The DNC, Night 2: The Hillary Show

And…we’re back.

7:10pm: Joe Scarborough checks in to report David Axelrod and the Obama people have indeed seen Hillary’s speech, and they couldn’t be happier. Also, the word is that the Clintons have become much more cooperative over the last 12-24 hours. I remain dubious.

Meanwhile in the Bronx: In a bit of scheduling hell, the Red Sox have traveled to Yankee Stadium for what may be the final time before the “House That Ruth Built” is demolished. It will take all of my remote control skills to keep up with happenings both in the Bronx and in Denver over these next three nights, but I feel up to the challenge.

Andy Pettite gives up back to back walks, putting Youkilis and Papi on first and second respectively with two outs. New local hero Jason Bay, AKA the Guy Who Replaced Manny, steps in.

Bay runs the count full before popping out to end the inning. Ugh.

We move to the bottom of the 1st, and my man Tim Wakefield is back on the mound for the Sox after a stint on the DL!

Johnny Damon hits a leadoff homerun for the Yankees. Crap.

I flip around a bit before catching A-Rod striking out to end the inning.

7:27: Pennsylvania Governor and Clintonista Ed Rendell is next up to speak in Denver. Rendell made waves earlier today for comparing Obama to Adlai Stevenson. Now, Stevenson is looked up to around this blog, but in most places he is remembered primarily for being the guy who lost the presidential election to Eisenhower. Twice. Not the best comparison Rendell could have made, and suspicions continue to mount that there are forces in Denver aligning against the nominee.

Rendell hits some high notes in his speech, reminiscing about the price of gas eight years ago ($1.50!) and informing us that the only thing green about John McCain’s energy policy is tax relief for Big Oil. I chuckle at both of these lines, but the room is dead and you have to wonder if the hall is half empty. It’s like a boxing match in Vegas, with all the high rollers waiting till the very last minute before the main event to appear. And the main event tonight is, of course, Hillary Clinton.

7:36: Chris Matthews wonders why there has been no mention from the podium thus far of Dick Cheney. “He is the least popular American of the last hundred years. You’d think somebody would come up with a one-liner about him.” Good point.

Meanwhile in the Bronx: We have BREAKING NEWS! To the surprise of exactly no one, JD Drew has been placed on the DL just in time for the stretch run. Remember kids, no one is better at getting out of games than good ol’ JD.

The Sox tied the game at 1 while Rendell was speaking, so I have one more reason to dislike the Governor of Pennsylvania.

7:47: Former Clinton staffer Lisa Caputo laughs off Chris Matthews’ assertion that the Clintons could be plotting for 2012 as ridiculous. After all, Hillary has been campaigning for Obama since June! Um…well…yes, but wouldn’t it be fair to say, Lisa, that her campaigning has had just a wee bit to do with paying down the ridiculous campaign debt she ran up after the race was more or less over? Just a wee bit? You think? Maybe?

Meanwhile in the Bronx: A-Rod grounds into a double-play to end the 3rd inning. Boston now leads 3-2.

8pm: Chris Matthews compares the Obama/Clinton tension to the problems in Northern Ireland. Keith Olbermann channels Ted Theodore Logan, urging everyone to pretty much be excellent to each other. (I’m paraphrasing, but that is damn close to what he said.)

I’m not sure who initially raised it, but an interesting conversation arises about how little power Hillary may even have to turn back the tide of anger in her supporters. She spent months pretending she had been slighted, pretending that the nomination had been wrongfully taken away, pretending that Obama was not qualified—and her people believed every word of it. Even is she comes around 180 degrees now on every point, will it be enough to bring her diehards back into the party fold? Maybe not.

8:24: Howard Fineman reports on the situation surrounding the convention roll call vote. Hillary’s vocal minority of supporters are adamant that the roll call must be held, in its entirety, “for the sake of history.” Fineman also lets us know that the bulk of Clinton’s remarks tonight will be about herself, her campaign, and her place in history. She should be attacking McCain—not setting herself up for 2012.

No one proves their detractors right quite like Hillary Clinton.

8:28: Terry McAuliffe appears for an interview and, as is usual, that is my cue to pour a cocktail.

8:35: We’re back. Is there a name for orange vodka and ginger ale? If not then I am officially submitting “Jimmy V” for approval.

“What’ll you have?”

“Um…gimme a Jimmy V.”

I like it.

Meanwhile in the Bronx: The Sox are up 6-3 in the 5th inning. Should I be paying more attention to this game? I feel perhaps I should be. A-Rod pops out with men on first and second, AND THE BOO BIRDS ARE OUT IN NEW YORK! It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Really.

8:46: I’ll admit it: All the hype and spin about tonight is slowly burning me out. I’d be happier in bed. Happier, yes, but less fulfilled. So I suffer on for you, dear reader!

8:52: Rachel Maddow opines, “If Hillary Clinton is going to stand up for women and for feminism then she needs to condemn these ads from John McCain in which he is clearly using her.” (Me nodding.)

Pat Buchanan retorts, “If she is serious about helping Obama get elected then she will gut McCain from the podium tonight. I don’t think it happens.” (The nodding slowly morphs into a disgusted shaking of the head.)

9:07: The marathon coverage is taking its toll. Matthews and Olbermann are bickering at each other on live TV. That was both ugly and embarrassing. Poor Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader of the House, is forced to sit by and watch this spectacle unfold while he waits to be interviewed. Moving on…

9:11: Andrea Mitchell interviews Virginia Governor and VP shortlister Tim Kaine. Yep, still wouldn’t know Tim Kaine if he walked into the room. Joe Biden was a much better choice.

9:19: Much to my horror, Spike Lee appears on the convention floor. He is described as “a keen observer of race relations” and lets us know that he himself is only five generations removed from being a slave. The t-shirt of Obama dunking a basketball over John McCain is a nice touch.

Meanwhile in the Bronx: Boston leads New York 7-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning.

9:29: Pennsylvania Senator (and pro-lifer) Bob Casey appears at the podium. Casey, to put it gently, is a bland speaker. He does manage to get the crowd to chant “four more months” in reference to George Bush, which is impressive.

Chris Matthews: “People are paying attention now. It takes a while to get them interested, but if the price of gas gets out of control, or there is a questionable war, or the country is being led by a clown, then people get interested.” Wow. How this same crew will be able to cover the GOP next week is beyond me.

Meanwhile in the Bronx: I flip back just in time to see A-Rod hit into another double-play, this one induced by my boy Justin Masterson! The score is still 7-3.

9:41: Former Virginia Governor and current candidate for US Senate Mark Warner appears onstage. Warner has set a new record for length of time spent as the “next big thing” without ever having taken a shot at being the “big thing”. His window might very well be closing. If he isn’t sworn in as a senator in January then it is officially closed.
And we quickly learn the problem with Warner: He can’t hold his audience. Most of the crowd in Denver is looking for Hillary, and I’m flipping back to the game. (Still 7-3)

10:15: The countdown is on. The video tribute! The speech! NEXT!

Meanwhile in the Bronx: It is all over at Yankee Stadium. Sox win, Sox win, Sox win!

10:31: Bill Richardson stops by to let us know that the party is fine, there are no divisions…but, no, he hasn’t spoken to Bill Clinton and he’s pretty sure that the former president is still royally pissed. OK then.

10:35: A great shot of Michelle Obama and Joe Biden greeting Jimmy Carter in the balcony. This is juxtaposed against Bill Clinton swooping in like Caesar to the imperial box. It is clear on this night that there are two parties right now, the legitimate one led by Barack Obama and something much darker and uglier led by the Clintons.

10:38: The video tribute begins. My notes on it are quite thin. In fact they are non-existent. I’m not quite sure why. Obviously, nothing of importance happened.

10:42: Finally, there she is, clad in an orange pantsuit and greeted by thunderous applause. This is Hillary’s big moment…a full two nights before she had hoped it would occur. So sad…

MSNBC finds a shot of a Clinton supporter with her sign held upside down. We go back to her three separate times.

Bill Clinton mouths, “I love you.” Awww.

She trots out the unity card early, telling the audience, “Barack Obama is my candidate and he MUST be our next president!” To her credit, it sounded convincing.

She pays tribute to the murdered Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman, Bill Gwatney, and to the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, one of her most ardent supporters. This was classy and well done.

Onto policy, and this speech becomes more about what she wants to do than about her as a person or candidate. But, she makes it sound like Obama will sign her healthcare bill into law. That is a pipe dream.

Clinton compliments Michelle Obama, and the camera finds Michelle in the audience, doing her very best to flash a convincing smile. (She pulls it off.)

She wraps up by noting, “It is fitting that George Bush and John McCain will be in the Twin Cities next week, because they are awful hard to tell apart!” Kick, wham, stunner.

11:08: Keith Olbermann announces, “Grand slam.” He’s right. That was one hell of a speech. Clinton did a masterful job of delivering it, too. I don’t think she said enough to defuse the tensions swirling around this convention, but what she did say sounded genuine.

What didn’t she say? She never came out and said that Barack Obama was ready to be President of the United States. That should have been a focal point, the focal point, and its omission is glaring.

Bedtime. Until tomorrow…