More MSNBarack

It's my fault for going to MSNBC. I don't browse the site like I used to, but when something shows up on my newsfeed, I check it out. Big mistake. The Clinton-deranged political commentariat at MSNBC is now obsessed with this video of Hillary Clinton discussing her role and the possibility of a roll call vote at the convention:



If you haven't seen this clip, watch it before reading the rest of my post. In a post called More Clinton Drama, Mike Murray of MNSBC's First Read political blog, argues that this clip clearly shows that Hillary hasn't gotten over her loss yet.

It now has been exactly two months to the day when Hillary Clinton officially ended her candidacy and endorsed Obama. But even two months -- and it seems longer ago than that, doesn't it? -- can’t erase the Clinton drama, even as polls show that women and Clinton’s supporters are firmly behind the Illinois Democrat. First came the Bill Clinton interview in which he wouldn’t say that Obama is qualified to be president beyond the requirements set in the Constitution that you have to be 35 or older and born in the US. And now -- right before she stumps for Obama tomorrow in Nevada -- comes a YouTube clip of Hillary telling her supporters that she wants a “strategy” to have her delegates heard at the convention. (After talking to a Dem operative, Clinton must approve, in writing, for her name to appear on the ballot.

So this is in Clinton's power whether her name is put into nomination, not Obama's nor Howard Dean's.) Watching the video clip, you can tell that Hillary still hasn’t gotten over losing, and given all of the people she had telling her that she’d be the next president, we can understand the denial; she had been preparing for this moment for nearly four years. But we've asked this question a million times and we ask it again: Would the Clintons have been as deferential (or be expected to be as deferential) to Obama if the roles were reversed? What has happened over the last few days has given Obama the high ground here.

Hillary's only remaining bargaining chip with the Obama campaign and the DNC is her right to a roll call vote at the convention. That's it. If she wants to wield any influence over the platform or the convention at all, she needs to keep that card in her pocket. That's smart politics.

Hillary has endorsed the presumptive nominee. She's asked her supporters to donate to his campaign and vote for him. She's publicly said that her supporters who do not support the nominee are making a mistake. And if that's not enough, the Clinton and Obama campaigns yesterday released this joint statement on the convention:

"We are working together to make sure the fall campaign and the convention are a success," said a joint statement released late Wednesday by the Clinton and Obama campaigns. "At the Democratic Convention, we will ensure that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected and our party will be fully unified heading into the November election."

Hillary Clinton is not the problem. The problem is the media who are jumping on any tiny morsel of evidence of party disunity. Given that two months have passed since Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Senator Obama, it is sad that Clinton Derangement Syndrome continues to permeate MSNBarack's coverage of Bill and Hillary Clinton. It's beginning to remind me of the Republicans continuing to bash the Clintons long after they left the White House..

Mike Murray, MSNBarack, here's some advice from a die-hard Clintonista who has had trouble getting over the primaries: It's time to let go of the primaries. It's over. You won. Your guy is the nominee. It's time to get over the Clintons.