What will you miss least about the primaries?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Mercifully it's finally over. Tuesday the interminable primary season breathed its last.
Republican Duncan Hunter led the parade of candidates entering the race for president in October of 2006. By the time they were all finished declaring, a small gymnasium wouldn't have held them.
It was 20 months of highlights and lowlights. It just seems longer. The drama over Michigan and Florida, the rantings of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the flame-out of Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton's fictional tale from the tarmac in Bosnia, John McCain being left for dead in the summer of '07 only to rise like the phoenix and eventually grab the nomination, Mike Huckabee who burst on the scene and disappeared almost as quickly, the dizzying disappointment that was Fred Thompson, former President Bill Clinton running through the countryside throwing hand grenades, questions about Mitt Romney's Mormonism, charges of sexism and racism... and more bowling, shot drinking and eating in diners then we ever should have been asked to watch. Except one diner, where Hillary Clinton got all teary-eyed and shocked the world by winning New Hampshire.
For the cable news networks, the primaries were ratings gold. But for the rest of the country they were more of an endurance contest. And the poor voters sat through it all: the primaries and caucuses, the debates, speeches and TV ads, the phone calls and fliers and requests to send money.
Here’s my question to you: What will you miss least about the 20-month primary season?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Most important thing for Hillary to say tomorrow?
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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Looks like tomorrow will be the end of the road for Hillary Clinton. After 16 months of campaigning to become the first major party woman candidate for president, she is expected to endorse Barack Obama at an event in Washington.
And it now looks like the Democrats are finally on their way to healing the bruises of an often nasty primary season. Last night, Clinton and Obama met face-to-face, all alone, at Senator Dianne Feinstein's Washington home.
Feinstein, who was a Clinton supporter, says the two candidates emerged laughing after the hour-long meeting in her living room. She called it a deeply personal time, saying Obama is trying to put things together for a major presidential campaign. Feinstein said there is a lot of decompression going on and many frayed nerve endings that need to come together.
As Clinton prepares to suspend her campaign – which actually means she'll keep her delegates – other pieces are falling into place for Obama. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who had remained uncommitted through this entire process, endorsed Obama today, calling him a "once-in-a-generation leader." New York's 23-member Democratic delegation in the House has collectively endorsed Obama; some of them had been among Clinton's strongest supporters. Also, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, a longtime Clinton backer, came out for Obama.
The big question mark hanging over reconciling the Democratic Party is what kind of relationship will ultimately exist between Clinton and Obama following one of the longest, and at times nasty, primary battles ever.
Here’s my question to you: What's the single most important thing for Hillary Clinton to say tomorrow?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should Obama ask Bill Clinton to campaign for him?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Barack Obama likes the idea of Bill Clinton hitting the campaign trail for him as he faces off against John McCain. When asked if he would be able to mend fences with the former president and if he could use him during the general election, Obama said, "Yes and yes” adding "I think Bill Clinton is an enormous talent, and I would welcome him campaigning for me."
But behind the scenes, Obama's advisers might be thinking something else. The New York Daily News reports senior campaign officials don't know what to make of Bill Clinton's "erratic and increasingly sulfuric behavior" on the campaign trail and many believe he's too toxic to be a high-profile surrogate for Obama.
One Democratic operative says Hillary Clinton will be a huge asset for Obama, but that the former president "needs to just stay out of it." Others say Bill Clinton and Obama will likely appear together in rural areas that had heavily supported Hillary.
It's no wonder Obama's advisers might be hesitant to employ the former president, once considered one of the most savvy politicians of his time. Consider what he did for his wife. There was South Carolina where he was accused of inflaming racial fears about Obama. He called Barack Obama's claims about his stance on Iraq a "fairy tale." There was the time President Clinton brought up and defended Hillary's Bosnia sniper fire fable which was totally untrue – after the controversy had quieted down. And just this week, he lashed out about a Vanity Fair reporter who had the temerity to suggest Bill Clinton has gotten angrier in his old age by calling him a "scumbag" "sleazy" and "slimy." Whaddya mean angry?
Here’s my question to you: Should Barack Obama ask Bill Clinton to campaign for him?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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