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• Thursday, January 24, 2008 08:06 AM

  The perfect is the enemy of the good

  I often wonder if those Obama supporters who proudly, righteously, proclaim that they will never taint their principles by voting for Hillary are familiar with the adage: The perfect is the enemy of the good.

  It's a shame if they don't because people who are strongly committed to their political ideals often end up through their inaction or worse aiding those who despise those ideals. We have seen this repeated over and over again to the detriment of progressive interests.

  You need look know further than the election of 2000. It's true that the Republicans, under the circumstances, were able to "steal" the election from a majority of the voters, but it was surely the Naderites' defection from the Democratic party that made those circumstances possible.

  Part of the problem at this point is that the rhetoric of some Obama partisans has reached a level where stepping back becomes almost impossible. It's a free country and you can say what you think, but how helpful is it to call the Clintons racists? I have to think even the most vociferous Obama partisan has to know that this is not the case. I think he or she has to know that the Clintons are good people and not the caricature that the media and the Republicans like to portray them as.

  I'll be voting for Obama if Clinton loses not because I think he's perfect. I'm gay and found the episode where he included a homophobic Christian minister (as well as others, of course)on a campaign tour through SC pretty repulsive. I assume he made the decision because he was in SC, because his almost certain victory will be built on heavy black turnout, and because there are black voters for whom this minister's message was attractive. Was it calculating? Yes. Do I see Obama as a conniving schemer who will do anything to become President of the US even if it means providing a platform to a man who routinely attacks one of the Democratic party's most faithful voting blocks?

  No.

  I'm not looking for perfection. I'm looking for the best candidate under the circumstances. Is electability an issue? You better believe it is. The primary season is our chance to choose who we think will be the best candidate to put up against Rudy, or Mitt, or John. Is it alright for us to disagree? Sure. In the end though, it makes more sense to me to come together with other voters to support our party's choice, even if it is Obama.

  Independents everything I said up until the last paragraph still applies to you. You'll have to make you're own decision since you have not yet been convinced that the Democratic party represents your best interests.

  Now let's have a clean fight, and may the best man, or woman, win.

  Sorry. I know that's kind a of cheesy ending.

  —Eric1976ce Read Eric1976ce's other letters
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