Hillary supporters snub Obama camp, Newsom makes quiet showCamped out at campaign headquarters for the past week, Hillary supporters looked bleary-eyed but fervent early this afternoon as they speed-dialed calls to their vast Democratic database. Even if California results wouldn’t be available for several hours, some said, many of the mostly gray-haired women amongst the 70 or so volunteers, were optimistic Clinton would nail the nomination.
No one really seemed to know when or if Gavin Newsom was going to stop in and when he did, scarcely anyone looked up from their phones, save a handful of TV reporters. There was virtually no hooplah, no gushing and he made no rah-rah speech or intro. Instead, he strode through the room casually shaking hands, schmoozing and patting backs. He steered away from making an overt remarks in support of Hillary – his presence was enough, it seemed. He thanked supporters for their “selfless” devotion to the campaign and said both candidates offered a dramatic shift from the status quo, the “cowboy diplomacy” ushered in by Bush.
Young women, said one volunteer, should stand behind Hillary not only as a symbolic woman leader, but because she had the experience to “stand up to the system and challenge the status quo.” Experience was key, many women volunteers intoned, borrowing a line from the senator herself.
A 27-year old UCSF medical student said he was disappointed with the way he thought the media was jumping on the Obama bandwagon – that the Obama camp’s expectations on Super Tuesday, bore no resemblance to the reality on the ground. Even a number of poll results that showed him edging ahead in California were unfairly cherry-picked to show his lead. Still riding on the wave of his Iowa win, Obama’s supporters were headed for a nosedive, he added.
Obama’s supporters, volunteer Sanjay Kumar said, were younger people, seen tearing down Hillary signs around the city this morning, generally muckraking and chanting his name. In a pro-Hillary blitz launched on the BART station on the Embarcadero this morning, Kumar said, only one-fifth of those asked, were supporting Obama. Hillary’s people, were a little more courteous, mannered and dignified on the phone and on the campaign trail, Kumar said. On the phone, Obama’s supporters were “some of the rudest people” he’d ever talked to.
One older woman were quick to tout the “experience line” and her ability to handle the growing economic crisis on “day one.” If Obama were nominated, another woman proclaimed, he would be “eaten alive by the Republicans.” He was spouting platitudes, she added, without any beef to back it up.
A swarm of volunteers hit the phones from 6 to 7 pm to make a final push for Clinton, right before an after-party is set at 8:30 pm at campaign headquarters, 1122 Howard St. (Megan Ma)
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