Denver — Sure, she’s getting a Harry Thomason-created biographical video played at the convention, she and her husband are speaking, and she’s getting a roll-call vote. But look hard and it’s not hard to find a bunch of signs that Hillary is indeed getting snubbed.
1. She’s not Obama’s running mate.
2. He never even went through the motions of vetting her. (I mean, seriously, why not go through all of her entire background — Bill Clinton’s overseas speaking fees, the family finances, health, unsavory associations — in order to pick up dirt to use as leverage later? I thought Obama was supposed to be this sharp-elbowed politician from Chicago.)
3. He never even asked her who else would make a good running mate.
4. He didn’t ask Bill Clinton, either. All things considered, Al Gore turned out pretty well for him. How much effort would it have taken to go through the motions of flattering these people
5. The running mate he chose, Biden, was as critical of her during the primary as he was of Obama. (“From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.” The result of Mrs. Clinton’s position on Iraq, Mr. Biden says, would be “nothing but disaster.”)
6. The 3 a.m. text message.
7. All of the delegates from Michigan and Florida have been reinstated . . . long after it would do her any good. Now that the DNC concedes she was right, where does she go to get her delegate count and “she can win the large important swing states” argument back?
8. If she speaks at 10 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Colorado’s Senator Ken Salazar is hosting a reception at Zengo at that hour, while Rep. Chris Van Hollen honors the House Democratic Caucus at the Museum of Nature and Science starting at that hour.
9. New York delegation? Seated behind North Dakota on the convention floor.
10. West Virginia? Worst seats in the house.
11. Other worst seats in the house, on the other side? Kentucky.
12. She’s speaking on Tuesday, the toughest night to make a splash. Monday night opens the show, and Wednesday and Thursday each feature half the ticket. Tuesday night has always been the red-headed stepchild of the convention. Last year Teresa Heinz-Kerry headlined it. This year, Michelle gets to be the leadoff headline speaker.
13. Charlie Rangel wasn’t given a speaking role at the convention.
14. Bill Richardson, James Carville’s “Judas,” gets a prime speaking spot.
15. Some Hillary backers in office did get speaking slots — most notably Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and Ohio governor Ted Strickland. But the speaker list includes a long list of prominent Obama endorsers, usually in the nationally televised speaking slots — John Kerry, Jimmy Carter, Tom Daschle, Richard Daley, Jay Rockefeller, Robert Wexler . . .
16. Wexler is in hot water for allegations he doesn’t legally reside in the district he lives in, but he still got a speaking slot. Why give a slot to a guy with a cloud hanging over him, instead of some other Floridian? Well, he endorsed Obama way back in March 2007.
17. The keynote speaker, Mark Warner, isn’t from Team Hillary.
18. On “Securing America” night, neither the chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Ike Skelton, or the chairman of the House Intelligence Commmitte, Silvestre Reyes are speaking. Both endorsed Hillary.
19. National Journal asked 76 Democratic insiders which demographic group Obama needs to sway during the convention, and 42 percent said whites over age 45, 32 percent said blue-collar workers, and 21 percent said women. All of her base demographics. And he still didn’t pick her.
20. None of the delegates are being encouraged to visit the Denver Zoo to see the pumas.
– Jim Geraghty writes the Campaign Spot for NRO.