Shuck and Jive


Monday, May 26, 2008

Let It Run Its Course

I found this video on Henry's Web:




Even as I found it amusing, I am thinking that it is not wise for the Dems to alienate Hillary's supporters. They will be needed if the Dems want to defeat the Republicans this Fall. While it is doubtful that Hillary supporters will vote for the Republican candidate, they could decide not to vote at all or vote for a third party candidate. In any case, that would not be good for Obama.

In my opinion, I think the race for the Democratic nomination should run its course, with Hillary in the race until she decides it is over. Neither Obama nor his supporters should fret about that. It won't hurt the party to have a race that runs right up to and through the convention. It will hurt the party, however, if a significant faction feels it was silenced or shamed into quitting before its time.

7 comments:

  1. I agree with you on your points about Clinton. I also see no problem with the race continuing. Nonetheless, I find the video pretty funny!

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  2. Ha! I never thought of it before, but Tarry Gillam does look like James Carville's better-looking cousin!

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  3. John, I have felt strongly the other way and not even because I am a super Obama supporter... I just have so many issues with Hillary.

    However, I respect you and I think your words have merit for me to ponder.

    There is something to be said about not being overarching and I appreciate that. As a frequent overarcher that is.

    Great video. I am forwarding this post to a real Hillary supporter I know. She will like this.

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  4. I don't think the party is alienating Clinton's supporters. Clinton doesn't have any supporters left except for a handful of rabid feminist clowns and fringe, pro-war, anti-privacy DLC/Republican-Lite loonies.

    Any genuine "supporters" she ever had she has alienated herself with her disgusting, diseased mind.
    There are simply not enough of these Clinton Groupie whiners to cause a problem.

    Look at it this way. You see them online lying and bitching about "misogyny" and "sexism" while posting links to FOX Newz.

    You see them in the street?
    Have you even met one of them in person? I run a busy retail store, I've met one Hillary supporter since the primary began and she was intelligent. She will vote for the Democrat.

    These idiots that are trying to threaten the party into including "a female" (because that's all it's about) could not be more insignificant.

    The Democratic Left will not be pressured into putting a Neocon that is a proven lying, racist, egocentric, DLC chickenhawk that has no business being in public service.

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  5. In brief, here's where we are:

    1. It is now mathematically impossible for either candidate to win the nomination using the remaining primaries (including Puerto Rico). These races determine nothing. It's all about "momentum" and convincing the superdelegates that this candidate has a better shot against McCain than that one.

    2. As Rachel Maddow says, "the default attitude of the press corps toward John McCain is romantic." Until there is a clear nominee on the D side who is making clear challenges to McCain, the press will not cover him. Por ejemplo, McCain was able to jettison both Rod "America was founded in order to destroy Islam" Parsley and John "Great Whore"/"Katrina was God's punishment for New Orleans' gays, taken out on poor (presumably straight Christian) black folks"/"God sent Hitler so that the surviving Jews would get Palestine" Hagee last week with relatively little fanfare or criticism.

    3. Democrats are being true to form by having one half mad at the other half. Clinton supporters are pissed off at Obama supporters and vice versa. The number of partisans who say they will either stay home, vote for Nader or even vote for McCain is terrifying. Yes, this is a heat-of-the-moment reaction, and given time to calm down, most of these folks would vote for the Democratic nominee. But timing is everything. The Denver convention is in August. After a brutal floor fight, the party will still be divided. The Republicans have their convention in the Larry Craig Memorial Stall in Minneapolis and get a bump. There then remains two months or so for the Democratic party to heal itself and rally behind the nominee, to sell the nominee to independent and swing voters, and to call McCain on his crap. That's not enough time.

    3a. The times in the modern Presidency that the nomination went to the convention (esp 1968, 1980), that party lost the general election. There is a good reason for that. In 1968, the McCarthyites were mad at Humphrey (my dad, a white Chicagoan, wrote in "Eldridge Cleaver") and Nixon won. In 1980, Ted Kennedy mobilized the left of the party against Carter, and the floor fight in New York destroyed what "rally-round-the-flag" boost Jimmy Carter had in the polls going in.

    This is too important an election to blow on personal fights. McCain is an avid supporter of a third war against Iran. He admits he's incompetent when it comes to the economy. The next President will likely nominate at least two Supreme Court justices. We are at a crucial crossroads in American history. Now is not the time for personal grudges.

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  6. I find the video rather offensive, and telling about this election season. Where is the humor in cutting off parts of a woman's body?

    I would respectfully suggest you try another strategy, if you're looking for a way to mend fences with Hillary supporters.

    Captainkona is incorrect to claim that Hillary has alienated her supporters, or to suggest that we are insignificant. Keep in mind that traditionally women register and vote in greater numbers than do men. We are a significant part of the Democratic party "base." And with elections being decided by a few points, no Dem can win without us.


    BAC

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