THE OBAMA CRUSADE: Day 25

TODAY:


Well, wouldn't you know it. It appears that Senator Hillary Clinton is back from the dead. It is being widely reported that Senator Clinton will be not only speaking at the Democratic convention on Tuesday, but SHE IS UNLEASHING THE HOUNDS OF HELL known as "Hillraisers" after Senator Obama. Talk about conflicting messages... Also scheduled to speak is former POTUS Bill Clinton.

Flying home to Chicago, Obama told reporters on his campaign plane that he talked separately this week to Clinton and her husband, the former president, and that they were enthusiastic about having a smooth convention at the end of the month in Denver.

"As is true in all conventions, we're still working out the mechanics, the coordination," Obama said. One such issue is whether there will be a convention roll call on Clinton's nomination, he said.

"I'm letting our respective teams work out details," he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: "I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out."

SOURCE: MSNBC

It has been said that Obama has invited the Clintons to speak because it is only right. I mean, he is the guy who denied them a political sub-prime mortgage and pre-evicted them from another 8-year lease on the White House. Now he has to be respectful of the Clinton brand for chivalry's sake, plus he still doesn't have the full support of those 18-million people who didn't vote for him in the Democratic primary race. So Obama has decided that to end the nonsense, he will extend his hand and allow the vanquished Clintons to assume their rightful places - behind him, pulling his coattails.

I hope that there is a contingency plan on what Obama should do if one or both Clintons decide to drop a political deuce on him from the big stage in Denver. Either of them could do less than their best speaking up for Obama, deflating the energy of the convention and signaling further that the split within the party has not yet healed. Or they could just stage a mutiny and tell everyone who supported them to stay home, because Obama is an apparent misogynist. Which would be Superbad.

This is what you call quiet blackmail. With 18-million votes, Senator Clinton is holding the convention hostage. She is making a dramatic impression on party leaders, who don't quite know what to expect. Remember, Obama is not the official nominee until the delegates choose. Is Senator Clinton really going to demand her God-given right to nightly dinner at The White House, even if it's a second-place seat and not from the top of the table?

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would expect Hillary's voice to get louder as we get closer to August 25. I'd expect more news agencies to cover her supporters, and less definitive talk from Clinton about what she plans to say.


Remember, Obama still has not selected a running mate...