Kerry aides had defended the move by saying Clinton didn't ask for a role. But that explanation led one Clinton loyalist to grouse, "She didn't ask? Big deal. She's a rock star in the Democratic Party. She doesn't have to."
Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill highlighted the role Clinton was given for the convention - appearing with other female senators on opening night. Kerry chose Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski to speak for the group. And she noted that the convention's keynote speaker is Barack Obama, an African-American running for U.S. Senate in Illinois.
He's a "new leader on the stage," she said. "All along, we looked at this [convention] as an opportunity to showcase tomorrow for the Democratic Party."
But many New York Democrats and Clinton fans think Kerry's camp made a huge mistake.
"She's our rock star in the Democratic Party right now, and they should take full advantage, because they need individuals like Hillary to energize this campaign," said Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings, a Democrat.
Chances are good that Republican delegates will not be checking out the powerHouse Gallery on Charlton St. during their convention here next month. That's where photographer Larry Fink's controversial exhibit "The Forbidden Pictures" - of a President Bush look-alike partying and groping women - will be on view with a vengeance until the convention ends on Sept. 2.
Fink refers to his photos, first taken on a fashion assignment for The New York Times Magazine, as "forbidden" because The Times decided against publishing them after 9/11. He claims the woman being groped in the shots (see right) are "a metaphor for our foreign policy."
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter writes in the exhibit catalogue that "The Bush Administration has offended many, but clearly it has done a number on Fink ... . 'The Forbidden Pictures' remind us that after a war based on deception, the tearing away of our civil rights, and the atmosphere of unprecedented secrecy surrounding the White House, it's no longer liberal hysteria to say that we're living under the governance of what can reasonably be said is an Imperial presidency." source
Editor's note: The following is the complete list of how senators voted today, July 14, 2004, on a cloture motion to bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to the full Senate floor. The measure failed 50-48, with 2 senators, John Kerry and John Edwards, not voting.
Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---48
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Miller (D-GA)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-NE)
Nickles (R-OK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
NAYs ---50
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Breaux (D-LA)
Campbell (R-CO)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Daschle (D-SD)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Graham (D-FL)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hollings (D-SC)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Wyden (D-OR)
Not Voting - 2
Edwards (D-NC)
Kerry (D-MA)
It's that horrible screeching spilling out of her huge mouth when she screeches before a crowd they must be equating with rock star. Courtney Love comes to mind.