I heard it all on Maddow. Very rousing!

Pelosi gave the nays about .03 seconds to voice their dissent! Hilarious!

Good. Now smash the republican machine!

What pisses me off is this notion that it's a deal that has been worked out that the camps have to "present" a unified front. While I realize the Clintons are disappointed, how many times does Hillary have to enthusiastically endorse Obama before the media decides there's no rift anymore.

Yes it is historic to have a black man put in nomination for Presidency by a major party. (And as we understand for social purposes, and maybe even more interesting in terms of sought-for unity due to his overtly mixed ancestry.) It was also aptly in tune with relevant dates. Obama has the chance now to apply good leadership and the right kind of bipartisanship (neither agreeing with the other party when you shouldn't, nor playing games just to get political advantage.) I sure do hope he remembers what "progressive" is supposed to mean, but I was impressed with his plans for credit-card reform (like payments going to the highest-rate account, wow.) OK, Joe Biden was a reasonably good choice but he's got to get on board with things like that.

If I may say again about Hillary, who graciously stepped out of the way as painful as it was for her to even be there: Hillary gave of herself tonight, and she didn't show that it hurt. She did it with all overt enthusiasm and it looked great as a magnanimous display of self-sacrifice and party unity. The regard for her will be like the ocean, for years to come. (Well maybe I wax a bit over poetic and heroine-worshippy, but after all the talk of Hillary's pettiness/vindictiveness/can't let it go/divisiveness/whatever, she deserves a good rap.)

BTW, why was she called "divisive"? Mostly because the other side strenuously opposed her and what she wanted - well screw them anyway. Being nice to that crowd is Obama's mostly thankless and Herculean task (Well if anyone can pull it off and still get the right things accomplished, it's him.)

Go BO-Joe!

While I realize the Clintons are disappointed, how many times does Hillary have to enthusiastically endorse Obama before the media decides there's no rift anymore.

Twenty three -- I checked, and it's a tradition.

And if any of them aren't enthusiastic enough the count goes back to zero....

Cyndy Johnson, senior CNN Political Correspondent reported that her source said Bill won't be there tomorrow night. 150 comments immediately exoriated Bill for this predicted absence. What bullshit.

He'll be there.
Dale

Redstate is already making the comparison to Al Gore's nomination. Says that the same 'Love Train' was playing then....
Also, they're starting a flag check at the Pepsi Center - and we know how much the Repomen love them flags - all a twitter cause they don't see any..yet.
Oh, my!

Fantastic!

I think we can now officially recognizes all PUMAs as being stooges from the McCain campaign.

how many times does Hillary have to enthusiastically endorse Obama before the media decides there's no rift anymore.

My guess would be "Infinity Plus One", as the six year olds on the playground would say.

Huh. I compared the media to a bunch of six year olds. Now I have to go apologize to some six year olds...

"love train?"

with the exception of the sellout on FISA, that's the most disappointing thing i've heard about the obama campaign.

they've had months and the best they could come up with was the hackneyed "love train?!"

just sitting here and thinking right now, i can come up with ray charles singing "it had to be you" (or, for that matter, "america the beautiful"), and with 5 minutes, i could do way better.

"love train!" what a bunch of squares!

howard,

Would you have prefered My Humps?

Hillary Clinton may have NOW redeemed herself with her CLASS act of moving for nomination of Barack Obama by acclamation! OsiSpeaks.com

They should have used "Wake Up Everybody" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes.

But this is a great day for black Americans and people like me who have always sympathized with the civil rights movement. MLK, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Goodman, Schwerner & Chaney and all the other slain activists gave their lives so the US could reach this point today.

personally, doubtful, i would have preferred "big pimpin'," but why press your luck?

more seriously, i'll admit i hadn't looked accurately at steve's initial posting: he said the "band" played "love train" (whereas i assumed it was a recording in glancing at it).

if it's just a house band, i can't blame it for not being brother ray....

I would personally have preferred Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." In addition to being upbeat, it has the added bonus of being able to parody the RNC by playing the Ray Stevens' "Henhouse Five Plus Too" chicken cluck version.

Say what you will about the absurd Clinton-Obama pseudo-tiff, the fact is that people are WATCHING - 26 million last night, which was FIVE times as many as watched the second night four years ago.

That's right: 20 million more people than normal tuned in to see the Democrats fight. And you know what they saw? The party unite! And some good speeches by the governor of Montana and by Hillary!

Who on God's green earth is going to watch the second night of the GOP convention? Unless McCain picks Lieberman for VP and comes out of the closet, nowhere near that many.

I'm all for Dems as I think it is the LAST CHANCE before this country would have no chance at all of bouncing back.

However, I know people in "the heartland" and states Obama lost, and whites in New Orleans, and what you hear in bars and in living rooms is that these folks will never vote for "that n---r".

So if people are going to be racist, and vote for an idiot like McCain, guess the country deserves what it gets.

doubtful, R.O.T.F.L.M.F.A.O!!!

My humps! Chrips, I'm lauging so hard I'm crying.

KYJD...great seeing you here!!

The toughest problem Obama faces is the media bias against him. The MSM holds McCain accountable for nothing and holds Obama accountable for everything.

John McCain is a very, very bad man who'd make a very, very bad president.

McCain has POW Tourette's syndrome. This means a day can't pass without McCain or his staff reminding us that he was a POW once upon a time.

A real hero is someone who doesn't feel the urge to remind you of his heroism every fricking day.

Someone needs to get the word out that McCain is a war-mongering, knuckle-dragging neanderthal.

A McCain presidency would be a tragedy for the nation and the world.

My buddy Mike Flannigan's also at the Pepsi convention center. You may not wanna read his dyspeptic dispatch if you're an unabashed apologist for ersatz liberalism. However, if you don't mind seeing it get a'bashed once in a while, amble on over to see what my pal Mike's written.

"So if people are going to be racist, and vote for an idiot like McCain, guess the country deserves what it gets." -- Clem

A good friend has a well-reasoned theory that this is our national karma. I hope he's wrong.

While I realize the Clintons are disappointed, how many times does Hillary have to enthusiastically endorse Obama before the media decides there's no rift anymore.

Until McCarnage is president. He'll give the media plenty of material to report during his presidency.

It really doesn't matter what Hillary says at this point. Everybody seems to have their analysis complete before she even opens her mouth. They just copy and paste certain key phrases of her speeches into their analysis.

All the candidates have been type-casted. It's just a matter to see how many voters each party picked up and how energized their base is. Let's see who actually shows up to vote.

I'm in San Francisco on business. I live in Manhattan. The number of Obama supporters in San Francisco is unbelievable. I haven't seen one political sign in Manhattan come to think of it. I never really thought about it till I actually landed here. I can't go two feet without seeing an Obama sign/volunteer/voter registration promo. It's nice to see San Francisco doing this, but I think these volunteers would be better placed somewhere other than a city/state that Obama probably has locked.

Thanks Steve for the video link.

lampwick: I'd not thought of it, but what if, to extend your comment, this whole 'rift' thing was a brilliant, albiet dangerous, play by the Obama/Clinton camps?

Think about it. In June, what do we have? The Clintons have been ruined in the party, and Obama is stuck with a hostile media and GOP noise machine with no cover for three months before Denver, and a potentially divided party. The media starts talking about a rift to bring him down, and despite Hillary's excellent concession speech and follow up efforts, doesn't believe her. Plus, Obama knows he needs eyeballs in Denver, he needs the buzz to continue, no one watches conventions anymore. So what do you do? You manufacture this rift, using the media and general public's preexisting beliefs about the Clintons. You make some strategic leaks about how bitter she is. And how there is a plan to win in 2012. (obviously, you need the Clintons in on this, hell maybe it was their idea!) you make up a vp issue with her. Meanwhile, she is out stumping, laying the groundwork for last night.

What does she get? Redemption for her speech last night, the probability of getting her debt retired, the chance to be a leader in the Senate and a clean shot at McCain in 2012 should the unthinkable happen.

What does Obama get? The most watched convention in years, a fired up base (now including the Hillary people) and three months of media cover. Heck, his vacation was news. 26 million people watch the convention.

If it goes well, like it did, who loses? It's freaking brilliant!

Why oh why did Shelly Silver's ugly mug have to be front and center during that clip?

Boy - do I hate that man.

False, false, false, goddamit, Steve.

Cynthia McKinney beat Obama by a month.

Get out of the duopoly mindset.

Socratic Gadfly,

What are you on about? Cynthia McKinney was the first African American nominee for President of the Democratic Party a month ago? No?

Perhaps you should read again.

Doubtful, maybe YOU should read again. Steve didn't say "Democratic party" until after "claiming a prize never held by a black American."

Seems clear that he was referring to presidential nominations in general.

Part of the duopoly.

I've been reading, all over the place, about how difficult it was for Hillary to endorse Obama, how insincere her body language yada, yada, yada... and then I saw this clip (thanks, Steve, for adding it). Good grief! Are we watching the same convention?

I have never seen Hillary more relaxed. Her pixie-ish smile, when she started to move for vote by acclamation, had been absolutely convincing as well as enchanting. She looked rejuvenated, by at least 10 years. She looked as if someone took a yoke off her shoulders... *That* is supposed to be someone who's seeing her ambitions collapse in an ash pile? If so, she's missed her vocation as a professional actress.

No, SocraticGadfly.

Reading. Comprehension. You have failed.

For two reasons.

Steve didn't write it. He's citing the AP. Strike one.

Barack Obama, claiming a prize never held by a black American, swept to the Democratic presidential nomination... -The AP

What is the prize Obama has claimed that a black American has never held? Why, it's the Democratic presidential nomination. Third grade English students know that. Steeeeerike two.

Just for shits and giggles, rearrange the structure of the sentence.

Barack Obama swept to the Democratic presidential nomination, claiming a prize never held by a black American...

The AP isn't claiming anything more than Obama is the first black Democratic presidential nominee.

Now, are you gonna step up to the plate, and knock it out of the park with an admission you were wrong, or like typical blog commenters, will you defend your silliness in the face of fact and strike out?

It's up to you mighty Casey.

Doubtful, maybe YOU should read again. Steve didn't say "Democratic party" until after "claiming a prize never held by a black American."

Seems clear that he was referring to presidential nominations in general. -- Socratic Gadfly, @22:59

No, it's not "clear" at all, not by the word order, as you suggest. Ho would *you* have rearranged that sentence, to make it clearer that Steve (actually, AP's David Espo, from whom the quote was taken)) was talking about the *specific* nomination not a general one?

As for Cynthia... If you'll pardon the pun, she's very green at being The Green; she was a Dem, like, yesterday. A loose cannon wherever she is and I wish you the *joy* of her nomination, because, sure as hell, she isn't gonna make *history*.

Steve -

What are you doing blogging after 5:30pm? :-)

History. The funny thing is, that is if African Americans had always been the majority, Obama could have been seen as a white candidate. He is the perfect rebuttal for racists. He is a courageous man, and we are lucky to have shared such a moment.

Politics is timing and capturing the moment. I think this is an 1860 type of election. Or 1932.

Love Train is a groovy song, but wouldn't some Zepp really grab that white blue collar demographic we've been hearing so much about? Immigrant Song would have been perfect! Misty Mountain Hop would kick it, too!

Props to HRC for calling for the vote by acclimation.

And screw the so-called "liberal media" for dismissing it as an attempt to depict a united front. As usual, they're pissed and pissy that the Democrats refuse to conform to their bullshit narratives.