Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace appeared on WIND's John & Cisco In The Morning today and had this to say about the news that Hillary Clinton's name will be placed in nomination during the Democratic National Convention:
Internal mp3
WALLACE: I'm not sure ...
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace appeared on WIND's John & Cisco In The Morning today and had this to say about the news that Hillary Clinton's name will be placed in nomination during the Democratic National Convention:
WALLACE: I'm not sure Obama is controlling it. It seems to me he's getting rolled here. First, they [the Clintons] wanted Hillary to have a prime-time speech on Tuesday night -- she got it. Then they wanted Bill Clinton to have a prime-time speech on Wednesday night -- he got it. Now they wanted her name placed in nomination -- they got it. Now they want a roll call vote.
I can tell you having talked to some top people in the Obama campaign a few days ago, they did not want this to happen. Precisely because when you've got over a 1,000 Clinton delegates and you're on the floor and you have her name placed in nomination and you have the roll call vote, there's the possibility for demonstrations, people chanting for 10 minutes: "We want Hillary!"
The Obama people say they're doing this in the interest of party unity. I don't know they're entirely certain that's how it's going to play out.
Obama is "getting rolled" by the Clintons? This is a perfect example of the kind of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" coverage Democrats often receive at the hands of national media figures.
Imagine if the opposite occurred -- if Obama had instead banished the Clintons from the DNC. It's fair to say Wallace would be having a field day with such developments, harping about "deepening divisions" and "Democrats in disarray."
But in this case, the party is actually making an effort to come together and to get past the residual hard feelings caused by the prolonged primary battle. While there may be some dissenters in the Obama campaign, Marc Ambinder reported yesterday that the process was less about "negotiation" and more about agreement:
Reports of strife between negotiators for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are exaggerated and the two sides are nearing an agreement on how Clinton's delegates will participate in the formal nominating process at the Democratic National Convention, according to advisers to both Democrats.
Although Clinton had resisted pressure from donors, allies and supporters to accept demands to allow her name placed in nomination, she and aides to Obama seemed to realize independently that doing so would be the best way to incorporate and welcome Clinton's supporters into Obama's general election campaign, both symbolically and practically.
Yet all Wallace can see is a nefarious plot on the part of the Clintons -- or at the very least their supporters -- to sabotage the DNC.
Would Wallace ever frame unity efforts among Republicans in these terms? Can you imagine him saying that John McCain "got rolled" by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, who despite record-low approval ratings will both be speaking in prime-time at the Republican National Convention? Somehow I don't think so.
Comments
Login or register to post comments