Letters to the Editor
Mickey Kovars
Published Letters: 109 Editor's Choice: 4
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Now We Are All Racists!
[Read the article: Bill Clinton: The Chris Matthews of South Carolina]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So now it's enough to merely call attention to Jesse Jackson's previous victories in SC for Bill Clinton to be called a racist waging a dirty racist campaign against Obama. In other words, Obama is a new kind of candidate and if you even suggest anything to remind people that he is black, then you're a racist.
Well, liberals, we are all racists in the sense that when we see someone of the other race, the first thing we think of is his or her race. If you think you're above that kind of thinking, you're deluding yourself. Cynthia Tucker had a recent column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution which convincingly clarifies that point. (I'd link you to it if I knew how -- I urge you to find it and read it.) The bitter irony of this fact is that it probably hurts Obama in the long run. The more the media hammer the race issue, the more people will think there's more of an issue than there really is. And many people will conclude that it will be a problem voting for a black man.
Personally I think there's still too much baggage out there -- guilt, fear, etc. -- for America to elect Obama. I could be wrong. But Bill Clinton is right -- it is a real roll of the dice. With a hell of a price to pay if we're wrong.
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Obama Would Lose to McCain; Hillary Might Not.
[Read the article: Our first black president?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]By now, Hillary's candidacy may be so damaged by her husband, the media, the Kennedys, and herself that she cannot get elected even if she manages to survive the nomination process. But if Obama is nominated, he will go down in flames in a contest with McCain. (Curiously, the two have come into conflict previously and apparently don't like each other.) McCain is poised to win the Florida primary, and my Republican friends tell me (I am in Fla.) that it's a simple electability question -- he looks to them like the way to avoid a Dem president.
McCain is perfectly able to bend his straight talk to suit his purposes -- for example, his "victory" mantra on Iraq will be modified as necessary depending on how things go there. He is far enough away from Bush and the rightwingers that he can choose his positions, all the time posturing as the straight-talking war hero. The economy is a problem and may be more of one by November, but McCain is probably able to distance himself from past failures and decide what he wants to try to do on that score. McCain is a dangerous candidate -- his rise from near-failure in this campaign attests to the demand for what he represents -- a non-Democrat, non-Bush Republican. Obama cannot beat him; Hillary has a shot.
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Re: Obama Would Lose to McCain; Hillary Might Not.
[Read the article: Our first black president?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To Ham I Am and others: I admit that I cannot statistically support the assertion that Obama would lose to McCain while Hillary might not. And I will acknowledge that the ground is always shifting -- I'm not sure, the way things are now going, that I will agree with myself a few days from now!
Nevertheless, I was thinking along two lines: First, that there are simply too many people out there who are conflicted about blacks, and thus afraid of the idea of one holding the power of the presidency. Some people I've talked to about this feel the same way. Clearly, Obama does more to wipe away those fears than nearly any black politician one can think of, but I'm not sure that will be enough. I would like to be wrong about this, but so far I don't think I am.
My second thought is that McCain gets a lot of credit on very vague premises. What do people know about him now? That he is a war hero, a straight-talker who will stand up to the Bushies and the rightwingers when necessary, that he's willing to compromise with Democrats because he's pragmatic, etc. etc. It seems to me the way to deal with a guy like this is to punch through the aura of heroic pragmatism by pointing out, issue by issue, what a rigid reactionary McCain really is. Where is he on health care? We know where he is on Iraq, and it ain't good. What about the economy? Other than endorsing permanent Bush tax cuts, I'm not sure where he is on that, either. An issue-specific candidate like Hillary -- who has thought out these matters far better than anyone else in either party -- is what's needed to deflate McCain. Obama, with his mantra of change -- inspirational but unspecific -- wouldn't do as well. We'll have an election posing heroism against change. Heroism will win, and all of us will lose.
I am no genius, and I'm not necessarily right. In that spirit, I look forward to some other viewpoints.
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First Kerry, Now Kennedy! Wow!
[Read the article: Endorsing Obama, Kennedy goes after the Clintons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Maybe Obama, once he gets over basking in the glow of his celebrity endorsements, will deign to give us all some slight idea of what he would intend to do as president, other than promote change. He sure as hell hasn't done it yet.
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McCain's Win Is Enough to Make You Fell Sorry for Rightwingers!
[Read the article: McCain wins, and conservative heads explode]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Much as I dislike Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, Foxnews and their friends, McCain's Fla. win is almost enough to make me sympathize with them. This so-called straight-talker is a total loose cannon who will say or do anything. It is impossible to know where he stands on any issue, and his erratic behavior and temper make him completely unpredictable.
I know why many Repubs and independents are voting for McCain: they think he can beat the Dems. I'm not so stupid as to predict anything right now, but there's literally a gold mine of McCain stuff out there that the Dems can use in the election.
Oh yes: on more thing. This is one guy who you really don't want his finger on the nuclear button!