hillary is missing

Hillary is not listed as a prime time speaker for the convention.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040714/D83QLCKO0.html

Jul 14, 11:50 AM (ET)

By MARC HUMBERT

(AP) Sen. Hillary Clinton reacts to a comment by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright during a...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The former chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party on Wednesday called it "a total outrage" and "very stupid" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has not been offered a prominent speaking role at the Democratic National Convention.

"It's a slap in the face, not personally for Hillary Clinton, but for every woman in the Democratic Party and every woman in America," said Judith Hope, a major party fund-raiser.

Hope said she would appeal to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to "correct this omission" and would send an e-mail message to more than 1,000 New York women - "many of them major donors to the Kerry campaign" - complaining about the slight.

The Kerry campaign had no immediate comment.

On Tuesday, Kerry aides announced the prime-time speaking lineup for the four-day convention in Boston that begins July 26, a list that included former Presidents Carter and Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Christie Vilsack, wife of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. The list did not include the former first lady and New York's junior senator.

Asked about Clinton's role Tuesday, Arizona Gov. Bill Richardson, the convention chairman, said, "Senator Clinton will speak also. She's a major star in the party."

But later, convention officials said Clinton would appear at the convention's opening night as part of a special segment featuring all the women senators, but she was not expected to speak.

"To include the wife of the governor of Iowa, who I'm sure is a wonderful woman, and to not include Hillary Clinton is just such a glaring injustice," Hope said.

"It is, frankly, very stupid," she added.

In May, Kerry campaign officials had said both President Clinton and his wife would play prominent roles at the convention.

"It's a total outrage," Hope said. "Women all over New York state and all over America are being asked to carry a very heavy responsibility for winning this election for the Democrats."

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines had little to say Wednesday, simply commenting that Clinton is looking forward to attending the convention and working hard for the Democratic ticket of Kerry and John Edwards.

Clinton has been campaigning across the country for Kerry and has become one of the campaign's major fund-raising attractions.

"Hillary Clinton has been a team player for this ticket from Day One," Hope said.

If Kerry falters this year, Edwards and Clinton would be seen as the top candidates for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination

http://www.timesargus.com/04/Story/86610.html

Former Gov. Dean to speak at Democratic convention - Jul. 14, 2004


By Claude R. Marx

VERMONT PRESS BUREAU

MONTPELIER - Democratic National Convention officials are expected to announce today that former Gov. Howard Dean has been asked to speak on the first night of the convention, sources said Monday night.

Dean and several other former presidential candidates are scheduled to speak on July 26, the opening night of the convention at the FleetCenter in Boston. It has already been announced that former Presidents Carter and Clinton will be speaking that evening.

Dean's spokeswoman Laura Gross said they are deferring to convention officials for any announcement. A spokeswoman for the convention did not return several phone calls.

Convention officials are scheduled to announce the times at which the speeches are to take place. The major broadcast networks have all said they will only televise about an hour of convention during each of the four nights, probably from 10 to 11 p.m. The cable news channels are expected to air longer segments of the convention and C-SPAN plans to air gavel-to-gavel coverage.

Middlebury College political scientist Eric Davis said Dean's speech will give the party a chance to show that its diverse factions are strongly united behind the candidacy of presumptive nominee John Kerry.

"Since the convention is more of a voter mobilization device rather than a nominating body, if Dean can rouse the audience there and on television about the importance of supporting Kerry, he will be doing his job," Davis said.

Political conventions are heavily scripted and while Dean may be allowed to draft a speech, aides to Kerry will probably have the final say on its content, Davis added.

Since suspending his candidacy for the presidential nomination on Feb. 18, following a series of second and third-place finishes, Dean has been a frequent campaigner for Kerry and for candidates for other offices. Last Friday, he debated independent candidate Ralph Nader in Washington, D.C., and has frequently urged liberals to vote for Kerry over Nader. The only contest Dean won was the Vermont Primary on March 2.

Though Dean and Kerry had a frosty relationship during the primaries, they have met several times since then and campaigned together. Dean has encouraged his supporters to contribute to Kerry's campaign.

Other speakers scheduled for the convention include: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is slated to address the convention on the second night; Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is scheduled to accept the vice presidential nomination on the third evening, July 28; and Kerry is scheduled to accept the nomination on the night of July 29, at the final session.

Contact Claude R. Marx at claude.marx@timesargus.com.

[Dave]

Is this such a bad thing? Surely with all the publicity over Bill Clinton's book, maybe it is a wise move in sidelining Hillary, so as not to detract from Kerry's campaign.

[sinterest]

Is this such a bad thing? Surely with all the publicity over Bill Clinton's book, maybe it is a wise move in sidelining Hillary, so as not to detract from Kerry's campaign.Of course Daav,
She is the most junior of several women Senators - what a farce.
Republicans might be more successful in rallying their base if she provided some choice soundbites. I admire her and would love to hear her speak if they so choose.

[Dave]

If I was voting in the US Election I would be much more interested in the views and policies of the two presidential candidates than the former first lady.

[sinterest]

But of course!

[Dave]

So what is your point Bob?

[TickledPink]

On another semi-related note, I just finished Hillary's book, "Living History". Despite what the critics jabber on about, I enjoyed every line of it. I'd highly recommend it.

[Francois Cellier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1263402,00.html

U-turn by Kerry puts Hillary on platform
Democratic candidate bows to pressure over party convention

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday July 17, 2004
The Guardian


Presidential candidate John Kerry has bowed to pressure from Hillary Clinton's supporters and invited her to address the Democratic party convention in Boston at the end of the month, it was reported yesterday.

Senator Clinton had been omitted from the list of speakers issued by the Kerry campaign, provoking uproar from loyalists and a quick U-turn by the candidate.

Senator Kerry phoned her in person on Thursday to ask her to make a primetime speech introducing her husband, Bill Clinton, on July 26, the convention's opening night.

A Kerry spokeswoman, Stephanie Cutter, yesterday said the campaign was "thrilled" that Mrs Clinton had accepted the invitation.

It remained unclear why Mrs Clinton, who is extraordinarily popular among liberal activists, was excluded in the first place.

Some explained it by the campaign's fear that she might overshadow Mr Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, whom she is likely to confront in the 2008 nomination race if Mr Kerry is defeated in November.

Others suggested that her initial exclusion could have been a reflection of her polarising reputation, and fears that her mere appearance would galvanise Mr Kerry's Republican opponents.

The Republicans are also struggling over space behind the lectern at their convention in New York at the end of August. More than half the Republicans in the House of Representatives have signed a protest letter to George Bush, complaining that no prominent anti-abortion conservatives had been given a speaking role at the convention.

As in the 2000 election, the Republican party that appears on stage in New York will be considerably to the left of the party's core supporters.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, George Pataki, the governor of New York, and Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, have been given prominent speaking times, but they represent the party's abortion rights minority. Senator John McCain, another speaker, has an anti-abortion voting record, but is a centrist maverick who has frequently clashed with the party's Christian conservatives.

The protest letter, signed by 127 House Republicans, asked the president to give Henry Hyde, a veteran in the congressional fight against abortion, an opportunity to speak.

Late yesterday afternoon there had been no response from the Bush campaign.

The proposal will have to win the approval of Karl Rove, President Bush's political mastermind, who stage-managed the 2000 convention in Philadelphia which portrayed the party as a multi-cultural movement by giving black and Hispanic Republicans central roles. Mr Rove is also the guiding hand behind this year's campaign. On Thursday, he told supporters in California: "Who wins this election will determine the course of history."

With less than four months until polling day, the presidential race is still a dead heat. However, polls have suggested that Mr Kerry's selection of Mr Edwards, a North Carolina senator, may have helped his prospects in southern states.

A poll by Zogby International showed Mr Kerry and President Bush neck and neck in Tennessee, where the president was ahead by 18 percentage points less than a month ago. Meanwhile a Mason-Dixon poll showed the Kerry-Edwards ticket had gained on the Bush-Cheney campaign to within three percentage points in North Carolina, another supposedly "safe" Republican state.

The Democratic and Republican conventions will both be conducted under an unprecedented blanket of security after warnings from the homeland security department that al-Qaida would launch a large-scale attack over the summer to disrupt the election.

Whole sections of Boston and New York will be closed before and during the conventions, security will be stepped up on public transport, and some hotels near the convention sites will issue their own security credentials to guests, to allow their identity to be verified more easily.

[Jayne B]

More than half the Republicans in the House of Representatives have signed a protest letter to George Bush, complaining that no prominent anti-abortion conservatives had been given a speaking role at the convention

They have not yet found a 'compassionate conservative' paradigm with which to convince the more moderate Republicans that rolling back abortion rights is really a good thing for America... but they will doubtless keep trying.


As in the 2000 election, the Republican party that appears on stage in New York will be considerably to the left of the party's core supporters.

And yet some people still believe that the GOP is the party of 'no-spin'.

Never overestimate the intelligence of the average voter....

U-turn by Kerry puts Hillary on platform
Democratic candidate bows to pressure over party convention

This guy has no spine at all, and does not stand by his decisions.

bows to pressure
If elected expect to see that quote ALOT!

[ninjalooter1701]

Gives in to the will of the people, wants to represent them.

Doesn't admantly stick by decisions even though they are wrong.

Doesn't change his mind: Donations for campaign are over, no new influences please.