Letters to the Editor
BryanS
Published Letters: 365 Editor's Choice: 1
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Slight is still significant
[Read the article: Obama takes Wyoming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If either of these candidates goes into the convention with a 50-100 delegate lead, it's a slight lead, but it's not insignificant. This has been a hard-fought battle between two very qualified, very evenly-matched candidates, each of whom has plenty of excellent qualifications to be the Democratic nominee. I would absolutely hate to have to be a superdelegate who had to choose between them at the convention.
But if I was, and if I did, I'd try to take myself out of the equation as much as possible and bend over backward to justify my decision according to the numbers. And so, if Obama holds even a slight lead in the delegate count, that's significant (with all due respect to Bill Bradbury, my Secretary of State, whom I voted for in 2004). If Obama also holds even a slight lead in the popular vote, that's also significant.
If a baseball game goes 13 innings, and the home team wins it by one run, nobody says that that slim, one-run lead is insignificant. And they certainly don't try and claim that the other team should have been declared the winner because they committed fewer errors, or threw more strikes, or had a better on-base percentage. You can say that, on any given day, it could have gone either way. But when the contest is over, the only legitimate way to decide the winner is to go back to the will of the people, expressed according to rules that were established well before the first vote was cast and anyone knew how this race was going to shape up.
No matter which way this goes, you're not going to be able to make everyone happy. I'm sure that there are a number of die-hard Clinton supporters who wouldn't pull the lever for Obama in November if he gets the nomination instead of her. But I'm betting that the number of Obama supporters who wouldn't show up to vote for Hillary if they felt that the nomination had been "stolen" from him is much, much greater.
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Passion = power
[Read the article: Obama takes Wyoming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whenever Obama's domination of the caucus system is brought up by Clinton supporters, it's always with a dismissive sniff, as if he's somehow cheating the system or winning essentially meaningless victories. From everything I've read about caucuses, it seems like they reward two things: 1) superior grass-roots organization and 2) passionate and dedicated supporters. Since when are either of these things a negative for a presidential candidate in a general election? A motivated and well-organized campaign is key for getting out the vote, and Obama's obviously got that up and running eight months before the general election.
Also, despite Hillary's supposed strength in primary elections, Obama still leads her in the popular vote by more than 600,000. Even if you add in Florida, where many Democrats didn't bother voting because they were told that their votes would not count, he leads by 300,000 votes.
Finally, by firing up Democrats in red states (yes, even caucus states) with his 50-state campaign, Obama forces McCain to campaign everywhere and take nothing for granted. And considering McCain's anemic fundraising thus far, as well as his advanced age, I wonder if he'll have the physical or financial stamina to do that.
The Clinton campaign can scoff at us swooning Obama supporters and call us naive, but Obama has done something that no other Democratic presidential candidate has done in my lifetime, and that's to make every Democratic voter feel important, no matter how red your state might be. That's translated to an energized base and record-setting fundraising, and it's transforming the party.
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Anti-Clinton?
[Read the article: More on Clinton camp infighting]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Excuse me? The New York Times is anti-Clinton? This is the same NYT that endorsed her during the primary, right?
Maybe they're having some buyer's remorse. I hear that's pretty common among her early adopters these days. She's the Microsoft Vista of the Democratic primary.
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@ Billcap & Senorplaid
[Read the article: Obama takes Wyoming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Billcap, I'm not going to try and debate your points, because most of them are largely irrelevant in the face of one important fact: The rules of the nominating contests were known to all before anyone's campaign began in earnest, and under those rules, Barack Obama is winning the delegate count and the popular vote, and unless something changes drastically in the dozen or so remaining contests, that's likely to remain true until the last votes are cast. I understand and respect your passion for your candidate. I feel the same for my own. But she's losing under the rules that everyone agreed to play by, rules that her advisors had some influence in helping to craft in the first place.
Senorplaid, even if Hillary somehow winds up stealing the nomination, I'll hold my nose and pull the lever for her in November, for two reasons: Her policy positions are much closer to Obama's than McCain's, and a Democratic majority in Congress would have a much easier time passing the legislation I feel most strongly about with a Democrat in the White House. Of course, the contributions I would have made to an Obama presidential campaign wouldn't go to a Clinton campaign, and I wouldn't knock on doors or make phone calls for Hillary as I would do for Obama. But I would spend that time and money supporting congressional Democrats, who would hopefully hold President Hillary's feet to the fire and make sure she doesn't triangulate the opportunities of the next four years into the toilet. Plus, if history is any judge, those congressional Demos will need all the help they can get during midterm elections in a Clinton administration.
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Alex, you biased, patriarchal, woman-hating stooge
[Read the article: More on Clinton camp infighting]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]They're calling you out, Alex! They know that you're a chauvinist pig who fears powerful women and will do anything within your power to bring the Clinton campaign down, even post a link to someone else's article!
Now please put up something unflattering to Obama so I can take my turn whacking you like a piñata. :)