Lanny Davis praises Obama's speech, pans Palin pick

Ever since Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded defeat and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on June 7, I really did try hard to follow Mrs. Clinton's urgings and to move beyond the fifth stage of grief to be enthusiastic about the Obama candidacy.

To remind those who forget, the "five stages of grief" were first categorized by the 1969 book "On Death and Dying," authored by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: They are: (1) denial, (2) anger, (3) bargaining, (4) depression and (5) acceptance.

Most of us supporting Mrs. Clinton had reached No. 5 by the time of the Denver convention, but what we knew in our head had not yet fully reached our heart. As Mr. Obama himself said when he met with key Clinton fundraisers and supporters the week after the Clinton concession, he did not expect that passion to be easily transferred to him - and that he would have to earn it.

Mrs. Clinton's hard-hitting and gracious speech Tuesday night and former President Bill Clinton's out-of-the-park speech Wednesday night endorsing Mr. Obama made things a lot easier for me and lots of other Clinton supporters.

But it was my oldest son, Seth Lewis Davis, who at Invesco Field at Mile High successfully challenged me to take the next step. He had supported Mr. Obama even before the senator had declared for president - not because he didn't still admire the Clintons, but because "Barack Obama speaks to me and my generation." And so father and son debated, at times rather vigorously, over most of the 2007-08 campaigning.

...Mr. Obama reminded me why my dad and mom taught us around the dinner table that the Democratic Party was our family's choice: because Democrats are the party that cares most for the little guy, the average American.

Emblematic was the series of examples offered by Mr. Obama of economic problems faced by average Americans. He pointed out that Mr. McCain's conservative philosophy basically says to the less well-off in our society: "You're on your own - pull yourself up by your bootstraps." In response, Mr. Obama said powerfully: "Well, what if they have no boots?"

Second, Mr. Obama challenged Mr. McCain on the issues, but not by personally attacking him. He said that it wasn't that Mr. McCain didn't care - it was that he didn't know or didn't get it. This is the kind of new politics Mr. Obama promised from Day One of his campaign - a rejection of the previous hyper-partisan politics of personal destruction.

...Mr. McCain's strange pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee raises serious questions about his judgment. Mrs. Palin is younger and has less foreign policy experience than Mr. Obama. As a result, the selection may remove the experience issue from the campaign, especially given Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s contrasting national domestic and foreign policy/national defense expertise.

Certainly Mr. McCain cannot seriously think that picking a pro-life and pro-gun candidate will automatically attract Clinton voters simply because she is a woman. That will strike many Clinton supporters, men as well as women, as both wrong and patronizing...

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/01/beyond-the-fifth-stage-of-grief-passion-and-the-ob/