Letters to the Editor
david-smith
Published Letters: 102 Editor's Choice: 8
-
Time for Hillary to Pucker Up
[Read the article: Obama and Clinton fizzle in Philly]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My real preference in this campaign was for John Edwards, and my only consideration since then has been for supporting whatever candidate and policies provided the greatest chance of cleansing the stink of Republicanism from every corner of the American political process. Though it’s true I think Obama is a better suited to that task than Clinton, there is nothing fanatical about that belief or excessive about my devotion to Obama (just take a look at my letters; not a single hysterical accusation of anti-Obama bias or any obsessive attacks on Hillary).
But certain of Clinton’s supporters like have gone off the deep end with incessant, petty attacks that are repellent and increasingly unhinged. Resentful that Obama hasn’t had to deal with nearly the same degree of relentless, unmitigated hostility from creepy media hacks like Maureen Dowd? Perfectly understandable. But that hardly justifies embracing the most vicious, destructive rightwing strategies emanating from the cesspool of Republican talk radio, or encouraging precisely the media behavior that has enabled the Republicans to marginalize every Democratic candidate since Lee Atwater was polluting the process. The disgusting display by ABC last night represents everything that is corrupt and deformed about our political process, yet the Hillary fans are its most enthusiastic supporters as long as it exploits some ostensible vulnerability of Obama’s.
On the other hand, there is a rather happy circumstance that mitigates my disgust with Hillary supporters’ stated preference for four more years of rule by the Bush gang over having to endure the election of their sworn enemy, Barack Obama. Specifically, the Hillary fans better brace themselves for the following beautiful sight: four to five months of a daily routine in which we get to watch Hillary pucker up and keep those lips planted firmly against Obama’s ass. With respect to her immediate electoral prospects, Hillary is, quite simply, done; barring some act of divine intervention, she can’t overtake Obama in delegate count, and simply doesn’t have the juice to compel the superdelegates to overturn the result. Beyond that, though, if Obama is defeated by McCain in a close election, Clinton is savvy enough to recognize that she will not only be blamed for the loss, but – should she fail to do everything humanly possible to deliver her fan base – become the most intensely and justifiably loathed member of the Democratic Party since Connecticut voters had the wisdom to vomit out Scumbag Joe Lieberman.
And if Obama ultimately prevails? Well, the kindest thing Hillary's supporters can do is probably to help her stock up on an exceedingly healthy supply of chapstick.
-
Re: Notorious W.E.S.
[Read the article: Clinton capitalizes, contest continues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I watched the results come in.
And from joy I wept.
Well then, you may as well get used to it. Because you’re gonna have the opportunity to do lots more crying in the near future, only it won’t be from joy.
-
Right Premise; Wrong Conclusion
[Read the article: Looking past Pennsylvania]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Joan says, [Obama’s] got to start looking like a fighter, and really, he's got nothing to lose. He almost certainly can't lose his pledged delegate or popular vote edge in the remaining handful of primaries.
On the basis of that observation, she then opines, I personally think he should debate Clinton again, and hammer her on things that really matter. . . .”
Perfectly reasonable premise; utterly wrong conclusion.
Said strategy would be great for keeping Clinton’s electoral prospects alive, but doesn’t do a damn thing for Obama. Yes, he does, indeed, have to start “looking like a fighter,” and the best way to do so is to start attacking McCain relentlessly, on every one of the nuts-and-bolts issues referenced in Joan’s post. As to Clinton, the best thing he can do is to begin to virtually ignore her, focusing exclusively on the gaping chasm between his own policies and the grotesque positions of Bush/McCain. Let Clinton bitch till the cows come home; after all, he “almost certainly can't lose his pledged delegate or popular vote edge in the remaining handful of primaries.”
As everyone recognizes, the differences between Clinton and Obama’s policy proscriptions are negligible, and there’s simply no way Clinton’s working class base could conceivably reject Obama in favor of McCain based on the substantive issues. As to those Clinton supporters who are so inconsolably embittered by her defeat, or who embrace the Republicans’ (and Hillary’s implicit) claims that Obama is an America-hating, racist black separatist, or who regard torture, habeas corpus, and the rule of law as trivial and irrelevant questions of “process:” Fuck ‘em. You can bet your ass that any efforts intended to appease these crypto-Republicans will cost far more than they’re worth among the liberals who are the Democratic Party’s core constituency.
Besides, the potential downside of ignoring Hillary for the remainder of the race will be mitigated by the fact that she’ll be spending all her time following the ultimate announcement of her withdrawal smoothing the ruffled feathers of her mournful flock. After all, she’s undoubtedly shrewd enough to recognize that should Obama lose in a close race to McCain, she’ll become the most intensely loathed Democratic politician since Scumbag Joe, and will stand a greater chance of being nominated as presidential candidate of the Rush Limbaugh fan club in 2012 than that of the Democratic Party.