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August 23, 2008

3:00 AM Text Message: A slap at Hillary?

Rick Moran
I don't know if this story has any legs but I can tell you that it won't take much to rub the Hillaisers the wrong way, so raw and strained are their emotions today.

Barack Obama's promised text message to his supporters announcing his choice for running mate was sent around 3:00 AM eastern time. You recall the pivotal TV commercial for Hillary prior to the Ohio/Texas primaries that questioned Obama's judgment if the White House phone were to ring at 3:00 AM.

Allah at Hot Air rides this pony and points out that the McCain camp is aggressively pushing the timing of the text message as a slap in Hillary Clinton's face:


One possible explanation: They meant to send it out a few hours earlier but the sheer volume of texts caused problems so it got delayed. A likelier explanation: They meant to send it out this morning, but the networks scooped them by confirming the pick around midnight so they had to push it out ahead of schedule to save as much face as possible.

The politically useful explanation: So abiding is their hatred of Her Majesty that they couldn't resist rubbing her face in one last pile of shinola by sending it out at the hour appointed in her famous ad. Unto you I say again - best convention evah.

Allah is probably right with one of the first two explanations. But the McCain campaign just can't resist stirring the pot a bit:

By all accounts, Hillary Clinton was not vetted for the second spot, nor was she consulted by the Obama campaign on who should be taken--not even as a courtesy. If she had been the pick, the 3 a.m. text message might have had some real resonance--a signal that the two had put a tough campaign behind them in order to work together on the serious issues the next administration will have to deal with.

But what's with holding the text message until 3 a.m. for Joe Biden? The only explanation that makes any sense is that Team Obama just couldn't resist one last dig at Hillary.


Recent polls show that the Hillraisers are still on the outside looking in when it comes to jumping on the Obama bandwagon. The Biden pick will not, in any way, assuage their hurt feelings and makes some kind of demonstration of their displeasure at the convention even more likely.







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