Hillary poised to win Florida, reacts to Bush's State of the Union
First, Hillary's appearance in Tennessee today, with her timely comments aimed at Bush's State of the Union address. I am a proud supporter of her in good part because she makes the exact same case about the Bush administration I would personally make, something that is sorely lacking from the other major candidate.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/C LINTON?SITE=TNJAC&SECTION=HOME&T EMPLATE=DEFAULT
Hillary Rodham Clinton relegated her chief Democratic rival to the rhetorical sidelines Monday and focused her criticism on President Bush, saying he had lost touch with the concerns of an anxious public.In a speech to more than 1,000 people jammed in a gymnasium, Clinton did not refer to the fight with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her audience, which included an equal number listening in an adjoining room, roared with approval when the former first lady took note of the Republican president's dwindling time in office.
"Tonight is a red-letter night in American history," she said. "It is the last time George Bush will give the State of the Union. Next year it will be a Democratic president giving it."
Bush is isolated at the White House, Clinton said, inviting the president to join her in meeting the kind of people she has come across during her campaign. "Sit at tables at diners and hear what's on America's mind," she suggested.
The LAST EVER State of the Union by what history books will most likely describe as one of the 3 worst presidents in our history. Wooohoo. Uncork the champagne. Of course, to make this meaningful beyond changing personalities, we must wrestle the presidency away from the GOP in November.
Bush is clearly oblivious to the wants and needs of the American people. Generally speaking, whatever the general public wanted, Bush acted against that in a bizarre need to assert his "independence" from polls (and thereby, the collective desires of the American people.) Is it any wonder he is loved by none, respected by very few, approved by less than a third, and many of those with apprehension,reflecting mere party loyalty? In an aside, her comments also pointed at the contrast between Obama and Hillary, where Hillary wants to sit with regular people at diners and in their living rooms and GET IT, understand and get an earful about the problems average Americans are going through, whereas, as this diary from SteveM aptly demonstrated the other day:
Is Obama Better Than The Rest Of Us? http://mydd.com/story/2008/1/25/173237/0 76
According to Steve Hildebrand, Obama's senior advisor, Obama can't be bothered with such trivialities, as the quote went "She goes to Nevada and sits with Latinos in their living room to court their vote -- that's not the way Barack approaches people." Well, that's what we like about her, Mr. Hildebrand.
Bush is certain, she said, to assert that the state of the nation is strong even though "we are sliding into a recession. We have as lot of concerns we need to deal with," including a mortgage crisis that is driving people from their homes.In Clinton's estimation, Bush "has never understood is that the State of the Union is not about a speech in Washington. It is about the lives of the American people who feel they are moving toward the American dream."
Instead Bush has ALWAYS used the State of the Union addresses to push for his pet projects, try to advertise and push through unpopular programs, without much regard to the needs and wants of the average worker, mother, father, older person, young person, sick person, healthy person.
Before returning to Capitol Hill, she sounded the same theme before 2,000 cheering supporters at Springfield College in Massachusetts."We see as we look around our country, the state of our union is one of economic anxiety, it's concern about fairness, worries about that's happening to our country," Clinton said. "There couldn't be a starker comparison between what I believe and we have heard from President Bush and the Washington Republicans."
Hillary in the White House would bring with it many reversals of Bush's policies and plans, an unrolling of the conservative GOP doctrine that has been prevalent for so long. Of that I am convinced, more so today than a year ago.
FLORIDA
On to tomorrow's contest in Florida. If Obama's "momentum" has any wings at all, it will show up in Florida. An impressive showing for Obama in the by far largest state to go to the polls out of all pre-Feb. 5 states and also the demographically most diverse, yet typical of many follow-up states, would show that Obama is for real, that he built on SC and moved long-standing perceptions of him, and with it the polls. I am confident that instead Hillary Clinton will make us proud and come out of Florida with a strong victory, but we know soon enough.
The support site "Florida for Hillary" http://www.floridaforhillary.com/ has listings of what they dub victory parties across the state. They are obviously confident that Hillary will walk away with a convincing win which will be an important show of support across major demographics that will also be crucial in many other states to follow, despite the delegate dispute still hanging over the proceedings. Events are planned across the state, so whoever is interested and you live close to Orlando, Gainesville, Palm Beach, Hollywood or Miami, you can find the locations for the parties on that site. Tampa, my hometown, has one of the larger celebrations planned, at the Green Iguana on Westshore Blvd. They expect a big turnout.
More after the break:
The event is dubbed Tampa Bay Springboard to Super Tuesday Victory Party
Here the invite:
From what I have heard, the Tampa event at the Green Iguana is supposedly the largest of the so-called victory parties, which might mean that Hillary Clinton may well come to that party over the others to speak to her supporters (as promised) after the votes are tallied and precincts close, but there are obviously no guarantees. Incidentally, the Green Iguana has always been one of my favorite hangouts. That place always features awesome rock bands, has a great atmosphere. Just fitting that the Hillary campaign chose that place of all places for this party. If anyone lives close to the Tampa Bay area and would like to meet up there, email me at myddgeorge@gmail.com, so we can arrange a meet. I will also take a bunch of pics and write a diary about this party the day after.
Florida is going to have a bigger impact and more media buzz than many seem to realize. The candidates will be in the state after the polls close, which guarantees a lot of media attention. Hillary or Obama would make themselves a world of good with a good showing here, just one week before Super Tuesday.
This is all happening very fast now, back to back, but I believe that if Clinton wins Florida (and with a good showing) then she will have won New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan and Florida (the latter two with as of yet unresolved or poorly resolved delegate issues,) four out of the first six, and will move into Feb. 5 with four states under her belt and a lot of momentum.
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