Where Was Hillary?
This is going to be a column about Netroots Nation, who showed up and who didn't, and what happened that got everyone talking. But before we get to all of that, I'm going to go off on a tangent and tell a personal story. Hey, it's my first day back, and things are still a bit foggy, so you'll have to bear with me for a bit.
If I had to slap a headline on my travels to and from the Netroots conference in Phoenix, I'd have to use: "Disaster Follows In My Wake." I was coming from Northern California, and I drove a new route (for me) across the desert. Part of it included driving on a very short stretch of Interstate 15, near San Bernardino. Then I hooked up with I-10 and took it all the way across the Arizona border and into Phoenix. Before I got home, a wildfire actually burned up cars and semis on that stretch of I-15, and a bridge collapsed on I-10 near the border, taking out a major Interstate until they can rebuild the entire bridge. While I was there, it rained in Phoenix, in the Valley of the Sun -- a hard enough thunderstorm to be called a "monsoon" by the locals. Coming back (luckily, we took a different route to get back), we got rained on in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Now, I've been rained on before in Death Valley, but that was something like two minutes of a few tiny drops. This was a whole different story. It was pouring cats and dogs when we drove through Barstow, and going down the mountain pass into Tehachapi it rained so hard the freeway slowed to about 40 miles per hour. In July. I have no idea what to make of all this, but had to toss out my own personal travel story before addressing the convention itself, because as you can see it wasn't exactly a boring trip.
As for the Netroots Nation convention itself, the most notable thing was that two Democratic candidates for president showed up, and three did not. Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley were both on hand to court Lefties, but I had to wonder where Hillary Clinton was. Lincoln Chafee seems to barely be running, so it's easy to see why he might not have had the cash on hand for a plane ticket. Jim Webb seems to only be courting Southern white voters, so he may have made a conscious decision to snub Netroots. But Hillary's absence was indeed notable.
O'Malley and Sanders appeared in what was ostensibly supposed to be a "candidates' forum," but in actuality turned into a test of "can you handle hecklers?" O'Malley and Sanders both coped with the protesters to some extent, but the real loser was the host. Jose Antonio Vargas just lost complete control of the proceedings, and instead let the event become totally hijacked.
To be fair, I don't know what I would have done differently, had I been up there attempting to moderate a very vocal debate. The protestors themselves had more fun chanting then taking advantage of a rare situation -- a golden opportunity to ask pointed questions of two candidates for president. The protestors didn't really want to hear anything either man had to say, and instead spent most of their time and energy trying to shout the candidates down when they tried to speak.
This being a Lefty convention, security was of course not called to remove the protestors (which would likely have happened to them in just about any other setting, I should point out). Instead, their spokesperson was invited up on stage and given a microphone. O'Malley had the majority of his time co-opted by the 15-minute speech by the spokesperson which followed. O'Malley then royally stepped in it by saying "Black lives matter" and for some reason then felt compelled to add "White lives matter." You could hear an audible groan in the room when he said this (and repeated it, for emphasis). O'Malley did try to actually debate the protestors, but soon learned that they didn't want a discussion at all, since they immediately shouted down anything he tried to say.
Sanders handled things differently. After O'Malley left, Sanders was also interrupted by chanting. Sanders tried to answer the protestors a few times, but soon realized the futility of doing so, and instead just shouted them down by addressing the rest of the audience who had come to hear the candidates speak. The protestors were loud, but Sanders had amplification on his side, since he had a microphone. Sanders did fashion his remarks to answer the issues the protestors were raising, and laid out his own extensive record of championing civil rights before telling the audience what he'd do to change things as president.
Now, Bernie Sanders was around in the 1960s. He's seen protests aplenty. And my guess is that he's also no stranger to Lefties bickering among themselves. There certainly were a lot of splinter groups struggling with splinter groups back then. As there are now (remember the Occupy Wall Street general assemblies?). So Sanders didn't give the same deer-in-the-headlights performance that O'Malley did -- but speaking to various people afterwards, Sanders did come across to some as too forceful, by basically ignoring the protestors for much of his time.
Audience reactions were mixed in general. Some even tried to shout down the protestors with "Let him speak!" chants. Some thought the protest was great street theater. But most of the people I talked to showed at least some degree of exasperation with the protestors, and felt they had wasted an opportunity to have a real conversation. Some thought O'Malley handled it better, some thought Sanders did.
Many, like me, wondered where Hillary was. Hillary Clinton successfully avoided having to face Lefty hecklers. That's likely why she didn't show up. Even so, Hillary's got a very large bridge to build with progressives, many of whom view her with outright suspicion (or worse). Hillary's going to need some energy and excitement from progressives if she's going to turn out enough voters to become president. So far, she's falling short. I barely heard her name mentioned during the entire conference, in fact. That should be troubling to the Clinton campaign, but they calculated that avoiding getting heckled (or booed) was more important.
Granted, even if there hadn't been protestors for Sanders and O'Malley, Clinton likely would have gotten some very vocal feedback from the crowd in one way or another (and on more than one issue). And yes, there would have been video to run under "Clinton Booed By Lefties!" headlines. But sooner or later, Clinton's got to make her case in front of skeptical progressive crowds. That's the only way she can convince any segment of them to get excited about her campaign in any way. Right now, Clinton seems to be running on her 2008 "Inevitability" playbook. She's content to answer protestors on Facebook, days after the event, rather than show up in person. She's basically running as a general election candidate, since she figures she's got the primaries already sewn up. Maybe she'll show up to Netroots 2016, after all the primaries are over.
Or maybe she won't. Bernie Sanders pulled in over 11,000 people to a rally right after Netroots Nation ended. The doubters said he only spoke to such large crowds in liberal university towns, but this was in the middle of the biggest city in a very red state. Lefties are indeed excited about the 2016 presidential race, but right now they're not volunteering for Hillary. They're flocking to Bernie instead.
-- Chris Weigant
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Chris,
I guess you didn't make it to the panel on how to promote a progressive foreign policy and its focus on the Iran deal ... let me rephrase that ... its focus on why and how to support the deal and prevent a congressional override of a presidential veto. (I thought I might have heard your voice asking the last question...)
I watched the whole panel discussion today and, let me tell you, I was impressed! There was a great emphasis on what the progressive community can and must do to ensure that this nuclear deal with Iran is not scuttled by the US Congress and some very, very powerful lobbyists.
I'm not sure what I expected to come out of another NetRoots Nation gathering - well, that's not true ... heh, oh, I kid the progressive community ... all the time - but I'm very happy to see them actually praising something that the Obama administration has achieved. It was refreshing, to say the least. In fact, it was almost as if they weren't quite sure what to do with a position of being in favour of the administration - they are a little out of practice in mounting a campaign in support of something, I guess.
But, in any event, I'm glad they're all on board with this and with great enthusiasm because the forces lining up on the other side are pretty muscular and won't go down without a very long and drawn out fight.
She had scheduling conflicts.
She should apologize to all of the Netroots heroes who sacrificed to make the treacherous desert crossing during dangerous climate change wild fires and weather. She should apologize to their families too.
Maybe she should just withdraw from the race, altogether. Heh.
O'Malley then royally stepped in it by saying "Black lives matter" and for some reason then felt compelled to add "White lives matter." You could hear an audible groan in the room when he said this (and repeated it, for emphasis).
This seem to be a common theme amongst the Left...
ONLY black lives matter... :^/
I would think the mantra "ALL lives matter" would be the mantra de jour...
If black people don't think that white lives matter, why should white people think that black lives matter??
I have never understood that...
But sooner or later, Clinton's got to make her case in front of skeptical progressive crowds. That's the only way she can convince any segment of them to get excited about her campaign in any way.
That's the problem with the Clinton campaign..
She *CAN'T* handle anything she doesn't have firm control over... She *CAN'T* think on her feet..
Which is why she is disqualified to be POTUS...
Michale
Coming back (luckily, we took a different route to get back), we got rained on in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Now, I've been rained on before in Death Valley, but that was something like two minutes of a few tiny drops. This was a whole different story. It was pouring cats and dogs when we drove through Barstow, and going down the mountain pass into Tehachapi it rained so hard the freeway slowed to about 40 miles per hour.
This brings back some memories... I was in Mojave in the mid-80s.. Have a small horse farm plot at the base of the Tehachapi mountains..
Fond memories..
Glad ya made it home in one piece.. :D
Michale
If black people don't think that white lives matter, why should white people think that black lives matter??
I have never understood that...
I mean, honestly. Think about it..
A group dedicated solely and completely to the safety, advancement and preservation of a single race over other races..
If THAT is not the textbook definition of the KKK, then what is??
Michale
But sooner or later, Clinton's got to make her case in front of skeptical progressive crowds.
Newsflash....
Sooner or later, Clinton's got to make her case in front of skeptical INDEPENDENT crowds...
If she can't, she won't be elected POTUS..
It's really that simple...
Michale [6] -
You'd be astounded at the improvements they've made to CA-58. From Bakersfield all the way past Edwards, it's now a 4 lane freeway (2 ea. direction). Instead of going through the town of Mojave, it now bypasses it. When you get to Barstow, it's a 4 lane freeway again, and you don't have to wind through city streets to get to I-40 or I-15. They've basically got one stretch left (right around the Four Corners jct with US-395) to build an overpass and a few more lanes, and it'll be a freeway from Bakersfield to Barstow.
I first drove this route back in the 1980s, and seen it grow (very slowly) over the decades. Anyway, thought you'd be interested...
-CW
Michale -
One more thing. The airport in Mojave is (for those who don't know) used for both frieght and for training pilots on jumbo jets (if they crash in the desert, they're not going to hit anybody or anything).
I drove by it a few days after 9/11, when all planes were still grounded. They were using it as an overflow parking lot for the West Coast, and I've never seen that many big jets parked in one place in my life...
-CW
During the height of the cold war, Mojave had more than a dozen Soviet ICBMs targeted on it..
At the time it was a major transportation hub...
My lovely wife worked as a Security Guard at that Mojave airport.. :D I was an FSO at Edwards at the time..
Every time I watch Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Indy's boyhood home reminds me of Rosamond.... :D
I first drove this route back in the 1980s, and seen it grow (very slowly) over the decades.
You probably drove thru while I was there.. We left in '86 after the Challenger disaster...
Michale
As for the Netroots Nation convention itself, the most notable thing was that two Democratic candidates for president showed up, and three did not.
That's what I would have expected.
Indeed, I can't imagine anything that happened there could have been better than the progressive foreign policy panel moderated by the executive director of Moveon.org.
It was very good and what conferences like this should be all about - mobilizing Americans to fight for what is enlightened policy.
The O'Malley situation was ALL OVER the "news", naturally.
Any candidate that can't face down an angry mob of mal-content racist fanatics has absolutely NO chance of facing down an angry islamist fanatic or an angry Russian fanatic.....
O'Malley just lost all chance of even a chance of being elected POTUS...
Michale
When I heard about the Black Lives Matter protest and the reaction of Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders my first reaction was that here was a major missed opportunity for both candidates. I think the message the activists were trying to convey was that there is a severe crisis happening in real time wherein Black people in this country can be brtuatlized and murdered with impunity and very little is being done about it. It behooves progressive leaders to actually have sensitivity to the severity of the issue and to then exhibit that sensitivity accompanied by a sense of urgency -- to people from whom they hope to gain votes. All these guys had to do was show some basic human empathy and offer sincere acknowledgement and validation. The fact that Bernie decided to begin delivering his standard stump speech, in effect ignoring the pleas of the activists, showed a a rigidity and tone-deafness that does not reflect well on him. Following that by cancelling scheduled meetings with Black and Hispanic activists made him, I think, look miffed and baffled -- at least O'Malley met with several people afterwards and did what he could both to apologize and to learn something. Since then Bernie has apparently adjusted his stump speech to reference the problems Black Lives Matter is trying to address and that's good. At this point it is the bare minimum but it's a start. Meanwhile Hillary can only benefit -- if she chooses too. Her remarks on facebook today were okay, but could have been better. More urgency needed. And I expect she'll be challenged at some point in public. If I were her I'd be scheduling meetings with Black LIves Matter activists right now. (As I wrote that I had a flashback of the Bill Clinton/George H. Bush debate when the woman asked a question about -- I can't remember anymore -- but Bill walked up to her and looked her in the eye and basically did the "I feel your pain" maneuver. That's really what Martin/Bernie needed to do.)
I think the message the activists were trying to convey was that there is a severe crisis happening in real time wherein Black people in this country can be brtuatlized and murdered with impunity and very little is being done about it.
With the utmost respect, Paula..
That is the BIGGEST load of crap I have ever heard..
The ONE example of a cop murdering a black person that you can point to was a perfect example of justice...
The evidence pointed to the cop's guilt and the cop was promptly arrested...
The BLM group is nothing more than another racist group. Another KKK...
Violent... Ugly... Terroristic... And racist through and through...
ANY candidate who panders to the BLM, the KKK or any other racist group will lose their primary...
Michale
Just answer me one question..
Why is it that black lives only "matter" when their deaths can be used as a political partisan bludgeon to beat people over the head with??
Michale
I mean, just look at the facts..
O'Malley said "ALL Lives Matter"..
And racist fanatics on the Left **BOO'ED** him for saying that..
That says it all regarding where the racist fanatics are coming from..
White lives don't matter. Red lives don't matter. Yellow lives don't matter.. Blue lives don't matter.
Only BLACK lives matter..
Yea... THAT's a great message...
Michale
CW -
Close behind the Odyssey for "Worst Vacation Travel Ever." Try sacrificing a goat next trip.
M - back then pretty much everything had a dozen Soviet ICBMs targeted at it. Or close enough it didn't matter much for most people....
M - back then pretty much everything had a dozen Soviet ICBMs targeted at it. Or close enough it didn't matter much for most people....
Some targets were considerably more important than other targets..
Mojave was one of those targets..
Plus there were the secret Aliens/Government meetings held in the catacombs under the Mojave Airport..
But I am not allowed to talk about that.. :D hehehehehe
Michale
Michale -
I just answered Tuesday's comments, so I have to ask you:
Why is it OK to draw the conclusion that all immigrants are murderers and rapists from a few isolated examples, but it's NOT OK to draw the same conclusion about cops from a few isolated incidents?
Your bias is showing...
-CW
CW,
First off, we're NOT talking about "immigrants"...
We're talking about ILLEGAL immigrants..
Secondly, no one is saying that **ALL** illegal immigrants are rapists, murders and drug dealers...
All ANYONE is saying is that those who are ARE KILLING AMERICANS!!!
And no one even wants to TALK about the Americans that ARE being brutally murdered and raped and killed...
Why is that??
Michale
Your bias is showing...
Of course it is..
Funny thing is, I am the *ONLY* one here who freely admits that the bias exists!! :D
Michale
In answer to the question this commentary poses...
Where Was Hillary??
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/23/criminal-inquiry-sought-in-hillary-clintons-use-of-email.html
She was prepping her defense in pending criminal charges...
:D
Michale
And the hits just keep on coming...
The Canary In The Coal Mine
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/248907-dem-fears-over-clintons-strength-grow-after-new-poll
Michale
It seems that TWO different IGs FROM the OBAMA Administration has recommended a criminal investigation be opened up against Hillary Clinton and her private email server..
So... Anyone wanna cry FAUX SCANDAL!!! now?? :D
Michale