After watching Hillary Clinton's speech this morning with my wife, she turned to me and asked, "Well, do you forgive her now?" I don't think that was the point of the speech, that we should forgive Hillary to going so amazingly negative toward a fellow Democratic opponent and I said so. I think she did a whole lot to repair the damage she has done over the past few months, but it will take more than one speech to heal the wounds Hillary opened among Democrats.I am pleased that her support for Obama was presented as whole-hearted and forthright, but I think she could have said more directly at those who were booing when Obama's name was spoke. She could have been more focused on the differences between Obama and McCain (whose name was never uttered today). She could have said something about the Democratic Party following the rules in Florida and Michigan that she agreed to and even bending them in the end to her favor, rather than letting so many of her supporters go on with this fantasy that Obama stole votes from Clinton in those states.
I will have to watch her actions over the next few months to decide how I feel about her and Bill. Burned bridges have to be rebuilt piece by piece, and Hillary laid the foundations today; we will see if she continues in that vein or not. A good beginning, but it could of and should of gone a little farther; maybe in the coming weeks she will rectify those omissions.
2 comments:
I'd say a couple things in response. First, people say regretable things in the heat of battle. But I do not believe some of what was said qualifies as the worst things happened outside of debate. I worry that the low blows landed by Bill Clinton and Hillary towards Obama and Black voters were intentional. So if you forgive them, how likely is it that they've changed?
Second, you can forgive, but can you forget? If you forgive opportunism such as we've witnessed fine, but if you forget won't that encourage more? I think the answer is yes.
I'm with Alex. I thought it was a solid speech and she struck the right tone. I don't think she should be on the ticket. But I thought it was a fine speech and went a long way toward healing. She came across as the Hillary I used to admire. I'm more or less willing to forgive. Not ready to forget.
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