Live Blogging: Barack Obama’s DNC Acceptance Speech
Live blogging of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech of the Democratic nomination to be the next President of the United States. Joe Biden made a surprise appearance to stir up the crowd of 85,000 Barack supporters. Barack has a big task following great speeches by Bill and Hillary Clinton the last two nights.
(Refresh for Updates)
8:58pm - A reference to scripture to conclude Barack’s speech to appeal to the evangelicals. Brooks & Dunn comes on the speakers to Barack waving to the crowd of 85,000 supporters. So a reference to the Bible and a country music song to conclude his speech? Are you kidding me? Smart for sure….but a bit odd and see-through!
WOW! A major firework show from the top of the Greek columns with Ronnie Dunn singing about America to the crowd. This confetti, firework show, symphony musical is bigger than any event at Disney World. I thought the stage was relatively tame but this is way too much. The superstar image will be hard to shake after this display of fireworks (not made in the USA).
Phoney Joe Biden and the Obama family come on stage for the obligatory photo shoot.
The speech started out very slow. As it went on Barack found his grove and finished very strong. It did sound like a lot of programs proposed by Democrats for many years. Overall it was a good speech but in my opinion not as good as Hillary’s from Tuesday night.
8:57pm - A very nice reference to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
8:55pm - Joe Biden must have got a hold of a copy of this speech and added about 14 paragraphs to it. Just a bit too long.
8:52pm - Starting to go a bit long. Now he is referencing his race and not being the typical candidate.
“This election has never been about me, it’s about you.”
8:50pm - Barack tries to get a hold of the abortion issue. We want to all reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies according to BO. Quick one liner about gay marriage and being able to visit those we love in the hospital.
8:49pm - Just used his best line from his 2004 speech about not this or that America but “the United States of America.”
8:47pm - Time to wrap it up. A very good second half to Barack’s speech.
“Patriotism has no party.”
8:44pm - “I will never hesitate to defend this nation.”
8:43pm - Time for Iraq and ‘Barack Knows Best.’
“John McCain won’t even follow Osama Bin Laden to the cave he lives.”
8:42pm - “Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility.”
8:40pm - There it is…the first John F. Kennedy reference.
8:38pm - Barack’s plan will lower health care premiums per BO. Will make sure insurance companies stop discriminating against those that are ill and need health care the most. All good points. Hopefully this can take place regardless of who the Prez becomes.
8:35pm - Now he is into the portion of his speech that is a lot of the same things McCain believes. Onto education.
8:35pm - Always a bad idea to speak after Bill and Hillary. Barack at best is the third most inspirational speaker this week.
8:33pm - He might pick it up, but I believe he should have used his 2004 speech from the DNC again. This one is lacking something and the audience can tell. Very few interruptions or applause.
8:32pm - Barack goes into his upbringing again to try to distance himself from the “celebrity” and “elitist” tags.
8:29pm - “An economy that honors the dignity of work.” - from a Democrat?
8:26pm - The attack on McCain continues. I am not sure what to say. Just more of the same from the campaign trail. “It’s time for them to own their failure.” He is directly quoting speeches given by Biden and the Clintons this week.
8:24pm - “I am not willing to take a 10% chance on change.”
8:23pm - Oh geez, the third term comparison to electing McCain. Give it up. To me that is like 3rd grade humor. Stick to the issues! “Eight is enough!” Now the crowd is chanting it. Is that the best catch phrase from this speech? I sure hope not.
8:22pm - It’s the end of the world as we know it. Oh, sorry, got temporarily brainwashed for a moment. Where is Hillary? She was far more exciting!
8:20pm - So far the setting is a lot less rockstar than I thought it would be. Oh no, he starts back into his life story.
8:18pm - Joe ‘Smug’ Biden with big cheesy grin and waving hand yups it up for the close-up.
8:17pm - Starts the speech with a big thanks and shout out to Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Bill Clinton. Butter the rolls before you stick them in the oven.
8:15pm - “With profound gratitude and great humility I accept your nomination for President of the United States.”
8:12pm - The rockstar has arrived on stage. I believed that was Coldplay he walked out to. He needed some flames and fireworks to make it seem more like WWE Smack Down.
8:02pm - The Barack Obama intro tape has begun. As if we haven’t heard the Barack story enough this campaign season and this week. The video is very well done though. Better than a lot of the stuff they put on A&E. The video is so good that BO is going to have a hard time following it…but I have a feeling he will rise to the occasion.
[image: WENN]
Sphere: Related ContentLive Blogging: Bill Clinton’s DNC Speech
Live thoughts from Bill Clinton’s speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention from Denver.
7:28pm - A speech full of several exaggerations, especially about his administration, but Bill did what the Obama team scripted him to do. He made the case that experience doesn’t matter and that Barack is on the right side of history. He did a good job of coming across as sincere in the cause for Barack, but everyone seems to think Bill thinks different. Bill in reference to Joe Biden said that Barack “hit it out of the park” in selecting Biden as his running mate. I had to wonder what Hillary was thinking when he said that. Maybe the selection of Hillary would have been a Grand Slam.
7:23pm - He connects himself 16 years ago and the Republicans painting him as too young and too inexperienced to Barack. Bill should have spoke last night. He is right, it’s not fair for him to have to follow Hillary’s performance last night.
7:21pm - Sucky internet connection. Bill has been very solid. Gives McCain a slight pat on the back for his patriotism before tying him to Bush and the Republican party. Bill keeps on theme of “third time is not the charm.”
7:10pm - He is sticking to the script describing how bad our country is and how this is the end of times for the USA unless Barack is elected.
7:06pm - Bill starts right off saying he firmly supports Barack Obama for President. He gives his wife mad props for last night.
7:03pm - Bill Clinton is getting the standing ovation of standing ovations. This has to be good for his ego right? He is begging them to stop (half heartedly).
Sphere: Related ContentGennifer Flowers and Paula Jones Finally Tell After Kissing
Bill Clinton mistresses Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones are now telling the entire world what exactly happened sexually between them and Clinton before he became President of the United States.
The two women, whose names were widely known in the early 1990s as they claimed sexual encounters with Clinton, have created a Web site offering videos of their thoughts on Clinton, his wife Hillary and other matters surrounding their involvement with the man who was Arkansas governor at the time.
Hillary likely would have done the same to help pay off her campaign debts, but she couldn’t remember anything sexually ever happening between her and Bill besides the night Chelsea was conceived.
Both affairs with Flowers and Jones took place while Bill was governor of Arkansas.
I think I will save my money this time and wait for Ashley Alexandre Dupre to spill what happened with her and Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Sphere: Related ContentGina Gershon and Bill Clinton Sitting in a Tree
Bill Clinton and aging actress Gina Gershon are being linked together for being naughty under the sheets.
If true it should come as no surprise since the libido charged ex-President has mountains of free time on his hand now days. He also has a very absent wife, even when she is not running for the Presidency.
Now if Billy wants to make the big headlines then he needs to bed an actress that is currently selling out theaters.
Sphere: Related ContentBill Richardson and the Clintons
Who isn’t getting sick of Bill Richardson saying he did nothing wrong by endorsing Obama. By Richardson reiterating this so much and so frequently and responding to people provoking him (Bill Clinton, James Carville, and etc.) , it obviously means that he feels that in some way that he did. His conscious is apparently plaguing him.
Proof from CNN:
Sphere: Related ContentNew Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday sharply disputed Bill Clinton’s reported claim that Richardson promised to endorse Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House.
“I never did,” Richardson said. “I never saw [President Clinton] five times. I saw him when he watched the Super Bowl with me. We made it very clear to him that he shouldn’t expect an endorsement after that meeting.”
Bill Clinton’s comments reportedly came during a recent meeting with some California superdelegates. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the former president got “red faced” when the subject of Richardson came up and said, “Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that.”
In the interview Wednesday, Richardson acknowledged he was “very close to endorsing” Clinton, but decided not to after the campaign got “nasty.”
“I held back. I waited. I felt the campaign got nasty. I heard Senator Obama; he would talk to me continuously,” Richardson said.
“The Clintons should get over this,” he added.
Bill Clinton Suggests Clinton/Obama Ticket
The Clinton’s have been mentioning a Clinton/ Obama Ticket quite a bit recently. Sen. Hillary Clinton has mentioned it quite a few times, and now Bill Clinton is weighing in on it. He thinks that a Clinton/Obama ticket would be unstoppable. This has been referred to by many as a dream ticket.
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. — Bill Clinton told voters on the Gulf Coast yesterday that a Clinton-Obama ticket would be an “unstoppable force” in the general election, and that his wife is certainly considering it.
All three remaining White House hopefuls were off the trail yesterday, so the former president couldn’t help but be back in the spotlight. On top of that, Clinton decided to take questions for the first time in more than a month, and perhaps not surprisingly, a voter asked this question — would the two Democratic candidates join forces as a ticket.
“I never talk to her about this, because I think if you ever look past the next election you might not get past it,” Clinton cautioned. But he pointed to his wife’s recent comments on the matter, saying he believed she “was very open” to the idea. “I think she answered explicitly yes yesterday,” he said. “I heard he also said no, but I think she said yes.”
Clinton said that Hillary believes that if there was a way to “unite the energy and the new people” that Barack Obama has attracted with the appeal he said his wife has shown in “small town and rural America, they’d “be hard to beat.”
“You look at most of these places — he would win the urban areas and the upscale voters, and she wins the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president,” he said. “If you put those two things together, you’d have an almost unstoppable force.”
Clinton moved then to take another question, before he returned to the subject, saying he didn’t blame either candidate for not wanting to put the matter on the table now. “Nobody wants to give up the top spot until the voters get done voting,” he said. “[But] if you got the assurances of ultimate unity, then it’s a great mistake for other people to try to shut this process down early. I mean, the last primary is June the 7th. I didn’t get the votes in ‘92 to be nominated until June the 2nd. We don’t need to be in any hurry, let everybody vote.”
Later in the day, in Ellisville, Clinton revisited the topic. “She believes when this is over, if we can unify the Democratic Party, then we will clearly win because there is so much energy behind what is happening,” he said. “Nobody has ever seen anything like this.”
But given the Clinton camp’s implicit argument that Obama is not ready to be commander-in- chief or handle a 3:00 am phone call, Clinton was asked why then would she consider Obama for the No. 2 spot. “That’s politics,” Clinton said, not taking the bait, as he would put it. “I think she would be the best president for the reasons I say at every stop… But, you know, he is an immensely talented man. He’s brought a lot of energy and a lot of excitement to this race and I don’t know who is going to win. It’s not over yet, we’ve got a long way to go.”
Source: MSNBC
Sphere: Related ContentBill Clinton Weighs In On Hillary
Beaumont, Texas- Campaigning for his wife, Bill Clinton stated if she wins The Texas and Ohio Primaries, Hillary will be the Democratic Presidential Nominee. He also said that if she couldn’t win Texas and Ohio, that he didn’t believe that she could be the nominee. He went on to say that she at a terrible financial disadvantage compared to her rival, and that it is now in the hands of the people to make the decision to put her in the nominee spot. Now, the Clintons will inevitably play the “poor Hillary” card. That being said, the press has made it where Hillary has to walk a fine line, because there is a double standard for her (is it because she is a woman or because she is a Clinton or both) if she shows emotion she is being erratic and whiny, and if she doesn’t she is an ice queen with no emotions and no compassion.
Photo Source: newsamericanow.com
Sphere: Related ContentBill Clinton, Heckler video
This is the best video I could find with Bill Clinton and Robert Holeman. Unfortunately, it has other commentary as well.
Bill Clinton Argues With Obama Supporter
During a speech today in Canton,Ohio, Bill Clinton was heckled by Robert Holeman. Holeman who attended the Hillary Clinton rally to state his dislike for the way Bill Clinton and His Wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton are handling her campaign for presidency. Holeman states that he wants the Clinton Campaign to stop it’s negativity towards Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama. Holeman is saying that Clinton lightly slapped him in the face. Though according to reports it is unclear whether he did or not. Holeman makes some pretty outrageous claims. Holeman stated that Clinton said that Sen. Obama went after him first. Obama’s camp is stating that they have nothing to do with Robert Holeman and did not plant him in the audience.
It is unlikely that Clinton actually did make physical contact with this man. If he did it would be on every news broadcast in the country. Also, surely Obama and his staff wouldn’t be stupid enough to send this moron to defend them at a Clinton Rally. Maybe Clinton should have punched him.
Robert Holeman came to Timken High School here today with a message to deliver to Bill Clinton. He did — and he said the former president wasn’t happy about it.
Clinton spoke to a capacity crowd in this Northeast Ohio town, the third of five events today in the Buckeye State. He told voters that the contest was “the power of speeches against the promise of solutions by a world-class change maker.”
Throughout the event, as Clinton made his case for his wife, Holeman’s dissenting voice could be heard. At times he simply shouted Obama’s name. When Clinton would set up a sure applause line, Holeman could be heard heckling. As soon as Clinton finished speaking, the Canton native made a beeline to the ropeline to give Clinton a piece of his mind.
“I asked the president to please stop the bickering between the campaigns,” Holeman said in an interview afterwards. “All this name calling is like the bully in the yard. He can’t get his way, he can’t get nothing done.” Holeman said he thought Clinton was “gasping for air.”
“This is the last hurrah. After March 4, Hillary Clinton will be out of the race for good, and Obama will take the commanding lead,” he said. “She should back him with her delegates immediately. That’s what I’m asking them to do.”
Holeman said that Clinton responded by saying Obama came after him first. Holeman also described Clinton’s reaction to him as “irate.”
“I think he even hit me in the face with his hand,” he said. “He did give me a little pop. It was okay, because I understand his tenacity for his wife.” Clinton did engage Holeman for a few minutes, at times pointing directly at him. It was unclear whether he did make physical contact, however.
Holeman said he did support Bill Clinton during his campaigns, but that now the country wants a “new perspective.” “I think the president’s trying hoodwink us, bamboozle us, put us back in the okie doke,” he said. “He had eight years to do what he was supposed to do. All the things he said that she’s gonna do, he had the same authority that he wants her to have. Now if one Clinton, the male Clinton can’t get it done, how is Ms. Clinton [going to].”
Several Clinton supporters who saw the exchange came up to Holeman after to — shall we say delicately — express their disapproval for his actions. More negativity, Holeman said. “Hillary Clinton has started the most negative campaign I have ever seen, other than what the Republicans can launch,” he said. “I think we need to come together on those issues.”
*** UPDATE *** Obama spokesperson Ben LaBolt said Holeman was “absolutely not” a plant by the campaign. And a spokesperson for President Clinton who was near the president said there was no physical contact.
Source: MSNBC
Sphere: Related ContentHillary Clinton Says Scandals Are Not Likely To Occur
Hillary Clinton was asked about the possibility of a scandal involving Slick Willie C (Bill Clinton) and she said it wasn’t likely. It is surprise that a President who was marred in Scandal, could escape that possibility of that now, although it is possible. For those of us who witnessed Bill Clinton Presidency, it seems unlikely that all the skeletons are out of the closet considering his propensity for putting himself in them. Only time will tell the answer to the question.
Hillary Clinton, responding to a question about whether there might be a “new business or personal scandal” involving her husband Bill Clinton, said Monday night that voters should not be worried about the possibility.
“You know, I can assure this reader that that is not going to happen,” she said, in response to a question from a Santa Monica reader of the Web site Politico.com. “You know, none of us can predict the future, no matter who we are and what we are running for, but I am very confident that that will not happen.”
Source: CNN
Sphere: Related ContentBill Clinton Says Sorry, Kind of
Bill Clinton told a Maine Television Station on Thursday that, even though remarks made about Sen. Barack Obama during and just after the South Carolina primary were factually accurate, he should just promote his wife, not defend her, because he was a president. The inference is that he has no right to defend her only because he was a president, not that he took it too far or he did anything wrong. This comes off sounding like Slick Willie is trying to make himself look a victim, and maybe he is to some degree, though if he is it has more to do with his high profile status and the context of the Democratic presidential race, being so close and divided at the same time.
Speaking with a Maine television station Thursday night, the former president said the fallout from his comments ahead of the South Carolina primary last month proved he should only promote his wife’s presidential candidacy, not defend her.
“Everything I have said has been factually accurate, but I think the mistake I made was to think I was a spouse just like any other spouse who could defend his candidate,” Bill Clinton told Portland television station WCSH. “I think I can promote Hillary but not defend her because I was president.”
“I have to let her defend herself or let someone else defend her,” he continued. “But a lot of things that were said were factually inaccurate. I did not ever criticize Sen. Obama in South Carolina. I never criticized him personally.”
Clinton faced criticism over his seemingly aggressive campaigning in South Carolina ahead of that state’s crucial primary last month, with charges from some that he had made racially insensitive and divisive comments. Several prominent African-American leaders took aim at his remarks, most notably House Majority Whip James Clyburn — the South Carolina Democrat who has remained neutral in the presidential race but told CNN the former president needed to “chill.”
Exit polls taken on primary night seemed to indicate Bill Clinton’s remarks may have turned off some voters. Obama easily won the primary, and captured nearly 80 percent of the African-American vote — a group that had originally supported her candidacy.
“I think whenever I defend her, I risk being misquoted, and I risk being the story,” Clinton also said in Thursday’s interview. “I don’t want to be the story. This is her campaign, her presidency and her decisions. And so even if I win the an argument with another candidate, its not the right thing to do. “I need to promote her but not defend her.”
“I learned a very valuable lesson from all that dustup.”
Source: CNN
Sphere: Related ContentSlick Willie Hits The Church Circuit
Fmr. President Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton made Sunday a “holy” day by touring African-American churches in the Los Angeles area today. You can bet that the sermons and speeches weren’t on the 7th Commandment.
In the run-up to Super Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton is planning a tour of African-American churches in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.
A prominent elected official who will be joining him has described it as Clinton’s mea culpa tour to the black community, although the Clinton campaign disputes that idea.
The former president set off a firestorm of criticism for comments he made during the South Carolina primary, remarks that were widely interpreted as racially insensitive.
He has adamantly denied he was playing racial politics. Exit polls indicated Bill Clinton’s aggressive campaigning might have contributed to his wife’s stunning defeat in the South Carolina primary.
A majority of South Carolina voters said Bill Clinton’s campaigning was important to their vote. Of that majority, 48 percent cast ballots for Barack Obama while 37 percent went for Clinton, according to CNN exit polling.
Some analysts believe that the former president’s remarks on the trail may have contributed to Sen. Ted Kennedy’s decision to endorse Obama.
The ex-president’s tour of African-American churches comes as the Clinton campaign fights to win a coveted prize on Super Tuesday — delegate-rich California, where African-Americans make up 7 percent of Democratic primary voters.
Source: CNN
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