itsmeeeeeee

Cleaver's bluntness

Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

In an unusually frank interview on Canadian public radio, CBC, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Kansas City -- a Hillary supporter and superdelegate -- gives a sense of how tenuous Clinton's hold on many black superdelegates is.

"If I had to make a prediction right now, I'd say Barack Obama is going to be the next president," he said just after 18:00. "I will be stunned if he's not the next president of the United States."

He doesn't back off his support for Clinton, and has criticism for Obama:

"He is articulate - in the black tradition, he would probably be mediocre, but in White America..." he said, a bit dismissively, of Obama's speaking style, going on to joke about the word "articulate."

"For White Americans, it's like, this guy can speak," he said. He also said he was "outraged over the outrage" at the Wright controversy.

Earlier in the interview, he was asked about the race going all the way to the convention.

"If I do the party line, I'm supposed to say -- and maybe I'll say just so if anybody hears it they can say well, 'Cleaver did the party line before he told the truth,' -- we believe that a contest going all the way to the convention is good for America," he said. In fact, he continued, it would be the "tragedy of tragedies."

He made a football analogy of his support for Clinton.

"Even though I don't expect the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Indianapolis Colts, I cheer for the Kansas City Chiefs," he said, and goes on to cast it in terms of friendship and personal loyalty.

If he switched to Obama, "There would be African-Americans cheering," Cleaver said. "But I would have difficulty shaving in the morning, unless I could shave without looking in the mirror."

fascinating, the guy thinks it would be a tragedy of tragedies for this to go all the way to the convention - and yet, out of personal loyalty to clinton, he would have trouble looking himself in the mirror if he ditches his support for her!

which begs the question, how do you look yourself in the mirror, mr. cleaver, while admitting it would be a tragedy of tragedies to place your loyalty to ANY politician above your loyalties to the country, and the democratic party?

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neptune

This just places the burden on Clinton -- she has loyal supporters that are, at least for the time being, willing to remain loyal while she soldiers on.

At what cost? I fall into the "tragedy of tragedies" camp, but a lot of politicians owe the Clintons a lot, maybe everything.

Some, certainly, will wait until signaled by Clinton herself, which means dropping out.

The line yesterday was "Will she walk to the door, or will she be shown to the door."

To avert tragedy, I want to know, "WHEN will she be shown to the door"

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Holy Mudhead, mackerel! Morse Science High!
It's....disappeared!
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HarperLee

I have voted for Cleaver every time he has run for local or national
office. I think the Clintons were good to him , but I also think there
is some jealousy. Cleaver and Obama both spoke at the McCaskill rally I attended in October 2006, and Obama stole the stage, something that Cleaver is used to doing.

What troubles me about ths story and Cleaver's continuing insistence
that his superdelegate votes will go to Clinton is that I know that the
district he represents in Washington voted overwhelmingly for Obama.
I have said that I think Kerry and Kennedy have to consider Massachusetts' vote for Clinton.

I will agree that cheering for Clinton at this point is much like cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs.