Democratic National Convention

Hillary Clinton Acceptance Speech The Culmination Of A Successful Convention

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Hillary Clinton delivered a great acceptance speech yesterday, the culmination of a successful Democratic National Convention, making her officially the first woman ever nominated for President by a major political party.

She gave a speech which emphasized a progressive agenda, to continue the successes of Barack Obama, and to move to emphasize such issues as a $15 minimum wage; free tuition for public colleges for those whose families earn less than $125,00 income; working toward criminal justice reform; promoting a more aggressive climate change agenda; promotion of civil rights equality for groups that have been denied it under law; improvement of ObamaCare; investment in infrastructure; the belief in science; advocacy of strengthening our alliances with foreign nations including NATO; strong commitment to overcoming ISIL (ISIS) and other terrorist groups in the world, among other proposals.

Clinton came across as genuine, sincere, committed to taking on much of Bernie Sanders’s agenda, and while not the accomplished orator that her husband Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Joe Biden are, was extremely effective.

The speech of Marine General John Allen denouncing Donald Trump, and the Muslim father, Khizr Khan, speaking about the sacrifice of his son in Iraq in 2004 and asking if Trump knew what the Constitution says, were other standout moments of the last night of the convention, and a strong case against the stability and qualifications and ethics of Trump was emphasized by all speakers.

This is a terrifying time, but to imagine that Donald Trump could be elected President should motivate everyone to register to vote; lobby their friends, family members and work colleagues to get out there to vote; and work to get people to the polls at election time.

For Trump to win the Presidency would be the biggest disaster in American history since September 11, and cannot be allowed to occur.

Sustained Attack On Donald Trump From Four Sides: Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Tim Kaine, Barack Obama!

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The third night of the Democratic National Convention saw a sustained attack on Donald Trump by the major figures of the Democratic Party, but also of other reputable individuals.

Vice President Joe Biden was his usual rhetorical self, and Independent former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg made clear that not all billionaires are like Donald Trump, who he had to deal with on a regular basis for 12 years.

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine showed that in many ways he is another Joe Biden, a caring, genuine, nice man who will make us comfortable that he is to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency.

And Barack Obama, as usual, showed his great charisma and speaking style, and made the case against Donald Trump and for Hillary Clinton, and their embrace at the end of the speech was very touching.

Additionally, former CIA head Leon Panetta and Former NSA head Michael Hayden, in speeches at the convention, warned of the recklessness and lack of knowledge of Donald Trump, and over 60 Republican national security personnel and many military figures denounced him in recent days and weeks.

Tonight is Hillary Clinton’s night, her chance to make the case for her election, and the burden on her is great, as there has been much doubt and discord and cynicism about Hillary Clinton, due to the Email Controversy and other issues on her past voting record, and the work of the Clinton Foundation.

Hillary is far from perfect, but she is, as Barack Obama said, the most qualified person ever to be nominated for President, and the future of her Presidency is bright, that it would be a progressive one, more like Barack Obama, than her husband, Bill Clinton!

Hillary Clinton Formally Nominated As First Woman Presidential Candidate By Bill Clinton, Who Knows Her Best!

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Hillary Clinton was formally nominated last night by the Democratic National Convention in an emotional and historic gathering in Philadelphia, and then was celebrated by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton avoided policy discussion, his specialty, and also avoided naming his wife’s opponent, Donald Trump, by name. But he came to a strong defense of his wife, and despite his own record of cheating, highly reprehensible, it is clear that he truly loves his wife. He gave us personal anecdotes about her, and made her real persona come through, including her being a mother devoted to daughter Chelsea. It was made clear that her goal was to do good, not aim to get rich as her only goal in life. Bill Clinton made the case for his wife in a way that no one else could.

But he also gave us an understanding of the Hillary Clinton we have never seen or understood, as a woman who has devoted her life to public service and to concern about the poor, the disabled, the disadvantaged, and particularly to women and children. We also saw ordinary citizens speaking at the convention, who have been involved in situations in which Hillary Clinton intervened and showed her concern and empathy, and not just for a moment or two, but long term, demonstrating how sincere and engaged she really has been over the past four decades of dedication to public service.

There has been a lot of bad mouthing and nasty hearsay and rumors spread around about Hillary Clinton, most of it false, unfounded, and vicious.

Hillary Clinton has been more vilified, condemned, and mistreated by her enemies and much of the news media than anyone in public life, and over a longer period of time than any other public figure, but she has always stood strong and persevered in the midst of attack.

She is a strong, principled woman, who despite recent doubts about her ability to win, will become the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017.

She comes to the Presidential race as among the best qualified ever to be nominated for the nation’s highest office.

Is she perfect? Of course not, but then there has never been a perfect person to run for or serve in the Presidency.

But we know that the alternative is the worst nominee ever chosen by the Republican Party in its long history, including Barry Goldwater 52 years ago, who if he was here, would not have supported a person clearly a racist, a nativist, a xenophobe, a misogynist, a person who consorts with anti semitic demagogues and white supremacists like David Duke, a bully, a braggart, a narcissist, a person who loves to insult everyone, and has no moral or ethical base–Donald Trump!

Fantastic Speeches By Cory Booker, Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders On First Night Of Democratic Convention!

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Day One of the Democratic National Convention was fantastic, with Bernie Sanders giving a rousing speech supporting Hillary Clinton; Cory Booker giving a speech that is memorable for the ages, and will catapult him into speculation for the Presidency eight years hence; Elizabeth Warren making the case against Republican Donald Trump; and First Lady Michelle Obama giving the most dramatic speech of the evening, making us proud of her, as well as her husband.

There are still divisions to be healed with some Bernie Sanders supporters, but compared to the disaster and embarrassment of the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland, this convention is working quite well, and it seems clear that the unity desired will come about by Thursday night.

And one can expect a major bump in the polls after the convention, by early next week, while the supposed bump of Trump seems to have been misleading, as new polls indicate very little bump, and mostly, only when one adds third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein to the mix!

It is great that Bernie Sanders is uniting his supporters, an estimated 90 percent so far, to back Hillary Clinton, as otherwise, there is the great danger of electing a dangerous extremist, Donald Trump, with no knowledge, experience, or qualifications to be President of the United States.

The Mystery Of 2016: Why Hillary Clinton Has Low Public Opinion Rating, And Bill Clinton Continues To Rate High In Public Opinion!

Ronald 25 Comments

As the Democratic National Convention begins in Philadelphia, there is much turmoil and rancor over the revelation of Democratic National Committee emails, apparently hacked by Russian state supporters, to harm Hillary Clinton by her connection to now disgraced Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

There is no debate that Debbie has run the DNC poorly, and shown bias toward Bernie Sanders, and it is right that she is not participating in the activities of the convention. She also faces a fight in the primary against a Bernie Sanders supported candidate in the Florida primary on August 30.

Despite that, I have met Debbie a few times, and always thought she was a decent, kind, and competent person, but her handling of the Democratic National Committee activities have besmirched her reputation permanently in history, a tragic development.

But beyond this controversy, the mystery continues to arise. Why does Hillary Clinton have such low public opinion rating, while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, continues to rate high in public opinion, and always has?

Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified nominees for President in all of American history, but she is not a good politician, in the sense that she has trouble arousing supporters, and is not, as she even admits, the expert communicator that her husband, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, are.

Clinton has made mistakes, certainly, but so have all Presidential nominees and all Presidents. But much of the attack on Hillary Clinton is manufactured by right wing conservative forces and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

And she is blamed for her husband’s misbehavior, but somehow, that does not affect the popularity of her husband, so this is inscrutable!

There, clearly, is a anti woman mentality among many men, and even a large percentage of women, both of whom seem to feel that a woman is not qualified to be President.

However, the belief is that once Bill Clinton speaks at the convention on Wednesday that he will be able to boost the candidacy of his wife, and that once he goes on the campaign trail in the next months, that he will help to elect his wife to the Presidency.

The Republican Convention A True Disaster In So Many Ways!

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The Republican National Convention of 2016 is a true disaster in so many ways!

Instead of building up Donald Trump, with many speakers ignoring him, the only purpose is to sow hate of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, including calls for her imprisonment and even execution, by right wing forces inside and outside the convention hall.

We have witnessed the plagiarism of Melania Trump on Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech.

We have seen Chris Christie sow the hate of Hillary Clinton with a prosecutor’s case that could more easily be used against him in New Jersey over mishandling of Hurricane Sandy funds, and the scandal known as “Bridgegate”.

We have seen former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani come across as hysterical, screaming, and a mental case, including attacking Hillary Clinton for the sins of her husband, Bill Clinton, while conveniently forgetting his own sex scandals.

We have seen Dr. Benjamin Carson talk about Lucifer, and seem totally drugged in some form, and needing mental observation for his weird. strange behavior.

We have seen “losers” such as Scott Baio and Anthony Sabato, Jr, making fools of themselves, with no major acting roles offered to them.

The Trump children did the best of any of the speakers, but their father is not a role model for America by any means. It could be that Donald Trump, Jr and Eric Trump might have future political careers as conservatives, since they are well spoken, but they have no clue about what average Americans deal with on a daily basis.

Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa put out their own publicity for a future that probably will include Presidential bids in 2020.

And despicable Ted Cruz for once did the right thing, defend his wife and father, but in so doing, probably destroyed his future political career.

But at least he showed SOME principle, which otherwise has been missing from this disgraceful convention!

Now the final step is about to take place, as Donald Trump gives his acceptance speech, the most important and most watched speech of the entire campaign, other than the three Presidential debates scheduled in September and October.

Bernie Sanders On The Road To Being The Ralph Nader Of 2000! He May Bring Us Donald Trump And A Right Wing Supreme Court!

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It looks as if Bernie Sanders is on the road to being the Ralph Nader of 2000.

In so doing, he may bring us Donald Trump in the White House, which would condemn him in history, as Nader brought us George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina!

Sanders has failed to win more than a few primaries, mostly winning unrepresentative caucuses; is more than three million popular votes behind Hillary Clinton; and will not have more pledged delegates than Clinton, but he now says he will fight to change “super delegates”, who have pledged to Hillary Clinton, to switch loyalties to him, which will not happen. He is not lifelong Democrat, but rather a Socialist who was allowed to join the Democratic Party, and now is, seemingly, out to harm them for his own ambitions!

But what it means is that we will have division, dissension, and turmoil at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, rather than unity. Already, Sanders has demanded, which will not happen, to remove Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Congresswoman from Florida as the DNC Chair, and also to replace former Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut as leaders of the Platform Committee at the convention.

Bernie now comes across as a bitter, nasty, crotchety old man who seems not to care about whether the progressive agenda wins, but only whether his own ego is satiated!

“Super Delegates” And “Unbound Delegates”—The Politics Of Presidential Nominations!

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With all of the Presidential primaries and caucuses, it turns out that “Super Delegates” in the Democratic Party, and “Unbound Delegates” in the Republican Party could overrule all of the election results in the two major parties!

“Super Delegates” are several hundred delegates, who are party officers and elected members of Congress and in the state governments, and right now, it is clear that the vast majority favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

“Unbound Delegates” are about 200 delegates in a few states, including North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, that under Republican state party rules, can go to the convention unbound, no matter what the state voters in those states have voted, and they are enough, along with “Marco Rubio” delegates, to create the possibility of preventing Donald Trump from reaching 1,237 delegates, the majority needed for nomination.

The problem with these different kinds of delegates is they can cause total disillusionment in voters who feel their vote has meant nothing, and that the “Establishment” in both parties is working to undermine the revolt against them, led by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

One thing is clear: Both parties and their conventions will be far from boring this summer in Cleveland for the Republicans and Philadelphia for the Democrats!

Paul Ryan Boomlet For President Begun By John Boehner: Really?

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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has now been endorsed and promoted to be the Republican Presidential nominee by former Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner does not exactly have great popular support in the Republican Party, and the Tea Party Movement and other right wing extremists do not wish to give Boehner “the time of day”, having, basically, forced him out of the Speakership.

Ryan had said he did not want to be Speaker, but caved in to pressure.  The question is whether he can now be pressured to promote a revolt against front runner Donald Trump.

The Republican establishment wants Ryan to run, feeling that John Kasich has little chance of success in his quest to stop both Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, who no one in the Republican Establishment can tolerate!

If Ryan, who is the presiding officer at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, were to lead a revolt, it will likely cause turmoil on the scale of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, which doomed the chances of the Democrats to elect their nominee, Hubert Humphrey in that election year.

It is clear, as this blogger has stated for awhile, that the Republican Party, as we know it, is done, and that Ryan cannot stop that demise.

If a third party movement starts, it insures that the Democrats and Hillary Clinton will win the Presidency, the Senate, a slight chance to gain the House majority, and transform the Supreme Court, in a truly “wave” election.

And if, somehow, Ryan ends up taking the GOP Presidential nomination, it will bring back memories of the 2012 Presidential election, when Ryan was “conquered” by Vice President Joe Biden in their VP debate.

Yes, Ryan has a handsome face, and youth, but he is also a flawed candidate, which this blogger emphasized four years ago, causing for awhile a major right wing attack on this blogger, including in THE BLAZE, the media creation of talk show host Glenn Beck.  How dare I attack Paul Ryan, showing his many faults and shortcomings!

Also, were Ryan to be the Presidential nominee, it would be only the second time that a sitting member of the House has been the nominee of a major political party for President, with the only  time being Ohio Congressman James A. Garfield, who was elected in 1880, and then, sadly, was mortally wounded by an assassin, Charles J. Guiteau,  which is covered in Chapter 3 of my new book, ASSASSINATIONS, THREATS, AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY: FROM ANDREW JACKSON TO BARACK OBAMA (Rowman Littlefield Publishers, August 2015).

So the track record on a Congressman going to the Presidency is not a good marker for success!

October 2015: The Month Hillary Clinton Won The Presidential Election Of 2016!

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Hillary Clinton has had a great month, a transformative month.

She won the first Democratic Presidential debate.

She saw Joe Biden decide not to run for President, relieving her of the major threat to her candidacy.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb, and now Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, both dropped out of the Presidential race, having made no dent at all.

She showed just how capable, intelligent, knowledgeable, courageous, and qualified she is for President, and demonstrated her physical strength and stability, in the Benghazi, Libya  House hearings, effectively making the Republicans look ridiculous, incompetent, and brazenly partisan.  It was a total victory for the former Secretary of State, former Senator, and First lady.

Hillary is now left with only two challengers–Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, with Sanders capable of competing in early caucuses and primaries, but likely to fall apart as momentum for the nomination, and gaining of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, proceeds.

O’Malley is, sadly, the victim of the wrong timing to run for President, but he represents the future generation, and just might have a chance to be Hillary’s Vice Presidential running mate, as his qualifications as Mayor of Baltimore and Maryland Governor are impressive.

The Republicans will be trying to undermine Hillary Clinton, but the odds of her winning the Presidency, becoming the first woman in the Oval Office, and 45th President of the United States, are extremely high, and betting against her is a losing proposition!