Too bad he was relegated to an early afternoon Tuesday speaking spot, and none of the networks (except C-Span) actually carried this.



-jw

. . .and lingering divisions.



As the DNC is kicking off today in Denver, the media seems to be giving a lot of attention to the small but loud group of agitators calling themselves the PUMAs -- that's "Party Unity My Ass." Mature, right? Basically these ladies are making a lot of noise and demanding that Barack Obama not be given the party nomination that he won fair and square.

I think that a lot of people like me, who supported Obama in the long primary race, have put the bitterness of those contests behind them and have been looking forward to a unified front to win this election. In the last couple of weeks there has also been a resurgence of chatter about the possibility of Hillary on the ticket. Before the Biden pick on Friday night, I actually thought it was possible and would have welcomed it. As seemingly divided as the electorate is now, and with the McCain campaign having a great deal of success making this a referendum on Obama's patriotism, I think she only could have helped. But obviously it wasn't going to happen.

It's hard to imagine, with the stakes as high as they are, when we compare what Obama and Clinton have in common to a third Bush term carried out by John McCain, that some Clinton supporters could cling so spitefully to intra-party partisanship.

It's unclear how many Hillary democrats really won't vote for Obama, but perhaps the greatest danger is the ammunition it gives the Republicans in exploiting the perceived divisions. And creating absurdist fare like the following ad, which debuted today.

This is "Debra" --



It's mind-boggling that anyone who supported Hillary could fall for this. But the truth has often proven to be elusive during election season. The Nation magazine said, "To vote for McCain, a feminist would have to be insane." His record on women's rights is clear and apparent. And in terms of foreign policy, all should remember the he was one of earliest and loudest voices calling for war on Iraq, despite no evidence for that country's involvement in the terrorist attacks.

These counter-arguments need to be made now, and they need to be loud and clear.

-jw