Today Rainey Celebrates Her Love of Champagne

I love champagnya. That's what JP calls it. He's so cute. (I feel so sorry for you, Poodle). It is, of course, the preferred drink of all things celebratory. It makes any moment just a little more special. It must be very dry and very pale and have lots and lots of bubbles. Did you know that a glass of the best quality champagne will still be throwing bubbles the next day? Another thing that's terrific about champagne is that it pairs very well with food and cuisines that might otherwise be kind of iffy with regular wine; artichokes, for example. It is also my preferred beverage with Thai and Indian food.

You know when champagnya is particularly delicious? When you're sitting with your family watching history being made. Somehow it magically gets extra bubbly. At least that's how it felt last night when Barack Obama secured enough delegates to be the presumptive Democratic nominee.

I'm still on a high about that. I've been wearing my "Obama 08" button for a while now but today it was like, "Dude, for real". Awe. Some.

Now for the post-nomination-getting wrap up:

Last night was not the night for Hillary to concede. When she does it, it shouldn't be in a room full of supporters. It needs to be a quiet press conference. I would say, however, that her speech was not the right one to make. It was still Candidate Clinton all the way and that was a poor decision. She is not the candidate. She won't be the candidate. There are at least 2 grievances on the table. The first, the seating of the Michigan delegates. She didn't want Barack to get any of them. But you know what? Even if the Credentials committee reversed the vote of the Rules committee, he'd still have more than he needs to be the nominee and she still wouldn't have enough. It's a non-starter and would only hurt the party and her credibility. The second is the "18 million" people who voted for her and her desire, as she mentioned last night, that they not be ignored. First of all, it's less than 18 million but we'll spot her the 200-300 just to be charitable. Second, those people aren't going to be ignored. That's just silly talk.

"Oh," but people keep saying, "the Clinton supporters are saying they won't vote for Obama".

Pft, says me.

Yeah, some of them are probably saying that. Today. But frankly, I strongly doubt that the vast majority of them ever felt that way. Most of them aren't going to have a lick of trouble voting for Barack. And the huge, new coalition that Barack has built will more than offset the few that would. There are challenges for the Obama campaign but I really don't believe that's one of them.

There are 2 prominent issues at the moment. A) Should she be his VP? That's Barack Obama's call but if it were me, I wouldn't do it. As I've said a million times before, for every person in this country who thinks the Clintons walk on water there is at least one who thinks they are the Devil incarnate. The Democratic party should never underestimate the power that hatred has to galvanize the right. All those disaffected far right voters who are having a hard time with McCain would suck it up big time if Hillary Clinton is on the ticket. Trust. But there are other reasons it would be a mistake. If he takes Hillary he gets Bill, too. That is a headache Barack Obama doesn't need. These are not people who are used to playing second fiddle and containing the two of them would be as much work as anything else he has to do.

If she had played nicer in the last month, if she'd started smoothing the way toward her concession in her speech last night, it might be different. But I can't imagine a scenario where, after all that, the two of them live in the kind of peace they'd need to in order to share the ticket.

Plus, there are plenty of men and women in the party who would help him with the constituencies where he's weakest (although one shouldn't underestimate his ability to bring more of them into the tent once the dust settles). He doesn't need her to win in places like Ohio and Virginia and Pennsylvania. And some of the other big states she won, the big states on which she pinned her electability argument? Please. Like California, New York and Massachusetts aren't going to be blue come election night.

No, I think Barack Obama knows how he wants to use Hillary. I think he may have hinted at it in his speech last night when he said "...you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen". Sounds like Secretary of Health and Human Services to me. I could be completely wrong about that, but I think a cabinet post for Hillary would be the best use of her talents, energy and commitment.

What was my other point? Oh, yeah, I know. 2) Is she going to concede and when? She has to. Even her biggest supporters are saying that. And it should be soon. Before the week is out would be good. The focus is already between Obama and McBush. If she wants to keep whatever "leverage" she has (and frankly, I don't know that she has that much now), she needs to embrace his candidacy with all the sincerity she can muster and soon. Every day she waits will only hurt her long term options. I don't think she wants her legacy to include the words "ankle biting spoiler".

Also, for the record, come what may, our children, grand-children and great-grand children will someday study the speeches of Barack Obama. John McBush's, not so much. Did you see McBush's? I think this is what goes on in his mind: "Try to be dramatic and forceful. Make point. Lift eyes away from teleprompter. Smile "convincingly". Eyes back to teleprompter. Repeat".

Oh, I know there are still those who say "Yeah, Obama talks pretty but there's no substance behind it". Clearly, this is said by people who don't actually listen to the speeches. But I've read his books. I've been watching this guy. He means what he says, people. He speaks with such power, eloquence and sincerity because he really believes the stuff he is saying. You know why some people are confused by that? After 8 years of lies, obfuscation and mis-speaking, we've forgotten what it feels like to be challenged, stirred and taken seriously. But kids, this is what hope feels like. And it is as bubbly and delicious as champagnya.

Cue the happy dance: