Hillary Clinton's Convention Speech: "No Way, No How, No McCain"

Hillary Clinton's speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention was electrictifying. For those who knew her and her campaign, it was nothing less than expected. From the transcript:

No way, no how, no McCain. . . . Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend. He has served our country with honor and courage. But we don't need four more years of the last eight years...

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: ... more economic stagnation and less affordable health care...

AUDIENCE: No!

[More . . .]

Senator Clinton: ... more high gas prices and less alternative energy..

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: ... more jobs getting shipped overseas and fewer jobs created here at home...

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: ... more skyrocketing debt, and home foreclosures, and mounting bills that are crushing middle-class families...

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: ... more war and less diplomacy...

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: ... more of a government where the privileged few come first and everyone else comes last.

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: Well, John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it's OK when women don't earn equal pay for equal work. (AUDIENCE BOOS)

Now, with an agenda like that, it makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

(APPLAUSE)

Take a memo. This is how you lay into the Republicans, John McCain and the Joe Liebermans who want to carry water for McCain. You don't insult older voters by calling McCain "old" and you don't manufacture controversy over how many houses are owned by a fellow millionaire. The message behind this speech is exactly why Hillary Clinton won more voters than ever in a Democratic primary: Superglue John McCain to George Bush. Fight for Democratic values. Remind voters how and why the past eight years have been a failure. Draw a sharp contrast between you and the opposition. Hillary Clinton demonstrated how it's done. It was a brilliant speech and a fine endorsement for Obama's campaign.

You can't attack Republicans if you keep trying to place nice with them.

Comments

[Duwayne]

It was amazing! I was in tears the whole time! Our girl made us proud!

[Ryan]

OKAY?

Now THAT is how you make a speech! She did everything she was supposed to and THEN SOME...

now, to all of you obamabots and minions, its ALL on ya boy. Will he stutter step and hand this one over to republicans?

or will be step up and TRULY reign supreme and be that sociable "beacon of change" you guys trumpet him as?

Cause, Hillary SERVED last night.

DERRICK, CADENCE,etc.--thoughts? or, didn't she do ENOUGH for Obama last night? Or, did she fall short?

Cause YOU TWO were the main ones who said she was the reason the democratic party was falling apart?

[S. Flemming]

Yeah, Hillary did the damn thing. That was amazing to watch. Plus, it was nice to see her seem rested and relaxed for a change. I never thought I'd see the day when I looked forward to watching the DNC. I think I'm morphing into dear old dad!

I'll be tuning in tonight to see Bill too.

[Miss Jackson If You're Nasty]

Preach on, Ryan and preach on Hillary!

Mama Hillary SERVED IT to the Republicans. Clinton carved John McCain like a Thanksgiving turkey and ate him for dinner. That is how you carry on with these kids.

She acknowledged her supporters, praised Barack and presented a laundry list of reasons to vote for him over McCain. Now that's HOT. Anyone looking for faults is clearly looking for faults. What else could she do, go door to door and ask people to vote for Obama?

This is Obama's convention, Obama's nomination and Obama's election to lose. The ball is in his court now and please stop asking Hillary to do more or demanding her former supporters to STFU. That speech brought me to tears. Chile, my MAC mascara was running, I looked a mess. GIVE 'EM HILL.

[Derrick from Philly]

RYAN,

you are too young and healthy to be making up things. If I live long enough, I will get to that point atleast 20 years before you.
I never ever said that Hillary Clinton was the reason the Democratic Party was falling apart. If Rod allowed us to cuss on his blog, I would say that some Hillary supporters are f...king up the Democratic Party, tearing it apart. I was naive enough to believe that Demcorats could be for one Demoratic candidate without destroyer the chances of the other (how goody goody June Allyson of me. I should have remembered that there are far more Joan Crawford bitches in this world).

Hillary Clinton: Great lady, great Democrat, great speech.

[David]

That speech was magnificent. NO WAY, NO HOW, NO MCCAIN! Too bad Cinton was not giving it Thursday night.

I'm a former Clinton supporter and will vote for Obama. And Rod is right, you want DEMOCRATS to vote for a DEMOCRAT, then talk to them about DEMOCRATIC issues. Obama's face is televised and broadcast across the world and he is dead even with McCain? No way, we need to stop playing nice and kick the Repubs in the hiney.

[Donovan]

Derrick, we went through this the other day. Who are these Hillary Clinton supporters you keep talking about?

Please stop blaming Clinton and her primary supporters for Obama's shortcomings. Did you blame Dean for Kerry's shortcomings? Or blame Bradley for Gore's failure to win? This is truly bizarre because Obama is NOT ENTITLED to anyone's vote. He has to ask for them and earn them, and, you are not helping.

IMHO, it is the media and Obama supporters who are tearing this party apart. You branded one candidate as racist and continue to brand her supporters as racists. Now you curse them because they don't worship Obama?
LOL, you might as well hold the door open for Mccain in the White House.

[Jose S]

Some of you need to calm down. The primary is over. I do not want to go down that road again.

Let me cosign Derrick. Great lady, great Democrat, great speech. "Did you do this for me," she asked. "Or for that lady who had cancer?"

[Ryan]

DERRICK:

sorry boo...I read between the lines A LOT. and, looking at your posts since the obama coverage started here...

you've been quite anti-hillary since day one..which is fine. too each his own, but i do remember countless times when you made clear connections to her being the reason why the democratic party was falling apart. You, Cadence and various others pointed to HER as the reason why the dems weren't getting it together.

Her supporters weren't the reason why the democratic party was fucking up..the democratic party was fucking itself up and still is...

Just admit that Hillary is a quality candidate who gave a damn fine speech which opened the door for YOUR BOY to bring it home...

though, if he keeps playing "soft" with the GOP, the fire michelle, hillary, and now bill and biden tonite will have been for naught and we will potentially see another four years of bush in office...

yes i am very young...and i dont have a need to make up anything. I see what's there right in front of me on the page...its not my fault you aren't very good at covering up your issues with her, DERRICK.

[A. Ronald]

LOL @ Miss Jackson. "Mama Hillary" socked it to the Repubs, but she always did, that's why they are afraid of her.

A great speech, I'm looking forward to Bill tonight and the big speech by Obama aon Thursday night. I wish I were there.

And spesaking as a former Clinton supporter in the primaries, there is some truth to what Donovan says. Turn on any tv show, read any newspaper, turn to any blog (except this one), it's the evil "Clinton supporters" who are "tearing the party apart." This is crazy. I'm voting for Obama, but he and his supporters are in no position to demand my vote. Obama is running as a post partisan lol and his supporters are all to willing to embrace Republicans and vote with them. If you are willing not to fight for Democratic values, don't demand a vote from lifetime Democrats. I'm voting for Obama, but my vote is MY own.

[ATL KId]

Excellent, excellent speech by a quality dame. Last night I was proud to be a Democrat.

[Derrick from Philly]

No, once the primaries began, I did not say negative things about Hillary Clinton. And as I have pointed out a number of times, before the primaries began I didn't want either of them because I didn't think America was ready.

DONAVON,

if you say that I called Hillary a racist, then I have use a stronger term: that is a lie. Some whites (and others) who voted for her were voting to stop Barack Obama from winning the Democratic Primary. They failed. Anyone who denies that must be from another country, and knows very little about race relations in this country.

Donovon,

you say that I am not helping. The other day I posted a comment praising Obama's choice of Biden. In my initial comment I didn't say anything negative about other Demcorats. You and RYAN made personal insults in response to my comment. Is it that difficult to criticize someone's views without resorting to calling them "delusional" and "mainligning the kool aid".

Rod has asked us to refrain from profanity and nasty personal attacks. If those of us who support the Democratic nominee can do that, we'd appreciate it if you other folks can do the same. Or else we'll all just resort to vicious nigguh faggot dialogue, and I can hold my own in that area.

"covering up your issues with her"

I just noticed you wrote that, RYAN. When I first admired Hillary Clinton in 1992 for her fight for naitonal health insurance--were you toilet trained yet?

[ReggieH]

Magnificent speech, just what the Dems needed. I know Obama is trying to be 'above the fray' but there needs to be some good old fashioned butt kicking, "We're for you and they're not" jabs thrown or else folks will fall asleep, and we wind up with 4 more years of McSame.

[Ryan]

DERRICK:

first off, in 1992, I was in high school well off from being "toilet trained" and VOLUNTEERING along with my family in Ohio registering people to vote and I wasn't even AT a voting age...

so spare me the melodramatic, subpar swipes at age...ok?

we can agree to disagree..but you are giving pointless doublespeak. go to the archives and read what you wrote in the clinton posts...

you and cadence were among the strongest voices attacking clinton for the failures and fall of the democratic party...plain and simple.

i did call you out since you spit all that fire and venom at clinton, yet you're all up in this post talking about wonderful and powerful she is...if she ended up being the nominee and not barack, would you have been this congratulatory?

and..im still kinda surprised you even support obama, given that you were one of most critical voices of his "electability" when rod started profiling him in 06..or don't you remember saying he wasn't "black enough" or a little too "white" for your tastes...

I'm just saying..it's easy to "forget" what you say in your "advanced" years, but don't be selective about it.

if you are TRULY about change and unity, just be upfront about your issues with hill, refocus, and work to ensure that your boy is in office come november...and be open to hearing people when they address concerns about his overall disconnect with voters who are KEY in this year's election: working class whites, latinos, catholics, and women.

If he can't come off as personable or "electable" to those groups, he will have a difficult battle to overcome in november....

[J Matt]

I was emotional and proud also. Hillary, we love you! I am black and I am a proud Hillary supporter.

[Derrick from Philly]

I don't know why I'm continuing with this, but here it goes:

RYAN,

Rod has mentioned more than once that during the primaries I stayed away from attacking Hillary Clinton. Why? Because I'm a Democrat, and she could have possibly won the Democratic nomination. I don't like attacking the nominee of my party--even if it was f...kin' Robert KKK Byrd.

Dear, you are the one with a track record of forgetting what you say, and even misreading what other commenters say. A few weeks ago, you attacked a poster who was actually agreeing with you--it had to do with his support for Senator Clinton. And you attacked him. At that point (plus the Tyson Beckford foolishness) I should've said to myself, "you better leave that evil child alone."

This latest personal attack was precipitated when I praised the Democratic nominee for his choice of Joe Biden, and my pointing out what I believed were the positive aspects of having Biden on the ticket. For saying that I received personal insults (from someone named Donovan) about my ability to think (delusional), and the state of my mind ("mainlining the kool aid). You gave your one and half cent comment agreeing with him, and continuing the insult to me. It was then that I commented on Senator Clinton's not having any more appeal to "blue-collar" Democrats than Joe Biden. If you call that insulting Hillary Clinton then, yes, you are very young indeed...atleast in yo' head.

If I ever criticized Barack Obama for not being "black enough"-- then, you're right, my memory is bad...and so is yours. (Hell, I aint sure I'M BLACK ENOUGH for some black folks, and I don't give a f....k). My criticism (and fear) had to do with whether Senator Obama and Senator Clinton were wasting a golden opportunity for Democrats to win the White House. Rod even had to ask me, "would you prefer a safe white male". At the time my answer was, "HELL YES!" To win the White House. Once the primaries began, I stopped making negative remarks about either front runner. Why the f....k would I? I'm a goddamned Democrat to the core, Miss Thang. For me, the Democratic Party comes first, candidate comes second. Fortunately, now, I love my party's candidate.

Oh, yeah, I knew you were about fifteen years old in 1992--I've visited your website. But based on your mean-spirited behavior on this blog, I still wondered whether you were toilet trained at that point.

[Ryan]

DERRICK: *yawn*

say what you want, the evidence is in the archives...

we can agree to disagree. you seem to have selective memory about your early comments about obama not being "BLACK" enough or being electable, and you threw everything BUT the kitchen sink at Clinton--blaming her (and still passively-aggressively doing so) for the fall of the Democratic party.

It's okay...I mean, you are advanced in your years, so its easy to forget things as you get older.

But, you did say it and any attempted insults or cracks thrown my way are pointless.

and, my mean spirited behavior is not mean spirited at all...if i have an opinion, im going to say it. It's not my fault you can't handle it...and it's also not my fault you won't admit you are wrong.

I do it all the time..so should you. and, this time, you are wrong...

but, i hope that you bring this much "fire" and "vitriol" when you campaign for ya boy this fall...or, is this the ONLY place for your love of "slim jim half breed obama"...

thought so.

[Truth Seeker]

I have held my tongue until now. But now more.

So. Now Miss Ryan is a political expert???? Oh that is rich, toots, HA HA. Funny how you cant help but bring up Barack's BIRACIAL heritage. This is a blog, toots, not the Mugler boys on MySpace. One would think toots would be all up in Barack, being from Harvard, because toots is known for his Ivy League bougey "realness."

Derrick is a gentlemen. As he said, Hillary Clinton is a great lady, a great Democrat, a great speech. I look forward to Barack BRINGING IT tonight and winning in November.

Please beat it, SUGAH PIE, and let the grownups talk politics!

[Derrick from Philly]

Thanks, TRUTHSEEKER:

That "child" had me going all through Rod 2.0 archives trying figure out what hell he's talking about.

"...half breed Obama"

Doesn't that statement speak for itself? That's an evil child.

What kind of damn "breed" are any of us?

[Truth Seeker]

Yes. It does seem certain comenters and bloggers are obsessed with biracial sex sirens, "half breed" politicians and biracial celebs. Must be a sexual thing, no????

WILL LEMAY and THANDIE NEWTON send their looooove, toots.

Muah! from the House of _____

[Ryan]

Truth: ooh, haay gurl! how you doin? all riight? lol! love that you've returned to big up me again for mugler boys ive never met.

derrick: evil is you bashing clinton and anyone else who supported LEFT and right during primaries..evil is you calling out anyone who was critical of obama.

all im doing is giving an opinion..you can either take it or leave it...clearly, you ATE it and can't deal.

i'm an evil child? wow, this coming from a snow queen who worships "the girls" at towleroad? i'm just saying..

but, we can agree to disagree. and you need to dig deeper in the archives..boo, it's all there.

and you're one to talk about being a "political" anything...have you managed to step ABOVE the obama worship yet? i mean really...wait, of course you have..SLIM JIM is now black and electable right..hope the latinos, catholics, and white women think so...

truth seeker: you know you love me xoxo (c) gossip girl

[Derrick from Philly]

I'd rather chit chat with some of "the girls" at Towleroad than your nasty, arrogan....

Snow Queen? But on your website, you claim to love James Baldwin, dear. He wouldn't appreciate ignorant talk like that, Topsy... or is it, Sha'neyne.

[Ryan]

DERRICK:

OOH girl..is you bringin the fiyah? LOL!

Actually, Baldwin and MANY of the people I like would actually respect that I have an opinion and can USE IT..right or wrong.

I'm a nasty arrogant what, Derrick?

I mean, you really think I'm pressed about you? Clearly, my "nasty, arrogant ____" touched a nerve...and that was the point.

You still "revise" your history here...do you. But, be real about where you stand with Clinton supporters past, present, and future...remember what you SAID about them..then think about your "glowing" reports of her speech and how "FIERCE" she was..Okay DERRICK FROM PHILLY?

Ooh, and keep chatting with the girls at towleroad..they love a good "marginalized snow queen" who they treat as a second class citizen there..or, are you okay with them calling you a nigga/dust bunny/porch monkey all the time? tell us, how does that feel?