DENVER — If you believed the pundits on the national networks and
in the conservative blogosphere, you would think the Democrats here in Denver
were ramping up to enter the Pepsi Center on Monday night for a session of
WWE Smackdown. Poltico.com reported today that “mistrusts and resentments are
boiling over among top associates of the presumptive nominees.” On MSNBC,
Norah O’Donnell asked the Democratic governor of Minnesota, “What can you tell
those Pennsylvania Democrats, who backed Hillary Clinton so strongly, about
Barack Obama?”
I hate to burst their bubble, but this Hillary vs. Barack
b.s. is a complete and total contrivance manufactured by those in the
media who are determined to define this party as one that is divided. But
according to the “boots on the ground” at the Marriott Tech Center, where the
Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut delegations have gathered, nothing
could be farther from the truth.
David Eisenhower, grandson of the 34th
President, appeared with several students from the University of Pennsylvania
this morning at the Pennsylvania delegation breakfast. Mr. Eisenhower, whose
wife Julie Nixon Eisenhower is an Obama supporter, explained that the media
rumors swirling about fighting and bitter feelings were overblown. “I can
tell you right now, there is not going to be a fight,” declared Eisenhower,
who will also be attending the Republican convention with the same Penn
students.
Clinton delegates and superdelegates from Pennsylvania
are angry at the media for presenting them as “Japanese soldiers in the South
Pacific still fighting after the war is over”, as a reporter for a
conservative website alleged an Obama representative had called them.
Rena Baumgarten, the Pennsylvania Committee Chairman, and
Clinton superdelegate, said that although she had been firm in her committment
to Hillary, she is now supporting Barack Obama “100%”. She wished Senator
Clinton had released her delegates before this week so that they could declare
more publicly and unequivocally their support of Obama. Ann Bursis, State
party Treasurer from Homesdale, PA said that not only was she enthusiatically
for Barack Obama, but that she was elated over his selection of Senator Joe
Biden as a running mate because, “Joe spends weekends in Scranton and is like
our third Senator.” Evie McNulty, a Hillary delegate from Scranton admitted
to having been distraught and of going through a grieving process when her
candidate did not become the apparent nominee. “I believed it was time for a
woman, and I was disappointed, but you know, there’s always tomorrow. Right
now, it is time for us to address the serious issues facing this nation, and
Barack Obama is the man who can get us back on track.”
Perhaps Clinton Superdelegate Marcel Groen, Party
Chairman from Norristown, Pennsylvania and the most outspoken and passionate
member of the group said it best: “I first got involved in Democratic party
politics in 1968. This has been the hardest campaign I have ever witnessed.
But in the end, this is not a race between Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama. This is a race between a party that espouses that
government is evil and unneccessary and a party that believes government is a
necessary tool in preserving the public good. The media is not being honest
because they love to see a fight. But contrary to what the media wants, we
are united here in Denver, because Democrats know what’s at stake for America
if we are not.”
