At first there was a hint of smoke in the air in Iowa, but quickly went away in New Hampshire and Nevada. South Carolina brought a quick whiff of carbon but I didn't see any smoke until Super Tuesday when Clinton had some nice wins but nothing too impressive. Obama did win more states after all. Yet during the rest of this month, the smoke got darker and billowed from her campaign with the ferocity of significant fire. Well now I can see the flames.
From The Huffington Post:
"Tonight I want to talk to you about the choice you have in this election and why that choice matters," the New York Democrat declared. "It is about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work, on hard work to get America back to work. That's our goal!"
Clinton's speech -- which included neither a concession nor a congratulations to Obama -- was cut off only minutes in as all the news networks switched to cover Obama's remarks.
Of the dueling speeches Tim Russert, on MSNBC, said:
"I thought tonight when Hillary Clinton started speaking the Obama people were stepping back saying alright you go first you are the loser. When they heard no concession or no graciousness quote on quote coming from Hillary Clinton they decided why allow her an opportunity to criticize us? We are going to go out there and proclaim victory."
Obama did claim his victory, and rightly so. People are looking for a change in this country and Barack is ready to give it to us. Unfortunately the same can not be said of Hillary. If you caught her speech from Ohio and her "introduction," you might even see the same flames that I'm looking at.
"We can't just have speeches, we've got to have solutions," she declared, "and we need those solutions for America. We've got to get America back in the solutions business. Because while words matter, the best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action."
Those remarks, however, paled in comparison to the criticisms launched by Clinton's introductory speaker, Machinists Union President Tom Buffenbarger. As Ken Vogel reported for Politico, Buffenbarger "compared Obama with 'Janus, the two-faced god' of Roman mythology. He called him 'silver tongued' and a 'thespian' and 'the man in love with the microphone.'"
"He's not just a trained thespian, he's a terrific shadow boxer. You know the type. Outside the ring, he pretends he can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," he said. "But Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois state Senate. He took a walk more than 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves, all the right combinations, all the right footwork, but he never steps into the ring. He walks away from the fight."
If Tom Buffenbarger or Hillary Clinton think that type of attack is going to win any votes, they have another thing coming. Americans in general and Democrats specifically are sick and tired of the negativity in politics. Clinton isn't saying anything new and that is one of the main reasons she is losing so many contests. When the Democrats go up against McCain, we want to see a clear difference in the candidates and having someone with a positive attitude is definitely something we need.
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