Have the Clinton’s Hijacked the Convention?

At Fox News Dick Morris and Eileen McGann say - - -

Hillary and Bill have hijacked the Denver convention, making it into a carbon copy of what it would have looked like had she won until the last possible moment. By the time Obama gets up to speak and put his stamp on the convention,
Hillary will have had one prime time night all to herself. Bill will have pre-empted a second night. Hillary will have had all the nominating and seconding speeches she wants. And the roll call of the states would record, in graphic detail, how the voters of state after state rejected Obama's candidacy in the primaries.

Only then, after three and a half days of all Clinton all the time will the convention then, finally, turn to its nominee and allow him to have an hour in the sun!

And what leverage did the Clintons have to achieve all of this? None! Hillary could not have taken the convention by storm and any show of party disunity would marginalize her forever in the Democratic Party.

Had she or her supporters tried to pull off distracting demonstrations or to recreate Lafayette Park in Chicago in 1968, she would have paid a permanent price among the party faithful for sabotaging Obama's candidacy.

This Clintonian tour de force raises a key question about Barack Obama: Is he strong enough to be president or can he be pushed around? His failure to stand up to the Clintons makes one wonder how effective he will be against bin Laden, Iran, Chavez, or Putin. …

The rest of the Morris-McGann column’s here.

Comments:

Gee, the Clinton’s muscling in on Obama and trying to steal the convention. Who would have thought they’d do that?

Morris and McGann don’t mention Michelle Obama is listed as the prime speaker for Monday night.

Michelle on Monday; Hillary on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how enthusiastically the convention receives each woman.

And I’m not thinking only of how their speeches will be received although that’s obviously very important.

I’m also thinking of how enthusiastically they’ll each be received as they walk up to the podium. Those could be telling moments.

Granting that the Obama people had to give Hillary her night, how did Hillary get to go second?

With Hillary going on Tuesday, she and her supporters will have a good idea of what they need to do to top anything Michelle Obama did. And Hillary’s supporters on the floor and elsewhere in the hall will know how long and loud they need to cheer to top the reception Michelle Obama received.

Surely Obama’s people knew all of that.

I’m sure you agree Morris and McGann raise an important and troubling matter when they note: “His failure to stand up to the Clintons makes one wonder how effective he will be against bin Laden, Iran, Chavez, or Putin.”

You have to wonder whether Obama’s status within the party is more “celebrity” than “hands on the levers.”