If through some ridiculous or nefarious confluence of events Obama does not continue as the Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, what makes you think that Hillary is the obvious choice? I'll tell you a much more likely outcome of an open convention:
Gore/Biden '08!
But that's just crazy talk! All Obama has to do is keep breathing to become the next President of the United States. Don't just look at the electoral map, look at the internal state trends. And all that stuff and nonsense about "Hillary states" in the primary that Barack can't win?
Anchor states like MA, NY, NH, NJ, CA? 12-24 point Obama leads
Swing states like MI, NM, OH, PA? 4 - 8 point leads
Total Electoral map right now? Obama 320, McCain 204 (source: electoral-vote.com)
Know who America is leaving behind in the 20th Century? PUMAs and Racists and Bush (oh my!)
JP
Hillary's Manly T-Shirt
Hillary Clinton's fundraising t-shirt contest came to an end last week. She sent out a letter with the news:
"In May, Chelsea announced our 'Project T-Shirt' contest, and I never imagined we would have such an outpouring of support and great designs."
The winning t-shirt is another Hillaryland product layered with meaning. Ostensibly basic -- the hand-printed lettering blocked out in jagged rows and inconsistently capitalized -- it is not basic; it only seems that way at first -- and not at all when viewed as something selected primarily to give Barack Obama pains. In that light, we can see in the t-shirt the work of a true artist, a master at the art of power who has honed her skills on the anvil of longtime marriage to Big Bill.
The shirt slogan sounds like a beer commercial: "For everyone who's ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you."
It's not a thank you to her supporters. It's not a valentine to Hillary. It's not at all about democracy or any signature policy. It's certainly not about hope or change or the Democratic Party. It's message is simply to soldier on, to keep going no matter what has transpired, no matter what anyone including yourself (Hillary), for example, may have said in any venue to any number of viewers for any number of cameras! The message is about never saying die and "refusing to be knocked out," physically or, say, knocked out of an election race in which you have failed to get enough votes to continue. Don't let that stop you!
What is the real point of this message? Surely Hillary, with her more than thirty-five years of experience in politics, couldn't just be celebrating on this most basic level her alleged will of steel. Please. This is high-level politics and marketing we're talking about. People on her campaign went to Ivy League schools, are paid millions in their various hard work consultancy and hedge fund jobs. Are we supposed to think the crude message of the first reading is all they came up with?
There is also the matter of the Hillary figure in silhouette, a design choice so odd it must be a clue.
The obvious design approach would be to take better advantage of the squareness of the visual space that is a t-shirt, or at least the horizontal rectangle of the chest. This is where the eyes go, for all of us, male and female. But the Hillary silhouette is a vertical and placed impossibly low -- so low that if you were to tuck in the shirt, the bottom section of the sentences, the big ending, (...is for you!) would be lost in the pants, which suggests the grand phrasings are worth even less than we at first suspect.
With the bottom of the sentences tucked into the pants, what we have rising from the belt -- do I need say it? -- is only abstract Hillary in a full erectness that would appear to stretch from somewhere below the belt nigh unto the nipples. It's "the woman in the pants suit" in full phallic glory!
Again the Hillary camp is out manning the men with a locker-room dig. During the primary season, she had more cojones than any of the other candidates, as James Carville bragged. And now Hillary will be the erect member stretching up all of her supporters' stomachs at the convention next month -- brazen, singular, unabashed -- just like the woman herself.
Seen for what it is, the t-shirt is in every way a master stroke.
Hillary's letter:
Dear --,
I have so many wonderful memories from the millions of people I met on the campaign trail. Over the past year and half, I have also collected a few cherished mementos. They are a reflection of the many ups and downs that we went through together and represent our many accomplishments.In May, Chelsea announced our "Project T-Shirt" contest, and I never imagined we would have such an outpouring of support and great designs. We received almost five thousand amazing entries, and more than 125,000 of you voted for your favorite design.
While the primary race may be over, I think the winning t-shirt -- and it won by a landslide -- still makes a wonderful statement about everything you and I accomplished in this historic race and our determination to keep fighting for what we believe in.
If you contribute $50 today you'll get a t-shirt with the winning design and continue to help me pay down our campaign debt.
Click here to make a contribution of $50 and receive one of our winning t-shirts.
Denitza of Weehawken, New Jersey submitted the winning t-shirt. I'd like to thank Denitza and the thousands of others who put their time, talent, and efforts into all the great designs that were submitted.
I know you're as proud as I am of everything we achieved and I hope I can count on you to work with me on the issues that brought us together. By helping us pay down the debt from one of the hardest-fought races in Democratic primary history, you're making a real difference today for all our future efforts.
Plus, if you contribute $50, you'll get one of our winning t-shirts. It's a great statement about the spirit that drove our campaign, and I hope you'll get one for yourself!
Contribute $50 to help pay down our debt, and you'll get a t-shirt with our winning design.
Thank you for everything!
Hillary Rodham Clinton
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You're assuming that electoral logic or good policy or common sense would govern the delegates' decisions if something ill befell Obama. I wouldn't take that bet. Query: is McCain's "slip" revealing Obama's travel schedule to Iraq related somehow to the reality that Hillary would be the nominee if Obama were taken out?
No, it just reveals what the rest of the world KNOWS about our government. It explains WHY Senator Obama has a huge support system around the world.
Also, you need to understand that the "electoral votes" are not insular. Remember: all the GOOD GUYS moved over to the Obama camp. They know what to do. Don't worry your little self at all about it.
Jeez, I saw an article about this shirt elsewhere but thought it was a joke! Why would anyone want to wear such a thing, or have it around the house? Too weird for me...then again, all of you HC supporters are pretty weird. And this PUMA thing? Get over yourselves!
so you are saying that everyone should sit down, shut up and vote for the candidate selected by the superdelegates of the democratic party. Should we salute too. Since when is dissent not a democratic value?
The rules say that superdelegates can vote for or select a candidate. If the nominee won because of the votes of superdelegates, what's wrong with that?
Dissent is a democratic value, subversion is not.
I voted for Obama. I'm not a superdelegate. Why should my vote be thrown out so that yours can count?
No. but you should only count the votes that did NOT come from Rush Limbaugh and his crew who started Operation Chaos to the tune of 2.5 million Limbites who answered his call.
we found 75,000 "uncounted" Obama votes in Texas, because the clerks were under the IMPRESSION that they could wait until the convention in August before they were "required" to report them.
Believe me, Obama won fair and square despite all the voter fraud that we knew about first hand.
No, vote for whom you want. The superdelegates did NOT choose the candidate, they followed the votes of the pledged delegates, which Obama won via party rules.
"Since when is dissent not a democratic value?"
When it helps to elect fascist politicians.
This one's for you
Hillary08
or
McCain
You selected ... now WE will elect
I appreciate the sentiment of the T-shirt and I ordered 3. We do not need any secret codes or hidden meanings to give us direction. We intend to get Clintons debt paid off and we are looking to keep her name on the Ballot for the August DNC Convention.
Obama has been flip-flopping on numerous issues of national importance since getting the primary votes based on his former positions. If Obama can change his mind, so can the Superdelegates.
Hillary Clinton 2008!
Of course Hill has never, ever flip flopped on any issue in her years in elected office (fewer years than Obama has been in elected office, by the way).
Haha.
Name me a flip flop. Go ahead and do your research. If there are any, they are very few and far between, Olivia. She wouldn't even back down on her war vote, which you people foolishly held against her.
By the way, have you seen the new video that confirms that O flipped on the war? If you haven't the rest of the country will. HRC is looking more appealing by the day.
18 Million T-shirts were ordered the first day.
Both funny and seriously thought-provoking. I'm saving this in my "keeper" file!
Actually, I voted on that shirt-- it was a contest. I'm glad it won, it was either that one or the pantsuit one. :) The quote on the t-shirt is from a wonderful Hillary speech, I believe in OH, I'm not certain. And we Hillary supporters LOVE that quote! We have it in many of our youtube videos and it is almost, if not as or more, popular than Maya Angelou's "Rise, Hillary, Rise!" poem. The designer of the shirt is a Hillary fan and artist, and even known around some blogs I've heard. Hillary standing like that is simply to represent the #1. I like the shirt and I also wanted to help retire her debt. We. Still. Want. Hillary. Hillary is the one who can beat McCain folks, we need to do the right thing: Hillary on the ballot for the offical nominating process in Denver: no coronation for Odoh.
No Deal!
PUMA!
Funny that Obama is beating McCain in the polls.
Funny that HRC is beating McCain by 8 points 50% to 42% even after suspended her campaign.
The phallic symbol is just too much. How could you?
I am a dedicated Puma and someone who has purchased several Hillary T-shirts for friends.
I am also working to pay off her campaign debt so that she can tell Obama to "Keep His Change".
If you're still so enamored of the changeling you need to do some political research. The change you get will not be the change you want. Remember this if Obama does win the presidency. You may wish you had Clinton instead.
I was already wishing we would NEVER have Clinton before Obama even entered the race.
If Obama disappoints me, it won't be Clinton I wish I had instead.
Why do you think she's the obvious fallback?
Very many people feel extremely negatively about her and her campaign only reinforced that.
Why don't you try to tell people why Clinton is such a great choice?
You people do nothing but smear Obama, in the belief that the automatic reaction is to fly to Clinton.
You should be building up her strengths, whatever they are, instead of tearing him down.
So far, it's a lousy sales job. It's a lot like her campaign: tearing him down instead of building herself up. Maybe that's why she lost.
As a Puma member, are you happy with the fact that
*mccain has stated that he seeks to overturn Roe vs Wade
*mccain has stated that the reason women don't earn as much as men for comparable work is because "women need training"
*mccain once told a 'joke' about a gorilla raping a woman and the woman liking it
*mccain called his wife a 'c*nt' in public
*mccain voted to have insurance cover men for viagra prescriptions but against insurance coverage for birth control
*mccain stood against a comprehensive g.i. bill and endorses the use of torture against prisoners
*mccain thinks it's ok to keep our kids in wars for 5, 10, 50...heck, 100 years
Stay dedicated to your puma. If you're a guy, john 'i can win wars' mccain might just get your testosterone going. And, shoot, you don't have to worry about that reproductive rights thing anyway, right? If you're a woman, then god help you. Just be sure to woman up if mccain gets in and you discover your nose suddenly missing.
And if you help McBush win the White House you'll wish that you had never done that BS.
Wow. Huffington Post. I wonder if THIS reply will get posted. None of mine ever do. Yet, every article I read about this presidential election, no matter the author, it trashes all that is right, true and strong in democracy. So, I will attempt to address this latest tirade.
First off, the t-shirt is a THANK YOU from HRC to her supporters. WE FIND INSPIRATION in her career, her words, her policies, and yes, her strength, endurance and tenacity! We believe her when she says she's willing to enter the political ring and do battle for us! She's received cold reception, ridicule and contempt for decades. Yet she persisted and prevailed in successfully gaining a reputation as a true-hearted American with the absolute intelligence, knowledge and class needed to successfully pass policy in bi-partisan manner.
As for your misogynistic comments, you know what? I'll take a phallic interpretation here. Hillary is all woman, it makes fundamental sense to harness some yin or masculine energy and combine it with the yin/feminie energy which she is naturally imbued with.
Keep on trying to knock her down. Self-respecting Americans will proudly continue to allign themselves with the best hope for recovery that this nation currently has: Senator Hillary Clinton!
A "thank you gift" that costs $50? Hah.
This self-respecting American begs to differ with you. I'm aligning myself with the best hope for recovery this nation currently has: Barack Obama.
You don't speak for everyone.
If the T-shirt were a Thank You Sen. Clinton's campaign would be sending them out to her supporters for free.
The T-shirts are a scam to get someone else to pay her debt to Mark Penn and his ilk; you know - the selfsame people that squandered the 100's of millions of $$$ you folks sent her in the first place.
Well, I think I remember that Obama outspent Clinton by at least two to one in Ohio, Pa, etc and still lost by huge margins. Talk about squandering...
John, that is a rant almost on the order of the New Yorker cover. Think you read too much into it. And you have to remember that many of us who supported her and those of us who still do found that between the media, the Obama campaign and the DNC Hillary was so supposed to go down for the count and then meekly rise up and support the chosen one. It is as galling to us as it was to Hillary.
Yes, you are supposed to support the chosen one. We had a primary election and he was chosen. That's how it works.
Never in my memory has a candidate ever had such a hard time accepting second place. What is wrong with her? And you people?
Hillary decided to spend the money she didn't have. Hillary decided to keep her campaign going in the red. Hillary now needs to withdraw some of that $109 million AND PAY HER VENDORS. What kind of person does not pay the bills they ran up? Espeically when THEY HAVE THE MONEY. Reitre your own debt, Hillary, and show us what a real person of character does. It is inconcievable to me that she can step out of her limo and, with tin cup in hand, panhandle ordinary Americans on the street into paying HER BILLS. Disgracful.
Posted July 16, 2008 | 10:23 AM (EST)