Democratic party finds peace at last

By: Kevin Eggleston

Posted: 9/4/08

"Hank Aaron, she did it. She did it! Right out of the park," exclaimed C. Michelle Bryant of Wisconsin towards the end of Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. While I was at the convention, I noticed Bryant's opinion was widely accepted among the other guests and delegates.

Just prior to the Democrats' mass gathering in Denver, a CNN poll found that 27 percent of Hillary supporters were planning to vote for McCain in November. Indeed, the interminable feud between supporters of Sen. Barack Obama, the democratic nominee, and Hillary was beginning to feel like the 100 Years War.

Some saw the fact that the Clintons had negotiated to headline two consecutive nights of the convention as a weakness on Obama's part. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote after the lineup was announced that "Bill and Hill were able to drag No Drama Obama into a swamp of Clinton drama."

The Clintons did bring the drama. They brought it in the form of inspiring rhetoric and seemingly authentic endorsements of the nominee, as well as Hillary's theatrical releasing of her delegates to Obama onto the convention floor. Both went all out to convince their supporters to vote for the Illinois senator, and based on reactions on the floor and here at Syracuse University, they just might have succeeded.

Members of the SU Hillary for President group, Hillblazers, agreed that Hillary's speech was instrumental in uniting the party. Melissa Marrone, a graduate student in the College of Human Ecology, was one of Hillary's more fervent supporters. When Hillary asked "were you just in it for me?" it registered to her as "the unifying moment" of the convention.

Michelle McClafferty, a senior policy studies, religion and sociology major, attended the convention and watched Hillary speak live. The words of the Clintons and the unifying experience of the convention energized her support for Obama: "I am ready to campaign for Obama in place of Hillary," she said.

Matilda Garcia, 89, a delegate at-large from Tampa, Fla., had pledged her full support to Hillary in the primary. She was skeptical of Obama prior to the convention - but after Hillary's floor speech, she told me she'd reconsider.

The Gallup Poll conducted just after the convention and during Labor Day weekend showed that support for Obama had blossomed to 50 percent compared to McCain's 42 percent. These numbers,taken right after Gov. Sarah Palin was announced as Sen. John McCain's running mate, could be seen as a brazen attempt to attract disgruntled Hillary supporters. Apparently, that goal has not been accomplished - Hillary's supporters may still be disappointed, but they are disgruntled no more.

The Clintons have successfully passed the torch to Obama while still keeping the fire burning in the hearts of their supporters. The party is energized and united behind its candidate, and come January, this unity should bring Obama into the White House.

Kevin Eggleston is a bi-weekly columnist for The Daily Orange. His columns will normally appear every other Monday. He is a junior political science and television, radio, film major and can be reached at kmeggles@syr.edu.