Letters to the Editor
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pathfinder
You were a republican all along. Vote for McCain
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@ Taliesan, AJCalhoun
The parody was brilliant. Victim whining IS a game that both can play.
Why didn't Clinton use Donna Bazile instead of Mark Penn as her campaign coordinator? That would have neutralized this whole "dice and slice" strategy while dividing the black vote. Why pick Mark Penn (who hasn't performed well)? Bazile didn't move to the Obama campaign until well after SC? Was this a tactical error?
I also think the race/gender/economic dice and slice is dangerous. I wish both candidates were playing up our commonalities. We all are in trouble if Democrats don't win in November. The conservative Supreme COurt has made it easier for government to take our houses and give them to Big Business at less than market rates in defiance of the Bill of Rights and the constitution. If McCain gets to put 3 more Alito/Roberts "screw the Constitution we have to protect Big Business" appointees, we will lose our guns, our rights, our freedom of speech, the whole shebang.
I talked to a man on Friday. He kept saying it was about "more than economic issues..that's Marxism." I pointed out that Jefferson said debt was slavery and money was freedom. He argued (and this guy is a laid off factory worker returning to school to re-train- bankrupt, no medical, middle aged, the works) that his economic well being was less important than "moral issues and national secuirty". I pointed out that economic elites don't agree, and that their shipping jobs overseas undermined social stability AND national security and made it easier for terrorists to hurt us, undermine us, and cause dissention. He did agree that social stability based on jobs was far more important than abortion or gays, because fighting terror is the "highest good".
This is the argument the candidates have to make. we need the economic and social stability that the Democrats can bring because national secuirty and successful warfighting is based on a stable homefront. It's a Cold War argument that resonates today with the groups that are fearful of the Democrats. They have to see thier economic well being as part of a greater good.
How do we get the candidates to make this argument?
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Didn't you ever take statistics in college?
"Even more baffling is why 27 percent of these Wright-sensitive voters still chose Obama as their candidate."
I would have thought the answer to that mystery was obvious. These people were asked whether the coverage of Jeremiah Wright meant something to them. That is NOT THE SAME THING as being asked whether they would not vote for Barack Obama due to that coverage. It is entirely possibly for a person witnessing the relentless hounding of Obama for Wright's words to be affected by it- by feeling disgust at the media and sympathy for Obama. It is also possible that it simply didn't mean enough to get them to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Anyone familiar with statistics will be able to understand that an answer means nothing without an understanding of the question, and of how the person answering that question interprets it. Clearly, the media in this case saw only what they wanted to see- a flailing and doomed Obama campaign soundly trounced by controversy generated by the media itself, ready to implode en route to a return to the status quo.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why campaigns are won by votes and not by exit polls.
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@Air Force Vet
Air Force Vet wrote: "Hillary as Obama's running mate would be no odder than LBJ running with JFK."
Aside from the fact that Clinton's got enormous high negatives and would not bring anything much to the ticket from the independents, where Dems win national elections, I think that the JFK/LBJ ticket is the reason you don't put a political enemy as second in command. It's too much of a temptation for certain interlopers.
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pathfinder1
Yeah, vote for the guy that wants eternal war and has no idea what to do about the failing economy.
That will "show us."
Show us that you are an idiot.
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Reality Check!!
Obama was supposed to win NC by 20 points and Indiana by double digits, was it 15 or so. Neighboring state and all. Once again, Obama proves he cannot close the deal. He is an anemic candidate.
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Hillary and the Indiana primary
You wanta know what happened? Republicans crossed over (it is legal here), voted for Obama in the hope he will be nominated and McCain will win in the fall.
The white men who voted for Obama used their undying racism in an effort to keep Obama out of the White House. This state has always been anti black. The Klan thrived here. It was only about 20 years ago that the sign at the entrance of my town which read "If you are black, exit before sunrise." So much for Indiana.
This primary is not a true representation or reflection of an actual vote. It was the Rush Limbaugh primary. The racists followed his instructions to the letter.
I am from Indiana and I have had die hard Demorcats tell me "if that n..... is our candidate, I'll vote for McCain."
I hope the entire country is not of this persuasion.
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I'm with the Hillary for Supreme Court movement
If Obama promises here the SC, she'll be in power forever, and she'll love it! Plus, she won't have to play politics anymore. I think her true colors (mostly liberal with a side of pro-business neoliberal) will come out.
Of course, the nomination hearings will be nasty, but they only last a few weeks.
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@Rose Hann
Rose: The Clinton campaign meme, that Obama can't win in November, needs to be retired. The first place where it needs to be retired is in your mind. Obama is a decent, middle-of-the-road Democrat. Over the course of the campaign he and Clinton both have done well in hypothetical races against McCain. Obama wants to bring America together. If you have problems with Obama as a candidate you need to address your doubts and then compare them against McCain.
Healthcare? Do you want Clinton in the Senate working for a healthcare program with a Dem as President or a Republican?
The war? Obama or McCain?
The economy? Obama or McCain?
Energy? Obama or McCain?
The Supreme Court? Obama or McCain?
That is the reality. The math has said for months that Clinton was not going to win. She fought hard, she lost. She is not going to win. Her campaign is out of money, the superdelegates are moving to Obama. Hillary is no longer a real choice for President. Once you abandon your fantasy you have a clear choice: McCain or Obama. If in six months you want to punish the Dems for choosing Obama then you're not much of a Democrat. But I suspect you'll be reasonable.
In my life every Presidential campaign boiled down to a choice between the lesser of two evils, or maybe the better of two choices. I've never had a perfect candidate to vote for. Neither have you. Don't try to play perfection. Vote for best candidate standing.