Hillary's Unity...

It must have been agonizing. Standing there in front of throngs of supporters, wishing that she was giving an acceptance speech rather than filling the Tuesday night runner up spot.

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There is a lot to be gleaned from Hillary's less than mediocre performance last night. First, we can zero in on her relentless talk about herself - why she ran, what she's done, who she is, and how grateful the Democrats should be that she has made them what they are today - well, OK - she didn't say that, but she came close.

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If I were Barack Obama I would feel pretty good this morning that I didn't choose Hillary as my running mate. I would be excited that I wouldn't have someone upstaging me at every whistle-stop tour across the 50 states. And I'd be elated that bumbling sour-puss Bill wasn't going to be lingering with his half-baked comments and allusions to what could have been with Hillary in office.

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Liberals Democrats will spend the day praising Hil' for her courage, and strength last night and a false allusion that she came out gang busters for Obama. They will spin this into something that it clearly wasn't - a heartfelt, personal, and genuine endorsement of Barack Obama. Or a personal plea for his nomination based on his positions and her respect for him. It's hard to make the case that a speech that amplifies your own positions and underscores your own accomplishments with a few tag along assertions that Barack believes what "I" believe in is anything more than sour grapes and gratuitous rhetoric.

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Last night we heard about woman's suffrage, 35 years of fighting for children, and and an endless campaign for national health care (which has pretty much fallen flatter than flat). We heard the usual mud-slinging comments that can be heard on the Senate floor by just about any Democrat against Republicans - we dislike Bush, no McCain, no-way, this administration... blah, blah, blah. What people wanted to hear is not trashing of the Republican Party but specific policy reasons to support for Hillary, er I mean Barack.

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Well, we got what we got. And of course she had to make this speech. You can imagine what the news reports would have printed this morning had she said less than what she said last night or declined to make a speech at all. What we saw last night was the start of Hillary's 2012 Presidential Bid.

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And when the smoke clears, and Barack turns out the loser - the apologies will flow. Those who failed to support her will find themselves dethroned from posts, and chased away from every nook and cranny of the Democrat Party. The Clinton machine got caught flat-footed once, they underestimated an upstart novelty that they thought wouldn't last beyond March. The Clinton's won't make the same mistake again. Clinton loyalists will be positioned in every office across the land, from major city mayors to small town dog-catchers.

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For now Barack Obama is really on his own. He'll find his treasurer chest filled by all the Bush-haters who will be out in full force - mostly those from Hollywood and abroad, who will do their damnedest to paint McCain as Bush - which no one buys at all. Most of the people shouting his name are on emotional overload with little to offer of substance and policy.

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So after two lousy nights in Chicago and a lackluster convention so far, it looks like Barack will need to hit a solo home run to find momentum. This morning he's down four points, this surely can't be what they wanted out of Hillary night.