Letters to the Editor
marti812
Published Letters: 4
-
never be perceived as stealing an election
[Read the article: Should Florida and Michigan vote again? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats have two powerful candidates who each have a lock on their own portion of the electorate. Hillary won last night but she is still behind Obama in the delegate count with little hope of catching up even by August even if she declaring wins in MI and FL. Obama, following the national Democratic rules, did not campaign in those states; his name was not even on the ballot in MI. It would be perceived as an out and out theft if she took the nomination this way and as a consequence his supports would in anger not vote in November in the numbers she needs to win. The energized younger voters Obama has brought in in droves will say "whatever" and a portion of the African American population would turn their backs on Hillary in anger.
Many Independents and even many of those who just voted for Hillary will not choose her in November. Remember this week she conveniently pointed out in a self-defeating argument that John McCain has a life time of experience and compared to her he has much more experience than she can claim. So men will chose McCain as will security-concerned soccer moms who will be frightened into voting for him by Republican scare tactics. Without an energized army of motivated under- 30's, without energized African Americans, without the active support of those who believe in Obama, we will be poised for Bush 3.0. Hillary, champion of woman, will ensure that with his Supreme Court picks McCain will return woman's rights to the dark ages for a generation to come.
Older woman will argue that they in turn will not support Obama because of his youth and inexperience. Many in their devotion to Hillary remain blind to his power to move players to a new game board just as FDR did, just as Reagan did. Government went for being the solution under FDR to being the problem under Reagan. We need someone who, through his power to define and inspire, can reinstate the power of government to act as a referee once again ensuring economic justice.
We need a combined ticket and it may come down to a coin toss at the convention whose name is at the top. The vice presidency has been redefined by this administration. These two historic figures could redefine it further. Our problems are bigger than one person can tackle efficiently, let's show the world what can be done with a powerful team of two. McCain would seem insignificant competing against this powerful duo.
Democrats should demand that Hillary and Obama be on the ticket together. The two of them should outline the role of the VP before the voting at the convention takes place. FL and MI can be seated. Delegates can cheer not jeer, Democrats will win big in November, and this watershed moment in American history will let us revive our greatness at last.
-
Dangerous regret
[Read the article: It's 3 a.m. Who do you want answering the phone?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have been married to a terrific guy for almost 40 years who has a similar hair- trigger response much to his own dismay as well as mine. Like McCain he too has always been quick to apologize and is sincere when he does so. But I was forced to develop many careful approaches if I had disturbing news but sometimes even they failed to stop an explosion. In this volatile world to have a president who requires these kinds of kid gloves does not make sense. Unpredictable responses also cause deep anxiety it in those who work for this kind of person. As young children my kids did not know what to expect from their dad. One day an action on their part was fine, another day it could cause an explosion. This made them wary and overly cautious. Do we want a president whose staff will draw straws to avoid being the one who goes in the Oval office when bad news must be presented?
Can you imagine being the person putting through that 3AM call if the man answering is someone who will slice you through with his anger before he stomps down to the crisis room? Many times in the wake of his anger my husband found much to his deep regret he had said things or taken action he could not readily repair. McCain as president could start an irreversible march to war with his uncontrolled quick response.
We know of McCain's volitilty and we have seen Senator Clinton's visible anger in the debates. THe one candidate who seems to remain cool and rational is Senator Obama. I will take his kind of personality and intelligence over the other two absolutely.
-
MI votes and disingenuousness
[Read the article: Big weekend news]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes it was arbitrary to give Obama the uncommitted votes but if you were an Obama supporter you had no choice but "uncommitted." Write-ins were discarded. Hillary's solution of giving Obama no delegates was preposterous. He would have won large numbers of votes in places like Detroit, Ann Arbor and E. Lansing.
Another way of looking at it is this. Hillary's name was on the ballot. If you wanted to clearly you would have voted for her. Therefore every "uncommitted" was a non-Hillary vote. All the RBC committee needed to do was total all the votes caste or written in, add up all non-Hillary votes (including write-ins) and compare them to the number who voted for her.. That would have given the percentage of the vote she won. Since Obama following the rules removed his name as did others giving him the non-Hillary votes was probably a pretty accurate reflection of the voter's choice.
As for your Obama puzzlement: Come on, Joan, don't play your readers! Your puzzlement is as disingenuous as Hillary's addendum "as far as I know." You both wanted to impugn Obama.
-
"decision to HAVE her baby"????
[Read the article: OMG: Palin's daughter now pregnant]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Palin daughter was free to make the "decision to have her baby"? Keep her baby I understand but "to have" or "not to have" means having choice something Gov.Palin is strongly against--for every other woman??