting for is really at risk. We cannot afford four more years of the same. It wouldn’t be good for us. We have to chart a new course and we cannot do that without electing Senator Obama our next president.”

According to Sam Stein’s report, the crowd cheered when Obama’s name was mentioned, “suggesting that the fissures created in the primary fight may be closer to being healed.”

It helps when Clinton steps up like she did today.

I mention this in part because there was a point, not too terribly long ago, when some thought Clinton was on some kind of sabotage mission, and she would intentionally undermine Obama’s chances.

The past couple of weeks, she’s done quite a bit to demonstrate how wrong this was, and it seems like Clinton will do precisely what she said she’d do — work her heart out to help the Democratic ticket.

“I know Senator Obama,” Clinton said. “I have served with him now for four years in the Senate I campaigned with him for 16 months on the campaign trail I have stood on the stage for 22 debates, but who is counting? … In his own life he has lived the American dream and as a community organizer, state senator, and U.S. Senator he has worked to make that dream possible for others.”

She went on: “Your passionate engagement moved our nation forward and I don’t want to see that forgotten or overlooked I want to see participation by Latino voters continue to grow and more Hispanics join the ranks as elected members. I believe firmly the best way to continue this fight is to elect Barack Obama as our next president. The Latino community has felt the effects of the policies of the past eight years, president bush has set our nation backwards.”

This can’t be easy for Clinton, but she’s showing her true colors. Good for her.

Kudos to Clinton. After taking a much, much deserved break, she really has been out there supporting Obama.

Now if only a few of her more … “strident” supporters would display the same level of class and desire for unity …

  • She also showed her true colors during the primary campaign. It’s to her credit that she’s showing such enthusiasm and sincerity in supporting Obama now, but the fissures in the party wouldn’t exist in the first place without Clinton’s dishonest and inappropriate tactics during the primary. I’m glad she’s now on our side, but I don’t think I’ll ever view Hillary Clinton in quite the same way again.

  • She’s a politician. I’m sure its hard, and she must be disappointed, but if you want to survive in that game you pick yourself up, survey the landscape and move foreward. She’s a BIG name in the Democratic party. I think she made some horrible, horrible mistakes in the primary race, but she’s doing what a real pro does…and good for her. She’ll be a big player for a long time to come now, and she’ll have alot to offer.

    But the PUMAs aren’t going to be happy about this!

  • JRD *** “…but the fissures in the party wouldn’t exist in the first place without Clinton’s dishonest and inappropriate tactics during the primary. I’m glad she’s now on our side, but I don’t think I’ll ever view Hillary Clinton in quite the same way again…”

    Keep in mind there are over 18million voters who see just the opposite and this is just your opinion and not some given fact. Saying you’re glad she’s now on “our side” is referring to Obama and not the dem party whose side she has always claimed to be on…just like Obama.

    I’ve seen Clinton supporters frame Obama the same way claiming “dishonest and inappropriate tactics” but now this is all supposed to be behind us yet here you are making reference to these “fissures” which are the result of opinion rather than just getting on with getting our party leader elected. But you didn’t hear that from me…

  • I don’t see any basis for your assertion that every person who voted for Clinton in the primaries would deny that she engaged in unethical and dishonest tactics, joey. Toward the end of her campaign even some of her highest-profile supporters were criticizing her, and late polls in many states with pre-March primaries indicated that substantial numbers of Democratic voters had shifted their allegiance to Obama, suggesting that many early Clinton supporters came to regret their vote.

  • I don’t want to stir up trouble again, but this is in her best self-interest. Her image was terribly tarnished in the eyes of many during the primary, and if she’s wants to continue on the national stage, she has to turn that around. Everybody wins, except the Repubs.

  • I don’t care WHY she’s doing it, but I’m just glad she is!

    Kudos to Hillary.

    GObama!

  • I’d say that if she can be a major Senate player on a rare progressive wave (both are big ifs, I know), with her name on the first huge universal-healthcare bill, that would give her a lasting legacy that would outlast Bill’s accomplishments. After all, not that much of what he did (the readily identifiable stuff, like the surplus) lasted more than a year or so into the the GWB administration, while a Kennedy-Clinton Healthcare Access Act would be around for many years.

    And honestly, it would be a better use of her talents anyway.

  • I’m happy that, this time at least, my optimism about a politician has proven true. I’d always thought that people raging about how Clinton was planning to undermine Obama were suffering a bit of CDS. Seriously, when I read posts from people claiming they were sincerely worried that Clinton was going to try to have Obama assassinated, I had to wonder exactly what had gone off-kilter with the world.

    Good for Clinton. A lot about her primary campaign annoyed me, but I believed she would do the right thing when it was over. And she is.

  • I wasn’t a fan then or now. But this is admirable and helpful; she’s certainly exceeded my expectations from the day of the concession speech onward. Even if it’s self-interest (as I think it largely is), that’s fine.

  • I think Hillary as VP would be a big waste of talent. But an office in the administration that I think she would do really well at is Attorney General. She has the legal training, and the office gives her a chance to run a really big, important organization (and maybe repair some of what Gonzales did). I also think it is a job that she would be very satisfied doing.

  • Ahcuah, @13

    Not sure why she’d want it. AG is a job for 4-8 yrs; once it’s over, then…what? Lobbying, like Ashcroft?

    I think that the Senate seat is hers for life, which would mean 4 more years of this term and, *at least*, another two 6yr terms, without getting into the “doddery old dame” zone. She could get much more *done* in the Senate than as an AG, especially if she really enjoys her life as a politician.

  • but…what I want to know is…how does Clinton acting as an Obama surrogate…

    …addressing a group that, according to surveys was more aligned with Clinton than with Obama…

    …And that same group now whooping it up when Clinton mentions Obama’s name…

    PROVE Obama CAN’T win in November?

    I mean, I have no idea, but I’m sure the Badwill Ambassador of Stupid Town does. I’m surprised she hasn’t proffered her dopey theory du jour yet.

  • I am sorry for keeping bringing this up, but the one indelible picture I have is Hillary’s comments claiming McCain was ‘more qualified’ than Obama. Until she specifically points out that John McCain is NOT qualified to be President, and that Obama is, with specifics on both sides, and until she says something like “I can not restrict anyone’s free speech, but I request no one who is spreading vicious falsehoods about Sen. Obama continue to claim that they are in any way supporting me. I reject these tactics and wish to insure that my name is not connected to them,” I can not fully embrace her ‘return to the fold.’

    I am no longer asking for an apology, and she could accomplish both of these in one short paragraph or two, but I believe they are necessary.

  • I’ll never vote for Barack Obama regardless of what Hillary Clinton says she’ll do. The weaker candidate was ushered in.

    Hillary
    -Won the big states and the critical swing states
    -Has a bigger coalition to build on (Jews, Latinos, GLBT community, elderly voters, blue collar voters)
    -Was polling much better against McCain than Obama. In a time where a Democratic candidate should be ahead of a Republican candidate by double digits, Obama is statistically tied to McCain in national polls and ahead by single digits (well within the margin of error) in swing states.

    I’ll never vote for this novice. You think PUMA doesn’t have very many members, but McCain held a voice conference with nearly 11,000 participants recently. There are actually hundreds of thousands of PUMAs across America.

    Exit polls show anywhere from 20%-40% of HRC supporters (depending on which state the poll was taken) either sitting the election out or voting for McCain in the GE. Pundits say if only 10% keep their promise, which I guarantee you they will, Obama will have a problem in the GE. I personally know 17 Democrats in my glorious swing state of Ohio voting for John McCain and a handful not voting at all.

    Best wishes to your candidate! He’s going to need it. 😉

  • well I certainly hope thunerdolts like Jen don’t ever need glasses. When you cut off your nose to spite your face, glasses have a tendency to kinda slip off…

  • The president-role would have suited her just fine too.

    I’m with Jen. I won’t vote for Obama because he is the lesser qualified and I will not support a party that chooses the second-best male over a better qualified female. That is sexism in its purest form. I won’t vote for Obama no matter what his policies because he played the race card in order to win (especially against Bill Clinton). I won’t vote for McCain, so I’m in the sit-this-one-out category or I’ll be voting for Nader.

  • If it’s something to do with enforcing our immigration laws, the Latino special interest lobby will crawl out of its hole to stop its enactment. Just like the SAVE ACT (H.R.4088) a Federal bill, the laggard Democrats don’t want voted into law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has used intimidation to stop her thrall from endorsing this legislation. Obama already promised he would give the millions of illegal alien lawbreakers, squatting in this nation AMNESTY? McCain will do likewise to get the vote in November.

    Afterwards will be too late for overburdened taxpayers, who will have to support them. Plus the millions more who will think it’s ‘open day’ from the third world countries. Demand the SAVE ACT! (2022243121 ) Unsuppressed details at NUMBERSUSA.

    Ice has a free Tipline: 1-866-DHS-2ICE for intelligence to locate illegal aliens, or predatory businesses that employ them.

  • Yes, ageism is truly the new racism. Calling Clinton a “doddery old dame” for reaching about the same age McCain is now stinks (Clinton is 12 years younger than McCain). Is Ted Kennedy a “doddery old dude”? He is an additional 10 years beyond Libra’s hypothesized Clinton lifetime in politics.

    Everyone knows that if you use a walker or a wheelchair you must be brain dead. And if your hand shakes, you must be on drugs or incapable of doing anything productive (hear that, Michael J. Fox).

  • I believe that she is just going through the motions. Barack should never have won, the press gave him a free ride. The man is a flipper who will say and do anything to get elected. Just ask Reverend Wright. So much for the “new politics”. What a disappointment!!!

  • The DNC, Pelosi, and the Obama’s patronizing and phony
    praise of Hillary Clinton are nothing more than insincere steps
    to get some of Hillary’s 18 million voters to vote for Barrack.
    These people are so pitiful. maybe some of Hillary’s supporters
    will fall for it, but most of us see it as adding insult to injury,
    and we are voting for Senator John McCain in November.

  • As a Hillary supporter, I still don’t like the tone of these Obama supporters toward
    Hillary. What makes them think they can continue their insults toward my chosen
    candidate and I am supposed to just acquiese and support their candidate whom
    I don’t believe in for the good of the party. Wel, my disillusionment with the Democratic party will have me shopping my vote elsewhere. No “empty suit” for
    me, thank you.

  • These so called Democrats that say they will vote for McCain are a lost cause.
    To put personal feelings above the future of our country is beyond me to
    understand. McCain, Bush and the republicans have almost destroyed our
    country. One diasterous decision after another giving us the largest
    National Deficit we have ever had. And, your children, grandchildren and
    great grand children are the victims for decades to come.
    Ladie, McCain has voted against every bill giving equalization. McCain
    cannot even understand how to use the computer. He thinks our econmy
    is “OK”.
    And, when you send your loved ones off to war, make sure you tell them
    that you supported the politicians that got us in this mess.

  • What about Chelsea, the FUTURE voice of the Clinton’s? When is she ever going to endorse Barack, and help support him to return the disaffected “College Coeds Choosing Clinton” back to the presumptive Democratic nominee?

  • Senator Obama was not picked and did not steal the nomination. He did everything right. If FL and MI didn’t move up their voting so they could be first this mess would never have happened. Senator Obama ran a great compaign he was prepared from the start to the finish. He ran with the attatude that he would try his best to win and bring this country to a better place then it is right now. If you feel you don’t want to vote for him don’t but stop twisting what really happened.

  • Anyone on here that’s talking about Clinton supporters not backing Barack are wrong. Puma holds no real weight when 78% of Hilary supporters are now behind Obama solidly.
    I also feel that most of the people coming on here that are still trying to divide the Obama and Clinton supports are most likely McCain supporters trying to open old wounds. Obama and Clinton are together on this because McCain has been exposed as the truly bad choice. If you were ever a Hilary supporter and you sit this vote out because you can’t vote for Obama then you truly are a LOSER in the purest form. You should be ashamed to give up your values out of spite, that makes you something other then patriotic. I will vote for Obama and TRUE Hilary supporters will do the same, everyone else is a pathetic excuse for an American.

  • not too terribly long ago, when some thought Clinton was on some kind of sabotage mission, and she would intentionally undermine Obama’s chances.

    I haven’t seen any Hilary footage aired from the McCain campaign yet, but we may yet see her videotaped testimony saying that John McCain is ready to be president and Obama isn’t.

    Was she carelessly short-sighted in using such language, or canny?

    If a saboteur places a time bomb on the railroad tracks, is she not still the saboteur even if she’s back in the bistro enjoying a cognac and smoke when it goes off?

    If the time bomb doesn’t go off (McCain doesn’t use her taped dismissal of her fellow candidate), is she any less the saboteur?

    Add to it the fact that she’s milking Obama for help retiring campaign debt that amounts to triple everything she’s ever earned in her lifetime? When he’s no longer useful to her, and his victory seems likely, let us see how passionate she appears to be for an Obama presidency.

    While it would please me to tiny pieces to have my suspicions found to be groundless, my jury is still out, CB, and I reserve the right to dub you a fool some day hence.

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