Obama Has Not Yet Made the Sale -- To Hillary Diehards

So it doesn't look like Barack Obama made the sale to Hillraiser Jill Iscol of Westchester County, New York when he called her last week. According to this morning's Wall Street Journal, Carly Fiorina, the most prominent female surrogate for John McCain, met with 25 Hillary supporters at a private home in Westchester County on July 15 over iced tea and "finger food."

Fiorina, former chief of Hewlett-Packard, told WSJ reporters Christopher Cooper and John Emshwiller that that these Hillary devotees, all unnamed and presumably all women, were "intensely uncomfortable with the notion of a President Obama." The meeting came at the request of the Hillary loyalists, Cooper and Emshwiller write, many of them presumably Hillraisers (which means that they raised over $100,000 for Hillary during the primaries).

The event was officially hosted by Together4Us, which lists Jill Iscol as a founder. Susie Tompkins Buell of San Francisco told me during a recent interview that she is also involved in that website/organization, although she is not named yet on the "About Us" page which promises "50 more [names] to be added very soon."

Buell also told me when I interviewed her on July 7 that she would welcome a call from Fiorina or former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. At the time she had heard from neither. Buell has not yet answered an email I sent her this morning asking for comment.

The comment every reporter would kill for would be a candid, honest comment from Hillary Clinton. What does she make of these meetings?

The second-most intriguing comment, and one that would surely be delivered in the most colorful language, is what does Bill, busy again with his foundation work and still keeping his distance from Obama, make of all this.

The WSJ reports elsewhere today on the kind of great work that Bill was doing before involving himself in -- and, I believe, messing up -- his wife's run for the nomination. "Former President Bill Clinton's foundation is set to unveil a pricing agreement Thursday that it hopes will make malaria drugs available to millions of poor people," reads the story's lede. It looks like Bill, at least, has found his groove.

Comments

[WFV]

So fifty more names are going on the list - what will that make them number, 51?

Nobody has time to hold their hands nor stroke their egos. They're just a bunch of sore losers who think they still hold sway. They don't.

Why doesn't their candidate 'reject' and 'denounce' them? Yeah, right.

[standard]

Are Hillary's residual supporters numerous? They haven't managed to retire her campaign debt.

Are they really so die-hard? The polls show that the vast majority of Democrats have already closed ranks behind Obama.

Where exactly are the alleged legions of Hillary die-hards determined to undermine their own Party and oppose their own interests? Basically, they don't exist. The claim that they do is partly wishful thinking and partly the handiwork of the usual Neo-Cons, up to their favorite tricks. The Democrats aren't about to be stampeded into disunity and chaos based on fantasy and lies. Not this year.

And the "Bill Clinton" mentioned above, "busy again with his foundation work and still keeping his distance from Obama"? He isn't the ex-President we've seen on television volunteering for a prominent role in this year's campaign. The busy, distanced Bill Clinton is no more real than the fictitious army of self-destructive impoverished diehards. The whole story, while plausible, just isn't persuasive.

[truthskr]

Saying that "Obama has not yet made the sale -- to Hillary diehards" is like saying "Obama has not yet made the sale -- to pro-lifers, homophobes, xenophobics, racists, and/or warmongers." There are some groups that no amount of intellect and rationality will appeal to, that Obama will never gain the support of, and Hillary diehards would certainly be one of these groups. He will NEVER get them, and I'm glad that he's spent very little time and money chasing these idiots around. This group is nowhere near as important, numbers-wise or financially, as it entertains itself to be. I am personally thrilled that they will be left out of the process. Onward and upwards.

Women for Obama 08
GLBT for Obama 08

[going2ireland]

Kudos!! Your comment is the best on this topic I have ever read!!

[lisakaz2]

If they want to surrender all their birth control options as "abortifacents" it's their funeral.

[pencilneck]

It's these uberrich types that have already showed what they do when they're in charge. We got our asses handed to us in the 90's. Sure, Bill Clinton was president, but Democrats got creemed across the board. They are wealthy and loud, but they are losing the fight for the heart of the party, and I am glad.

[jspivey]

"these uberrich types that have already showed what they do when they're in charge"

Oh, goody. Having exhausted the possibilities of reverse racism and sexism and ageism, Obama supporters have now embarked on some kind of weird class war, where they attack people for being more rich and successful than they are -- even if that is not actually the case.

[SeriousBlack]

"... a candid, honest comment from Hillary Clinton."

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Very funny.

[WFV]

Exactly.

[truthskr]

As a feminist, I really don't appreciate the stereotype that these women perpetuate. Their behavior suggests that women must be emotionally pandered to because expecting them to operate out of calm, intellectual reason is expecting entirely too much of them. If this election has done anything for me, it has disabused me of the deep affection I once felt for older, second-wave feminists. They have gone from a group of people I most admired, to a group that I feel deeply embarrassed of. I will be happy to see them age out of any political relevance.

[sharonh]

Could you please explain to me who the older second-wave feminists are?

[murphysgirl]

It's so exhausting to see the wealthy moan and groan how upset they are that their candidate didn't win the primary. They can't buy Clinton the vice presidency!! The Democratic Party has moved on why can't these Hillraiser­/PUMA/Oper­ation Chaos clones do the same?

[mom2sons]

They thought that if she one, they could have sleepovers. LOL Damn Obama!

[plafayette]

These sporatic articles about Hillrasiers, PUMAS, and other Obama "haters" seem to run whenever there is a really slow new week. It seems to me that the only people who stand to benefit from keeping an argument going between HRC supporters and BHO supporters is the republican party, and newspeople trying to create a "story" about division. Someone is always available to post something particularly nasty about Barack, and someone always has an equally nasty comeback about HRC. THIS FIGHT IS OVER. We are into the GENERAL ELECTION now! Hillary lost - Barack won. Democrats ....true democrats will do whatever it takes to re-gain the WH period! We know that there are some people who can never be counted on to pull their weight during crunch time - we have always had to carry them on our backs and this time is no different. Dems will do what we must because we are Americans, hard working Americans of EVERY stripe and hew. We stay focused until the job is done or die trying! DEMOCRATS VOTING FULL DEMOCRATIC TICKET- OBAMA 08

[plafayette]

Sorry, I meant hue...not hew...Damn it!

[standard]

However, that was a wonderfully creative error, as we hew to different lines of work and thought.

[ebanks84]

You hit that nail directly on the head, my friend.

[hirhodes]

You are right on the money. Well said!!!

[HerbTee]

Well said Plafayette­...bravo!!

[Zanti]

I just called the Cliche Police. They're on their way.

If you're lucky, you'll get off with a warning.

[mnash]

I am so sick of hearing about "Hillraisers"!!! If they don't want to get on the bandwagon, go vote for McCain or whoever else you choose to vote for. These people sound like a bunch of kids. They think they can play their games to get other people to do what they want them to do. What a bunch of crap!!! Hillary lost, get over it, get a life. Go vote for McCain, who cares!!!! When he throws you under the bus don't come crying because you made the wrong choice.

[Piatt]

It obviously wasn't Senator Clinton's position on issues that engendered their support for her. If it were, they could not seriously be considering McSame. On the other hand, maybe they enjoyed his gorilla rape joke.

[jvarga]

Ok Hilraisers, you're uncomfortable with President Obama? Does that suggest that you're comfortable with President McCain? Some things where McCain differs from Obama:

War with Iraq (McCain ready for 100 years, Obama says 16 months max(?))
War with Iran (Senator Clinton threatens genocide) check
Cluster bombing civilians (Clinton and McCain vote against a ban) check
Skin color
Health care (McCain happy with what we've got, Obama wants to go at least partially towards what Clinton wants)

Ok Hilraisers, which of those positions makes you more comfortable with McCain again?

[HerbTee]

Why are remaining diehard Clinton supporters and PUMA idiots, who loves calling BO an "empty suit" or "not having his own mind (a flip-flopper)" or "less experienced than Hillary" or accuses BO of "stealing the election from Hillary" or (add your pick HRC supporter insult) wishes to dictate to BO who his VP pick should be? If BO gives in to bitter Clinton supporters and PUMA pukes for pushing a VP choice that BO clearly does not want, then why don't he also just give in to the terrorists or to Castro or to Kim Jong Il or anyone who threatens or dictates to him on anything unpopular only because they say so! If BO knuckles under to this obvious extortion demand, when will the next shoe drop with Clinton supporters and what will be their next demands? Making Bill Clinton the Secretary of State?

Absolutely NO, to a Clinton VP slot!! She's not automatically entitled to it or has "earned" it merely by running for President. HRC ran a nasty, divisive, racially polarizing, “Karl Rove" styled campaign against BO. In spite of that and her popularity, money, Bill Clinton, the DNC support machine and her rich supporters, she still lost fair and square to BO within the DNC rules and the resulting RBC decisions. Get over it HRC supporters and finally support your Party or hit the bricks!

[jspivey]

Frankly, I don't see much difference between David Axelrod and Karl Rove, and a lot of pundits who have written on the subject don't see much difference either.

[ebanks84]

That's because pundits just like you don't know everything.

[vallon]

The Hillraisers are used to getting their way by throwing money around. What they're really pi$$ed about is that Obama doesn't owe them anything, and they know they'll have no real influence in an Obama administration.

[ebanks84]

Amen and pass the plate :)

[CtJean]

That's it in a nut shell. O still has his !

Amen and pass the plate :)