Clinton

The U.S. is finally waking up to the fact that it has been turned into a subordinate ally to Russia, thanks to Putin and Trump

What students are talking about today (April 4th)

The grownups finally showed up at the DNC. Great speech by Hillary Clinton. Slow start, but once she got some momentum going it was dynamite.  Sure it was mostly about her, but it was gracious enough, and there was enough about B-Rock and Michelle and BIden and everyone else that they have nothing to complain about. She was the jilted girl showing up at the dance in the best dress, saying “look what you could have had.”

We are probably less than 24 hours from knowing Barack Obama’s vice-presidential pick. This blog along with an increasing number believe Obama will go conventional. He will most likely choose an experienced individual to bring balance to the ticket, someone with the ability to take over should the need arise, and possibly someone with electoral clout who can rally disgruntled Clinton backers or win a swing state. Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joe Biden of Delaware clearly fit the bill. Besides, are not presidential elections a contest between who will be president with the hope that the vice-presidential nominee will not distract in a negative way? In this regard Bayh and Biden are conventional choices. But on the eve of the selection, I am less certain. We may be in for a surprise.

August was supposed to be a quiet month for Americans: people would enjoy of the final weeks of sun and surf, watch the Beijing Olympics, and take well-deserved break from presidential politics. Even Barack Obama was going to take a vacation! The month would end with the Democratic National Convention/lovefest in Denver, where Obama would be coronated in a show of unity not seen since the events of 9-11. So far, so good, right? Not so!

And to think just a few weeks later, one of these three dining companions would be investigating allegations that another had leaked classified information that may have given a temporary boost to the Democratic candidate favoured by the third.

Must-reads: Don MacPherson on anglophone patriotes; James Travers on Giuliano Zaccardelli’s soft landing; Graham Thomson on land use in Alberta; Christie Blatchford on Ayed Majid.

Joe Queenan has a piece in the journal about how he’s glad Hillary won’t be president, because she’s no fun. Not sure about the hairsplitting between “boozehound” and “lush”, but he’s got a point:

Much has been said about the role of Republicans in Indiana’s primary, where like in many other states, they were allowed to vote. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh had launched what he called “Operation Chaos” to urge his followers to vote for Clinton in order to draw out the primary and hope that the Democrats keep bloodying each other. The Obama camp leapt on this along with exit poll numbers showing that some Clinton voters preferred John McCain in a general election matchup as evidence that 7% of her support came from Republican strategic voting.

I’m finally back from almost three weeks of back-to-back travel that included a longish stay in Indiana. My in-laws live there so it was a particularly interesting way to experience the nail-biter than was the Indiana primary. Clinton won — but barely. It was not enough for her to change the dynamic of the race, and may have signaled the beginning of the end of her candidacy. What was fascinating though, is that the race and class patterns that have been shaping the campaigns thus far continued to persist.