Day 3 - HRC Supporters

In case you're wondering, they're here. Hillary's campaign has been running its own whip (aka, floor) operation, although what exactly they do is still unclear to me. Like much else with the campaign, it seems like it's all for show. The DNC and Obama's whip operations at least try to work together (most of the time). HRC's folks just seem to get in the way.

To be fair, I understand what it's like to work so hard for a candidate who you passionately want to win, and then watch everything come up short. I lived in the thick of it for 14 months in 2003 - 2004. Still, I find my sympathy muted because of the campaign's overwhelming arrogance and sense of entitlement. The more I see of the campaign and its die-hard followers, the less I like them.

I have two words: you lost. Sorry, if that seems harsh. The demise of many great leaders is that they don't know when to stop. And as great as HRC's speech was on Tues night, the campaign overall has not endeared itself to many of us.

Up until 2 days ago, we still weren't sure if there would be a floor fight. We handed out electronic voting devices on Tues night so that we could gauge the voting temperature. Voting opened Wed early morning so that delegations could begin the process during their morning breaksfast. But HRC didn't officially release her delegates until a meeting at 1 pm yesterday, which annoyed the hell out of those of us working with the voting system because it meant that her delegates would either vote early and potentially change their vote (resulting in double paperwork) or vote late (causing more of a time crunch during the roll call). It was like a last twist of the knife, the final dig behind the scenes to let everyone know that she still held some sort of power. It was childish and petty and frankly, unnecessary.

But at this point, it's done. Hopefully, her and Bill Clinton's speeches did much to pacify their supporters and help the see the bigger picture. Even if they aren't wild about Obama, I see little chance of them truly defecting. As HRC said, "No way, no how, no McCain."