Looking for Unity

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sent us his thoughts on last night's events in Denver a little earlier this morning. Here they are in full:

The highlights of the convention's third night were the speeches by Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden, and Hillary's graciousness in moving to nominate Obama by acclamation at the beginning of the evening. Like Hillary, President Clinton strongly and unequivocally asked Democrats and all Americans to vote for Obama. Like Hillary, I'm sure some of the commentators and columnists will say it's not enough, but some of those people were the same ones that spent months tearing down Hillary in the first place. When the President spoke he was wildly applauded by probably every delegate, Clinton and Obama supporters alike. While the convention lasts only 4 days, it is clear that the effort to erase divsions and unify behind the nominee is succeeding. President Clinton convincingly laid out the key reasons why we must elect Obama over McCain. I think he did as good a job as he could have, and I am convinced that the support of the Clintons will be a key component to an Obama victory on November 4th.

I thought, as did most people with whom I spoke, that John Kerry was also a very effective part of the program. The comment I heard repeatedly was that he should have done that 4 years ago, meaning hit the Republicans hard on the issues. The 2004 campaign put the word "swiftboating" into the dictionary. From his speech Kerry appears to have finally learned the important political lesson of hitting back hard against the type of false and malicious attacks that Republican President campaigns typically unleash against the Democrats.

If it couldn't be Hillary, then I'm glad it was Joe Biden. That's what I thought when Obama named Biden as his running mate and that's what I think after last night. Vice Presidential candidates generally do not have a significant impact on the outcome of the election, but I do think that Biden's experience and his ability to fight hard will be important in what promises to be an extremely hard fought campaign. This decision by Obama in selecting Biden should instill in people confidence in his decision making abilities.

I know that many in the media are looking, perhaps hoping, to find a divided Democratic Party coming out of this convention. Sure, there will be some people to will not support Obama in the fall, but I am convinced that all of the talk of party divisions and disunity have been overstated by some of those looking for a story. Yesterday, I did what I said I would; I voted for Hillary, for whom I was sent to the convention to support by a large majority of the voters in my district. But I will be working hard to elect Obama and the entire Democratic team in November.