This explains the "leaks" pretty well:
"Sources close to both Obama and Clinton told ABC News that the New York senator is highly unlikely to allow her name to be formally submitted for a roll-call vote on the convention floor. The Obama campaign wants to avoid such a vote, since it would underscore the party's splits and remind voters of the divisive primary campaign between the two Democrats.
The refusal to publicly announce her intentions is widely seen as a bargaining chip Clinton is holding on to as party officials negotiate logistics regarding her convention speech and other activities, according to several Democrats who are closely involved in the matter.
Clinton plans to hold a Web chat with supporters Thursday afternoon where she might clarify her convention role. In announcing the Web chat, she urged her supporters to continue to stay tuned to her Web site for updates about her convention activities."
One posted headline about Clinton's desire for routine convention recognition?
UH OH...Clinton May Challenge Obama on Nomination.
Webchat with Clinton at 12 tomorrow at www.hillaryclinton.com
See here for details.
It's important to have her name roll called for the tradition, which has always been done, and her historic presidential primary wins. Of course, I also like the parade which echoes nicely the historic date, reminding me of suffragettes's marches (which used to be popular, in historic costume, in the attempt to get ERA passed.)
"At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as Women's Equality Day.
The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first Women's Rights Convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.
The observance of Women's Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality."
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Roll Calls at the convention
I'm less disturbed by the idea that there won't be a roll call vote than I am by the fact that the Obama forces are apparently insistent about not having one.
What's he afraid of, really? Given that a lot of us out here question the legitimacy of his primary win, what could possibly do more to make that whole doubt go away in the minds of most voters than for him to triumph over Hillary in an open convention contest? And he will, of course. So what's the problem here?
Power trip?
It's exactly like FL and MI revotes. FWIW, this political amateur thinks Obama would have won both states, looked great, and made his legitimacy totally solid. Instead, we got what we got.
This feels like the same mode of behavior. Maybe this is just the way Obama likes and wants to win. It's a similarity to Bush, who never failed to kick in the ribs of somebody who was already on the ground.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
On the record
I don't think Obama and friends want to have all the Superdelegates on record in a contested election. Hillary received the most votes and it seems like the GOP could use that on them for congressional/Senate races. A concerted effort could be potent.
Will He?
You know, my gut reaction is "of course she won't win at the convention", but that the Obama campaign seems to be so worried about this has also made me paranoid. I'm wondering if he's worry is simply the result of his campaign's overly-cautious, control-freak tendencies, or if they really believe he could lose at the convention? I honestly don't know.
I can't see what Hillary could obviously be bargaining for at the convention. I think it's been pretty well proven that Obama doesn't bargain with his Democratic opposition (though he doesn't seem to mind bargaining with his GOP opposition). Unless she truly believes that Senator Obama is worthwhile and worth fighting for (and, I honestly don't think she does), what would she possibly want to speak on at the convention? I really can't imagine her fighting for another "unity" speech, which is exactly the only thing Obama would offer her to make at the convention.
Perhaps, she's playing games with both his campaign and the media to keep them guessing?
My head hurts.
Its not fear...
I don't think its fear of a Clinton win that is driving Obama's efforts to keep her name out of the nomination process. Rather it is Obama's overwhelming hubris and sense of entitlement.
Its the same kind of hubris shown by Bush after his "election" in 2000, and his "accountability moment" in 2004 -- the same kind of narcissistic personality disorder symptom that turns a 50%+1 victory into a "mandate".
And its the same kind of hubris shown by the RBC in stripping Florida and Michigan of all their votes -- its the arrogance of power, the perception of egotists that are given power that they are not obligated to exercise sound judgment in wielding that power.
Why bargain with lefter-ish Dems? Where ya gonna go, Sweetie?
That's the attitude--it's always been that way for the leftmost of the Party, but now it's extended to the centrists like Hillary.
What are we getting with Obama????
Reply to DamonMI @ 1:52pm
A small quibble, TP
"Suffragette" was the derisive nickname applied to *suffragists* by people who wanted to continue to disenfranchise women.
The ERA
If I recall correctly was stripped from the Democratic platform in 2004. This year it's beginning to look like the first woman to ever win a presidential primary won't have her name put on a roll call vote as is tradition. And let's not forget the movement within the Democratic Party to also take its support for abortion rights off the table. And the continued silence of the Democratic presumptive nominee on recent efforts to define birth control as abortion doesn't exactly lead me to believe he's going to set about rolling back these regs. first thing (has anyone seen anything from Obama on this abomination?).
If Democrats aren't doing well with women in some states, you can't say they haven't earned it. They've worked very hard to make sure to take women's rights and reproductive rights off the table as election issues. Great, so now women can move on to other issues like guns or tax cuts.
Naive
Maybe, I'm being naive, but I simply can't chalk this up to some pyschological/behavioral disorder. I always half-jokingly say that he does things "because he can", but there has to be another part to it.