Hasta La Gadget!

PHILADELPHIA ― Hillary Clinton has a reputation for being hardworking, over-disciplined and a bit stiff. But her daughter, Chelsea, painted a different picture of the Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday ― that of the “kind, thoughtful, hilarious” soccer mom.  

The younger Clinton emphasized in her primetime speech at the Democratic National Convention that Hillary never sacrificed her role as a mother to be a politician. She was “always, always there,” and the two were very close.  

“Every soccer and softball game. Every piano and dance recital. Countless Saturdays spent finding shapes in the clouds, and Sundays at our Methodist church and local library,” Clinton said. “We’d make up stories about what we’d do if we ever met a triceratops ― in my opinion, the friendliest dinosaur, though my mom would remind me that, friendly or not, it’s still a dinosaur.”

As Ivanka Trump did in her speech at the Republican National Convention, Clinton laid out a defense of a progressive agenda: Ivanka touted equal pay and workplace fairness, while Chelsea touched on issues like child care and LGBT rights. But unlike the former, who was forced to outline a reality that seemed at odds with her father’s policy, the latter was able to make the pitch for these policies through the arc of her mother’s story. 

Clinton painted a picture of Hillary dropping everything to blow kisses and read Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo with her granddaughter, and leaving notes for a younger Chelsea to open each day her mother was traveling for work, which “thankfully didn’t happen very often.” She said she and Hillary loved to watch “Pride and Prejudice” during family movie nights.

“That’s who my mom is,” Clinton said. “A listener and a doer, a woman driven by compassion, by faith, by kindness, a fierce sense of justice and a heart full of love.”    

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

PHILADELPHIA ― In 1968, Hillary Clinton, known at the time as Hillary Rodham, was taking in the excitement of the Republican National Convention in Miami. The young Republican had jumped at the chance to volunteer for Nelson Rockefeller’s last-minute effort to take the nomination from Richard Nixon and attend her first political convention.

“The Republican convention was my first inside look at big-time politics, and I found the week unreal and unsettling,” Clinton wrote in her 2003 memoir. 

The 20-year-old Rodham probably never anticipated that 48 years later, she’d be at another political convention ― this time standing on the stage at the Democratic National Convention, making history as the first woman to ever receive a major party’s presidential nomination. 

“Tonight, we’ve reached a milestone in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president,” Clinton said Thursday night. “Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come. I’m happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. I’m happy for boys and men, too – because when any barrier falls in America, it clears the way for everyone.”

“After all, when there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit,” she added. “So let’s keep going, until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves to have. But even more important than the history we make tonight, is the history we will write together in the years ahead”

While more than 200 women have pursued the presidency since 1872 ― when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for the highest office in the land ― no one has come as close as Clinton. 

Clinton presented the 2016 election as a moment of reckoning for America, a time when “powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart.”

“We have to decide whether we all will work together so we all can rise together,” she said. “Our country’s motto is e pluribus unum: out of many, we are one. Will we stay true to that motto? Well, we heard Donald Trump’s answer last week at his convention. He wants to divide us ― from the rest of the world, and from each other. “

“Don’t believe anyone who says, ‘I alone can fix it,’” she added. “Yes, those were actually Donald Trump’s words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm bells for all of us.”

Thursday night was an event that many women have been waiting for their whole lives, and there were plenty of tears ― both in the arena and from afar ― for the big, historic moment when Clinton came out to greet her daughter, Chelsea, onstage. 

Suzanne Miller, 66, from Washington, D.C., said her 92-year-old mother in central Pennsylvania was a lifelong Republican. But this spring, she changed her party registration so that she could vote for Clinton.

“She’s thrilled, at 92, to be able to vote for a woman,” Miller said. “She never, ever thought she’d see this day. She is so excited and so thrilled that she changed her party after all those years.”

“This is looking at the fruits of my labor for 30 years, and feeling very proud,” said Ellen Malcolm, the founder of EMILY’s List, which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women and has become one of the most powerful political action committees since its start in 1985. 

It’s been a long journey for Clinton. She first came to national attention as a student at Wellesley College in 1969, when her peers selected her to deliver the school’s first-ever student commencement speech. The student body president spoke for her generation, saying that although they weren’t yet in positions of power and leadership, they did have “that indispensable element of criticizing and constructive protest.” 

Her comments were a direct rebuke of the speech Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.) had delivered right before she took the stage, as he had argued against the effectiveness and need to protest. Clinton made The New York Times, The Washington Post and Life magazine. She began to get noticed, speaking around the country.

But she really began to draw attention as a political spouse ― albeit an untraditional one. Although Clinton now faces skepticism from the progressive wing of her party, she was often seen as a liberal feather-ruffler in the establishment. People didn’t like that she wanted to keep her maiden name while her husband was governor of Arkansas; it was later inconceivable to people that she would lead a health care task force as first lady.

Along the way ― from her days in Arkansas to her time as first lady, from her election to the U.S. Senate to her years as secretary of state ― Clinton has, in many ways, been the case study for sexism in politics. She has faced intense scrutiny over what kind of a woman she is: her hair styles, her clothes, the sound of her voice, whether she’s likable enough. 

The atmosphere for women running for office has changed dramatically over the years, but they still face hurdles. Even during this election cycle, people have criticized Clinton by saying she needs to smile more and stop shouting ― despite the fact that her male challengers have never faced similar comments.

And it is those struggles ― and Clinton’s endless ability to overcome them ― that have bound her supporters to her. Many of the women who have shown up to Clinton rallies and to the convention in Philadelphia say they relate to her, and that they want to see her finally come out on top. 

Vicki Saporta, 63, from Washington, D.C., was the first female organizer for the Teamsters union. She said she constantly struggled to be accepted by others in the movement, and that she was put through test after test after test ― only to find her male colleagues resentful when she succeeded. 

“I understand what it’s like to pave the way for other women and how difficult it can be to be a first ― and how much extra you have to do in order to succeed,” Saporta said.

“She was the first person in the public eye, in a traditional role, in a traditional state, who didn’t say, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m going to do this.’ She just did it,” said California delegate Andrea Villa, who was covered in pro-Hillary buttons and a T-shirt that read, “Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History.”

“I’m emotional and sentimental about this because I was the first woman mayor of Ville Platte, [Louisiana,] and here I am witnessing the first woman nominee who will eventually be president of the United States,” said Jennifer Vidrine, 57.

The fact that the first female nominee is also eminently qualified also makes these women proud. They stress this over and over, so that Clinton doesn’t get dismissed as just a “token” pick. After all, many of them have been accused of not being as qualified as their male counterparts ― and women still don’t make as much as men do for the same work. 

“I was hoping she would finally get her turn,” said Roberta Goldman from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who said she’s been a Clinton fan for a long time. “To me, she’s smarter than any president I’ve experienced, to be honest. … She’s amazing! I don’t know if we’re going to get anybody else like that in a long time.”

“What’s so wonderful this time, for Hillary in particular … is the most qualified. We are going to be in such capable hands. It’s going to be so inspiring for the rest of us to be more engaged,” said Cleveland resident Terri Hamilton Brown, 54, who said she never thought she’d see a black president, let alone a black president potentially succeeded by the nation’s first female president. 

But Clinton’s long record of public service has also made her open to criticism that she’s part of the establishment ― something that’s especially dogging her this election, with the rise of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Her supporters consider this another damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t moment: Would the country choose a woman to be president if she weren’t this qualified? And how do you get qualified without being part of the system for so many years?

The fact that the first female president would be part of a political family is also not surprising, since that’s how so many women broke barriers in politics.

Until the 1970s, one of the most common ways for a woman to enter politics was by following her husband. According to Pew Research Center, 90 women served in the House between 1916 and 1980; 34 of them were elected to fill their husband’s seat or replaced him on the ballot after he died. This country has, traditionally, been more comfortable with female politicians when they know their husbands.

Jan Cebula, a nun from Iowa who gave her age as “over 65,” sat in the very last row of the top section of the arena. The view wasn’t the best, but she said she’s overjoyed that “this is finally happening.”

“I’m a little bit older. So it wasn’t an aspiration to be president when we were growing up,” Cebula said. Asked what she would have said if someone had suggested a female president when she was young, she stared blankly for a few seconds. “You know, to be real honest with you, they wouldn’t have thought of it.”

“Women have so many more opportunities today,” she added. “What happens then is young women and girls see those role models and then it really does a lot for them.”

Laura Bassett and Jennifer Bendery contributed reporting.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Love has gained an unexpected yet potent political currency in the 2016 election.

Eight years ago, the American electorate was weary and cynical and couldn’t see how politics could move us forward. We needed hope, and so that word rose to the iconic rallying cry for the Obama election and the promise of his presidency. In 2016, a new theme has gained a similarly potent political currency – the power of love.

Love is the new Hope.

I remember being startled when I first heard Sec. Clinton using love in her speeches during the primaries in the spring. She would be talking about policies and then there it would be – love – described as fundamental to the America we all might aspire to.

This love theme has continued to be a through line, or heartbeat this last week in Philadelphia.

Family members of those killed in Orlando and Charleston talked about love being the answer to hate; Broadway stars sang “What the world needs now, is love sweet love not just for some but for everyone;” the Rev. Barber of Moral Mondays told us how we need to shock our heats so that they might love again; Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine quoting Jesus in saying how we should love our neighbors as ourselves, Chelsea introduced her mother as having ‘a heart full of love’, in the introductory video the narrator explains what was most remarkable her ‘was her heart’, and in her acceptance speech to the convention Hilary Clinton got the biggest applause when she proclaimed how “Love trumps hate.”

Maybe it is not so surprising that Love has made such a comeback in our politics. We are more polarized as a nation than I can ever remember. We are plagued by the twin evils of hate and fear, combined with violent rhetoric that threatens to fracture our society. We distrust and demonize one another and point fingers instead of extending a hand. Young black lives are criminalized, penalized and targeted, immigrants are scapegoated and attacked, suicide rates are spiking among working class whites, LGBT lives are trivialized, debated and legislated against, people of other faiths are targeted and demeaned, and income inequality is worse than it has been in 100 years.

We find ourselves constantly pitted ‘us vs them’ and forget that there is just ‘we the people’ while hatred and fear are stoked, and divide and conquer is merely one tool in a political handbook.

In 2016, with fear and hate consuming our nation, we need love to be a powerful force. And that’s exactly what it can be. Love is not a Hallmark card. Love is an action, it is the way we move in the world, it is the way we show what we really value. Love always moves out and towards, and never shuts out or down. As Cornel West has said, Justice is what love looks like in public. Love is not an endgame, it is the means by which we will get to a future that is more just, more compassionate and blessed than we live in today. Love has the power to change the world.

Rev. MLK said: “There is a reason that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals.”

One example of this turn towards love happened just the other night when Senator Cory Booker was asked about how Donald Trump had insulted his speech on Twitter. Booker replied: “I love Donald Trump — I’m going to say that,” Booker said. “I don’t want to answer hate with hate — I’m going to answer it with love. I love you, Donald — I pray for you,” he said.

We need this force in our world. If love is to be the theme of this election then let’s think deeply about what that means and how it can guide us to Nov. 8 — and even more importantly, beyond.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

PHILADELPHIA – It was a tale of two swing-state cities.

Cleveland, where Republican Donald Trump’s official presidential nomination was marred by a prime-time speaker who refused to endorse him, a plagiarized speech from his wife, and a workmanlike acceptance address that painted a gloomy portrait of America.

And Philadelphia, where Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee in a program that, despite early worries of divisive drama, featured A-list entertainment and soaring, optimistic speeches from the sitting president and vice president.

First impressions notwithstanding, it was Trump who likely won.

While the four days in Philadelphia brought Clinton the traditional benefits of a nominating convention – especially party unity and free media – Trump got from Cleveland something he needed far more: A big step toward normalcy.

A reality TV star with a long, troubled business record, prone to grade-school insults against those who challenge him and a propensity for nearly daily falsehoods has, thanks to the Republican National Committee, won the veneer of a traditional presidential candidate. The packed arena, the roll-call vote, the repeated “next president of the United States,” the big balloon drop at the end – just like candidates from Ronald Reagan to Bob Dole to Mitt Romney have enjoyed.

“For Trump, he had one job:  be seen as a legitimate choice ― and honestly, just standing on stage and not throwing up did that,” said Steve Schale, the Florida Democratic strategist who helped President Barack Obama win that state twice. “Given that no one circles the wagons like the GOP, there was almost no chance he wouldn’t leave Cleveland with a bit of a boost.”

How much attention typical voters pay to political conventions is unclear, particularly in recent elections as broadcast networks have devoted less and less time to covering them and other entertainment options have become easily available. Networks’ decisions were based, in large part, on the growing importance of primaries. Conventions have became less a place where choices and decisions are made, and more of a four-day advertisement (although both Republican and Democratic primaries this year held the possibility of brokered conventions).

Still, most political professionals and observers see the conventions as the start of the general election campaigns, when the majority of voters start paying serious attention to the candidates. And as such, both sides expend tremendous amounts of time and energy trying to give the impression of party unity and showcasing the candidate in the best possible light.

By those traditional measures, Democrats clearly had the advantage. Their main worry was that supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would disrupt the proceedings, potentially making it harder for Clinton to bring the most liberal segment of the party onboard behind her. And while groups of Sanders’ delegates and guests managed to heckle speakers – including Obama – they were relatively few in number. More important, while they were audible in the hall itself, they were not really noticeable on the television feed, which is how the overwhelming majority of viewers see the conventions.

Apart from that, leading Democrats, from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to former President Bill Clinton and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, offered full-throated endorsements for Clinton while simultaneously painting Trump as dangerously unfit and unprepared.

In sharp contrast, the only effective endorsements for Trump in Cleveland came from his own children. Among the previous GOP nominees and presidents still alive, only Bob Dole from 1996 attended. Former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush skipped the convention, as did the 2008 and 2012 nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Romney, in fact, delivered a scorching speech in March to denounce Trump and is now considering an endorsement of Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.

Yet even that was outdone by Trump’s runner-up in the primaries, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who did appear at the GOP convention in a prime-time speaking spot, only to urge delegates to vote their conscience – the rallying cry of anti-Trump Republicans’ last attempt to deny him the nomination.

The RNC, which held daily news conferences two miles from the Democrats’ convention arena to sell the media on how badly it was going, downplayed the significance of Cruz and the party’s other problems.

“We might have had a couple of hiccups last week, but when someone came out and didn’t endorse the presidential candidate of our ticket, they were booed,” RNC strategist Sean Spicer said Thursday. “Night after night, speaker after speaker, some very prominent Democrats have been booed. Leon Panetta, [former] secretary of defense, booed last night. Former presidents, booed – by their own party.”

But Mo Elleithee, a Clinton campaign aide in 2008 and now director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Politics and Public Service, said Republicans had a bad convention at a far more fundamental level than the scorecard of who endorsed and who was booed.

“It’s the first real opportunity to begin to expand beyond the base and begin reaching out to a broader electorate. General elections are about addition ― appealing to a broader group and trying to bring them into the fold,” Elleithee said. “To that end, I think the Republican convention actually failed.”

Elleithee said that with the exception of Trump’s children, the other GOP speakers largely stayed on Trump’s message that the United States is in terrible shape and that only he can set things right. “Most of the big-name speakers used a lot of the same rhetoric from the primaries that is alienating a lot of the broader electorate,” Elleithee said.

Schale, of Florida, said that given Trump’s lack of knowledge or interest in the functioning of government, a much more significant inflection point in this election could well be the first debate this autumn.

“I believe the biggest challenge Trump faces is this basic question, if he is up for the job.  I am not convinced that toe-to-toe with Clinton that he can pass that test, and if he doesn’t, I think the race is functionally over at that point,” Schale said. “But if he does, I suspect it is going to be an exceptionally tight race with small margins in a small number of states.”

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Thursday, Amazon announced its second quarter sales, reporting a net income of $857 million, which makes the $92 million the company earned in its second quarter in last year look like pocket change. In its press release, Amazon straightforwardly lays out 26 beautiful ways the company has blossomed. Gizmodo sat down with Alexa, the company’s mononymous spokeswoman, to gain insight on how Amazon has grown in the past year.

Read more…