A Clintonite in Denver
Monday, September 1, 2008; Page A13
For many of us who were part of the Clinton campaign, Sen. Barack Obama’s appeal was something we understood only in the abstract — data in polls, faces at a televised rally.
Most of us never heard him speak in person. At work 14 hours a day in the war room, we focused on his perceived faults and deficiencies. Our time was spent sharpening and advancing arguments. Skepticism was critical to our efforts. Insulated from Obamamania, I met few Obama supporters and distanced myself from the ones I knew. I lived this way for 18 months.
From the outside, our loss may have seemed inevitable for months, but inside the campaign we simply kept going. Each late victory brought false hope. We were finally doing too well to stop, but never well enough to win. We fought so long because we believed so strongly in our candidate; sustained by the passions of our supporters, we hoped that, as long as we kept moving, we could keep failure at bay.
Once we ran out of states and the campaign ended, we were like Rip Van Winkle. We awoke to a world transformed by political currents we had stood against. There was the neighbor in an Obama T-shirt getting the morning paper. Every parked car on the street bore an Obama bumper sticker. Had they been there along, or did they pop up overnight?
I fled the country, overcoming a fear of flying to travel abroad three times in two months. I avoided the papers and television. Media postmortems rehashed familiar feuds and created new rifts. I had no answers when my 3-year-old daughter asked why Hillary had lost or where all the Hillary signs had gone.
Many of us arrived in Denver reluctantly, feeling like uninvited guests at someone else’s party. What the media described as division felt more like defeat.
Michelle Obama and both Hillary and Bill Clinton did their part to change that during the Democratic National Convention’s first days. Their speeches struck the right tones of unity, softening hearts made hard by months of fighting and appealing to our common values as Democrats and Americans.
Then came Thursday night at Invesco Field. During the campaign, we scoffed at events like this, mostly because we were not capable of producing them. A cross section of voters waited for hours to enter the stadium and take their seats. As one friend put it, it looked more like an American convention than the convention of any particular political party.
Clinton delegates greeted one another with tears and hugs and were greeted in turn by Obama delegates. Several Obama supporters took my hand to thank me for what the Clintons had said that week, urging that they stay involved in the campaign. Every so often, I would simply look around me, amazed at the significance not just of the day but of the entire campaign.
The setting raised the bar for Obama’s speech. The task before him: Explain what change meant and how it would be accomplished while weaving his own biography into the fabric of America’s and laying out an appropriate contrast with John McCain.
No one in recent history had attempted this kind of a political conversation with 75,000 people. Barack Obama pulled it off.
For 18 months, I listened to Obama on television, sometimes intently, often just barely — background noise to a running series of conference calls and meetings and e-mails.
In person, my attention undivided, I saw something of what so many others had seen for so long.
Progress in America is never cheap, and even today history exacts a price for Obama’s victory — the dreams of electing the first female president, the dreams of so many who rushed toward Hillary Clinton on rope lines across America and refused to give up her hand and their hopes. Today these dreams are giving way to another kind of progress.
For me, the presidential campaign began in a crowded Iowa hall, where I saw a man my age lift up a daughter around my daughter’s age and tell her that one day she could be president. Last week things came nearly full circle, when I saw another man my age lift up another child and say the very same thing.
The writer, a partner at the Glover Park Group, was communications director of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. He blogs at GothamAcme.com.
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Howard,
I read your article in washingtonpost. It was short but written in an interesting personal manner that was emotionally touching.
thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.
Howard i heard you thought Palin was gonna be a good pick, i know your not that dumb!
Still, this can’t have been an easy ‘conversion’. It takes courage to take such a step. Kudos for that.
Don’t worry. Despite the leftoid smear machine going into full speed this weekend, Palin will be the first female president of the US.
You leftoids must think average americans are stupid.
Howard, that is a most courageous piece, especially coming from someone who was often regarded as mean-spirited.
Admirable. Thank you.
Howard,
Don’t tell me that you drank the Obama Kool-aid. The total disrespect for Hillary and Bill as well as the labeling of these two great Americans as racist makes me terribly upset. I have not watched anything political since Hillary’s farewell speech. I can never vote for Obama and will most likely not vote on the presidential line. Obama is an empty suit. The country needs more than a community organizer. All this sugar coating gets us no where as middle class folks, like my neighbor, continues to lose their houses, pay ridiculous amounts for gas and put their health needs aside because the doctor charges too much or the medications are beyond their ability to pay. I have been a lifelong Democrat but the liberal wing of our party went too far with the selection of Obama. I continue to be a supporter of the Clintons but can’t and will not vote for Obama. Why was Hillary not considered?
Mr. Wolfson,
As someone who has wanted Barack Obama to be president since his 2004 convention speech, I wanted to tell you that your words in the Post meant more to me than any other commentary I have read about Obama’s speech.
I have a great deal of respect for you and for Senator Clinton – who we need more than ever to help convince her supporters not to forget their values and positions on issues.
What I wish, what I have wished since the presidential race began, is that we could compare candidates based on who they are and what they stand for, not based on what they look like. When we can do that, we’ll know the country has advanced. After all, Sarah Palin is no substitute for Senator Hillary Clinton. If she were a man, McCain would have been skewered for his choice!
As for the comment from the Clinton supporter who will not vote for Obama, I must ask - after 8 years of Republicanism bringing about all the problems s/he names - how can s/he sit back and do nothing to try to help fix the situation? Bush didn’t act alone… no president does. If Obama is an empty suit (and I know no Harvard Law graduates who are), he will be surrounded by others who share HIS/HER ideals for health care/energy/housing.
Not voting for Obama is cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. After McCain is elected and your house is being foreclosed on, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.
Mr. Wolfson,
I was very moved by this piece, I was a NC delegate this past week in Denver and you sat in front of our delegation many times with the Fox news correspondents, and you did not seem very happy. I am glad you have found a happy place (ha-ha). I have tremendous respect for both Clintons and believe that you ran a campaign you should be proud of. You made Obama, the candidate I preferred, a better and stronger candidate. You should be proud of your place in history also!
Respectfully
Donna
This is the first time I have ever responded to a newspaper article, but wanted you to know that I admire and applaud you for your article in “The Washington Post” today. I voted for Clinton in the Florida Primary but am now supporting Obama 100%.
Mr. Wolfson,
This is a beautiful piece.
I want to let you know how much I appreciate these words, as one who feels that the Republicans– from the Bush Administration to the propagandists on talk radio– have taken this country down a dangerous road.
The Democrats need to stand strong, united. We have to forget the bitter, angry feelings from the campaign— both sides have been angry at the other. Instead we have to remember stolen elections, long lines to vote in Democratic precincts, ballots not counted, dishonest smear campaigns.
The country can’t take much more of this.
Mr. Wolfson,
As an Obama supporter throughout the primaries I viewed you in a negative light as a bitter adversary. It is very touching to read your thoughts now that we are all having a chance to unite. Thank you so much for this touching article.
I found this article compelling because I shared many of your feelings in Denver. I also found it interesting that Obama supporters interpreted it as something it may not have been. I didn’t see it the same way. Keep the faith.
I have found myself in almost exactly the same situation, thanks for expressing what many of us former supporters of Senator Clinton feel in our hearts.
Hello Howard,
Left a comment on WaPo or wherever but content is the same.
Read this article this morning and within the first couple of paragraphs figured it was some hormonal, weak-kneed, female’s first glimpse at the beatles live at some field somewhere. About the only thing I see I got wrong was the sex of the author but then I don’t know you so maybe I am right all around.
Anyhow, bottom line is I’m not for sale so stick with your values. Hillary, Bill, et-al will not sway me at all. I’m not alone and that is why they are forcing you, Hillary, Bill to belly up. O-baby will lose and that is my intent.
I’m a democrat; I will remain a democrat for one reason only. That is to piss off Democrats as much as Democrats piss me off.
Pollsters can’t poll VOIP users. The hidden voters.
Mr. Wolfson,
I so admire your honesty. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to move on after you “have left so much on the field”. I’ve been there - I know. I have long respected and admired both President and Senator Clinton. As this primary season came to a close I found my self in a different place - one that I could have never imagined. A significant amount of the admiration and deep, abiding loyalty to the Clintons - lost. Lost in the cycle of sound bites that hurt too much. But all that said. I will be forever grateful to each of them and what they did to change the face of history and as such improving the lives of so many in this country and abroad. I’ll end where I started, I so admire your honesty and I am grateful that you took the time to share your thoughts.
Pathways58
wow this election has really screwed some kids up! (not a ref to pansycritter, of course)
Your article exhibits true sportsmanship, a quality that if more widespread would raise the level of discourse in our country.
Concerning winning and losing fair and square, please comment on the possibility that the election could be stolen using the voting machines. This is an issue that raised its ugly head in 2004, and it looms today in the minds of millions of us.
I agree with (most of) the previous commenters: this was a refreshingly candid, sincere and raw piece that dealt honestly with not only the emotions but the experiences of fervent supporters.
I’m also interested in your description of working in the war room, focusing on your candidate and drowning out the opponent’s message. The Bushies have often been accused of being insular to the point of being ignorant of “which way the wind blows.” Which is not to equate your top notch (with one notorious exception) operation with Bush’s, but merely to ask if you find this kind of tunnel-vision a necessary part of intense campaigning? And is it something that should - or generally does - change once campaigning transitions to governing? And quite simply, are there enough hours in the day to take in opposing messages while honing one’s own??
Appreciate all of your and the Clintons’ work, and looking forward to a massively strengthened Party…
HW - thanks for sharing your thoughts with the public. It’s easy to forget how much staffers invest, how long they battle, how greatly they sacrifice, and how hard it is after all that to admit defeat with a smile.