Letters to the Editor
MaddieP
Published Letters: 708 Editor's Choice: 9
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Open letter to Howard Dean
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton's bionic quest continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](Which I have by the way sent to him, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid today. Maybe you can too)
Senator Reid,
Please consider strongly suggesting to superdelegates to take the following path of action.
The remaining contests need to be a race for the TOP of the ticket. Period. The supers need to get with Obama and Hillary (privately) and put some serious pressure on them to reconcile into a joint ticket and "suggest" that any super delegate votes will only be awarded based on the presupposition that the other candidate will be given the VP slot on the ticket.
Any argument that either candidate could win nationally without the great majority of other's core constituency is foolish and risky. We cannot afford the risk of losing the White House in 2008. All Democrats agree on that. So I don't see how either of them has an electability argument at this point. They seriously need each other and the party seriously needs them to bury their differences and the divisiveness and agree to run together.
This solution doesn't stop the remaining races, it refocuses it and improves it. The big problem that is tearing everyone apart and making the decision for supers more difficult is that we are focusing on a winner take all approach. If Obama wins but can't sway her constituents, he loses in the general. Likewise, if Hillary is nominated despite lower delegate counts, we risk alienating too many Democrats and she won't pull his constituents in the general and she loses. THEY BOTH NEED TO RECOGNIZE THEY NEED EACH OTHER (AND EACH OTHERS CONSTITUENTS) AND GET FOCUSED ON THE GOOD OF THE PARTY IN NOVEMBER.
Senator Reid, if you have any influence, this is what you should consider doing and saying privately to our supers and encouraging them to have discussions with both candidates.
Please consider this.
Please copy this and email it or post it anywhere.
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H0tR0d
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton's bionic quest continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not so sure of that. Most reasonable Obama supporters I know would NOT agree with your statement.
I think a joint ticket would be a concession on BOTH their parts. She for wanting the top spot conceding that he has indeed won more delegates and popular votes nationwide and he by having to work through personal differences (something he says he can and will do as President) and focus on their similarities in policy.
It would require compromise on BOTH their parts, for the good of the party in November.
I'm a strong Obama supporter and even I feel this way. I have no problem being level-headed and objective. I'd like to see a ticket that could be the same way.
To me its a no-brainer.
How will HE sway white working class voters while fighting off McCain and the 527 attacks in the general?
How would SHE effectively attract Obama supporters if she is awarded the nomination without the majority of delegates?
And how do either of them win without the others' constituencies?
The answers are not neat or simple. We cannot ignore the fact that Obama will have challenges with some of Hillary's base solely because his race (look at PA exit poll numbers on the subject) and Hillary also has some serious challenges with regard to gender (although I think to a much lesser extent) and trust issues especially with Obama's youth base.
Your pat answers are scary because they make lots of risky presuppositions we just simply cannot predict because we have no historical context through which to filter them. (Example, will those white male blue collars be more comfortable with McCain who is pro gun and pro life and white, even though his policies will hurt them? Or would they go with Obama? We just don't know. This is uncharted territory. We can SAY they've voted Red in the past, true. Or that they wouldn't vote for any Democrat. Not good for our team. BUT we can also say that the economy is MUCH worse than its been in over 30 years and our message may resonate well with them above all the red-herrings the GOP will put out there as distraction. I hope so but who knows?)
I think we need more objectivity and level headedness or we're running the risk of being in big trouble in November. My suggestion of a joint ticket removes ALOT of the risk and uncertainty from his equation.
That's all I'm saying.
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Clinton's PA Victory
[Read the article: Burden on superdelegates gets even heavier]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Here's the problem with some of that 10% victory in PA for Clinton
(It starts out nice. Its good to see real people talking, whether you agree with them or not. But wait until you get to old Billy Bob. Check him out, I wonder how many of these folks showed up to vote on Tuesday in PA and whether they could ever be relied on to vote Democratic in a general election against war vet McCain).
http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/politics/2008/04/22/video_paprimary/index.html
ENJOY!
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exactly how I heard it too
[Read the article: Happy voting in Pennsylvania]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but he's still voting in the primary for dems and would NOT vote for barak, regardless. Question is how many of these people are out there? At least he was honest about it.