"I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing"

Good grief, I ended up sleeping 10 hours last night! Apparently yesterday really took it out of me. I am back at 100%, baby, lookin' good, feelin' good! Mom called earlier to see if I was feeling better...awww, thanks, Mom!

 

Warning: Political opinions ahead!

 

Of course, we had to talk a little about last night's convention and Senator Clinton's speech. To quote my Mom, "Well, Honey...I have to say it...she looked presidential!" Ha ha! Keep in mind that Mom is no fan of the Clintons, but she really liked Hillary's speech. Even though they're leaving for Kentucky at 6 AM tomorrow, they plan on staying up to watch Bill Clinton's speech tonight. That should be an interesting one, too--let's see if he can take his wife's advice and fully get behind the Democratic nominee.

 

My opinion is that Sen. Clinton did what she needed to do, but our buddy Mark thought that she "knocked it out of the park." Ken held back a little, saying that he thought she accomplished 80% of her mission--which was to get Democrats united behind Sen. Obama. He felt she should have mentioned some of the disparaging things she said about him during the primaries, but as an analyst pointed out afterwards, this is only one speech, and she'll have more chances to do so on the campaign trail for Obama.

 

I thought she did a great job. She touched on the differences between the two parties and what they want for the country, got into a little bit of attack dog mode (just a little), but I think the most effective thing she said was, after speaking about some of the people she encountered along the way--the woman without healthcare, etc.--she asked people WHY they got involved in this campaign. Was it for her, or was it for those people? I hope folks will think long and hard about that. Her and Obama's platforms were essentially not all that different--same goals, occasionally different methods. In fact, sometimes they had to really reach to distance themselves from each other, because they were actually quite aligned politically. Now we're nearing the official nomination for each party's candidate, moving into campaigning for the general election, and people need to figure out exactly what is important to them--the party's platform, or who is going to deliver it?

 

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I wasn't backing Hillary, and wasn't much of a fan. Last night, she jumped up several notches in my eyes. I thought she was outstanding, and I believe she will throw all of her support behind Obama, because he IS the nominee. And as I told Ken, hearing her give that speech on the 88th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote was actually quite moving to me. As the old ads used to say, "We've come a long way, baby!" (Of course, that was a cigarette ad, but that's beside the point.) To think that less than 100 years ago, we couldn't even cast a vote, let alone run for office, and for Senator Clinton to have gotten as far as she did, I give her a standing ovation. (And I really just did that.) 

 

While the circumstance is a completely different one, I suspect that's the way many blacks are feeling with Obama being in the position he is. In fact, I've heard several people comment (including Charles Barkley...more about Sir Charles soon) that they never thought they'd see a time when a black man had a chance to be President. Like I said, I know the circumstances don't really compare, but as a woman, to see Sen. Clinton have a real chance at the Presidency was quite a milestone.

 

I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am that I am witnessing such a historic moment in American politics. It's incredibly exciting, invigorating, and fascinating, and I wouldn't miss one minute of it.

Tags: Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Charles Barkley, women's right to vote