Letters to the Editor
Jay Bee
Published Letters: 35 Editor's Choice: 4
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Astonishment in Maine
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I drove for two hours yesterday to Bangor with my sister and daughter to see Barack speak in Maine. I figured it would be interesting to see a candidate speak, when Maine is typically forgotten. We made the mistake of getting there about an hour before the doors opened to the Bangor Auditorium, as the population of the city had increased by a third for his speech. We waited in the longest line I had ever seen in my life for almost two hours. We met some wonderful people, many younger and surprisingly many quite a bit older.
After all of that waiting, we were only a few hundred feet from the auditorium when we were told that the main room had filled to capacity as well as the overflow room. Just when we were ready to turn back, we were told that Barack would speak to us outside, and would do so FIRST.
So imagine a scene like the stump speeches only read about in books, people jostling on snowbanks, climbing fences, trees, even each other in the calm cold that was Maine yesterday to hear and see Barack, for only a few minutes. And did he deliver. There was excitement, there was hope, and there were specifics. Talk of new ways to use our old industrial centers, dead and forgotten by the establishment. Talk of help with college tuition. Talk of thinking about our children and grandchildren first.
He then spent time talking to and shaking hands with the crowd before going in. I could not believe this was happening. No crowd control, no checking of bags, Barack in a potentially dangerous setting with no way for Secret Service to cover him. And he did it without hesitation.
Anyone who will do this in a state with a population likely to vote for Hillary, a tiny, white, poor, lost in the back woods near Canada population, and for those foolish enough to show up "late", is someone who clearly gives a damn. He was comfortable with a chaotic situation, worked it to his advantage on the fly, and did it with grace and aplomb.
Hillary speaks of worries about Barack being a likable guy, same as George Bush. She's right, and also dead wrong. Likable they both can be, yes. But George Bush is the man who drinks you under the table, then drives you all home and thusly off a cliff. Barack is the guy you follow into battle, ready to do what needs to be done to save a country in danger.
This life-long Independent is ready to sign on to the Democratic party, participate in today's caucus, and follow this leader all the way to November and beyond. I exhort everyone else here to consider the same.
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Maine is tiny...
[Read the article: Obama wins Maine caucuses]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...but up until yesterday, it was supposed to go for Hillary. We're white, rural, not always as well-educated (we're really the northern terminus of Appalachia when you get more than 30 miles inland), and have a lot of women who vote.
As Maine goes...
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Krugman has a point...
[Read the article: Paul Krugman criticizes Obama supporters]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...but still misses the boat.
I know a good number of pro-Obama people who are spewing anti-Clinton venom. And many of these are older voters who left the party in 1980 to vote for Reagan and then left the party yet again in 1996-2000.
I attended my Caucus in Maine yesterday and was ASTOUNDED when my next-door neighbor, a gentleman who went to see JFK speak in Lewiston, Maine 47 years ago, showed up with an "Obama" sticker. He hasn't even pretended to support Democrats in years, and thinks that the Democratic establishment in Maine is corrupt and should be thrown out. Any my own father is the exact same story.
We talk about issues and policies, and experience, but for a lot of people coming on board this year, they are interested in personal integrity. They see in Obama an underlying philosophy of coming together for common good, compromising when necessary, and not always having all of the answers and therefore asking for it from others. This is what used to happen, before the culture wars that began with Goldwater in 1964.
Clinton, god bless her, she tries harder than anyone out there, but she is a self-focused Baby Boomer first and foremost. She can't help it. It's her nature. She will continue to be brittle and inflexible. Her campaign has long reflected this, and if somehow she got into the White House I see four years of Republican filibusters, partisan sniping, and generally the 1990's all over again.
I can't support that, and if the DNC cannot see this and makes a sneaky move to anoint Clinton with super delegates, you will see all the momentum for the donkey clan grind to a halt. Does it seem unreasonable that so many who are for Obama would turn to McCain if Clinton is the nominee? Perhaps. But that doesn't change reality.