Letters to the Editor
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Does WV really matter?
Given the high numbers of African Americans voters in the south, I expect Obama to put a number of traditionally red states into play this fall. Does it really matter if McCain carries West Virginia? Not if Obama can take North Carolina or Tennessee it won't.
The thing about Obama is his strength among independents and yes, African Americans, throws the electoral map out the window. Obama may lose a few swing states that Hillary might have won but he's almost certain to carry states she can't. I saw a poll a few months ago that had Obama within five points of McCain in TEXAS of all places! Given that he leads McCain by about 5% in national polls without even officially winning the nomination, 30-35% of Republicans are still voting for Huckabee or Ron Paul, and Obama is sure to outspend the Republican nominee by about 2-1, I'm not terribly worried.
Finally, the whole electability argument is academic. Obama has won a majority of pledged delegates and leads Hillary by a million raw votes. By any metric he's won this thing. The time for buyer's remorse passed months ago. If anything, polls show Obama now leading in states that supported Hillary in the primary (California & New Jersey).
Bottom line is, he won. It's time to stop second guessing the guy on the basis of race and either vote for Obama or not because he represents your interests. If Dems in West Virginia won't vote for a candidate because he's not white, they're in the wrong party.
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The Obama coalition
Clearly, if the Obama coalition consisted only of African Americans, college students and Prius drivers, he wouldn't be 700,000 ahead in the popular vote now.
Equally clearly, there are many Obama and Clinton supporters for whom race is still an issue - but, I'd guess, not the majority. (After all, Clinton still had the majority of black voters behind her as recently as Christmas - most claim to have moved to Obama because they like him and what he says, not because he's black.)
The challenge, meanwhile, for the Democratic party, is to challenge these stereotypes and to invite Americans to live up to the promise of the Constitution, as Obama repeatedly says.
Pandering to racism (and sexism) and making excuses for it is contemptible, and will lose the party the general election, whoever is nominated.
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Vermont
Is a money-maker, my man. That stays.
You should look to get the money-losers out. b Start with the people who hate America, like everyone who flies a Confederate flag. Why we let the 1800's version of Al Qaeda thrive as if they won is beyond me.
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No offense but define capable
I would vote for either democrats this fall but so far we've watched Hillary squander a seeming insurmountable lead in money and name recognition (Like Bush squandered our budget surplus).
She had the best staff available.
She kept Penn on too long, even when staffers said not to. And his poor planning and strategy practically ruined her campaign (like Bush kept Rumsfeld, despite being told to stop and it has make things so bad in Iraq we'll need a generation to begin fixing it)
She has run into overspending the resources she had/has (again, like Bush has run us into a 4 trillion dollar deficit)
She has changed her campaign slogan and tone multiple times, indicating a lack or strong focus (first it was experience, then it as ready on day one, then she found her vote, then it was ready for change). This confusion is not a good thing
Leadership: i can't say she's a poor leader necessarily but I can say Barak has done better job with organizing and motivating not only his staff, but his supporters. He seems to be leading the way and allowing others to become very involved in the process.
Hillary's campaign has changed the rules so many time throught the campaign. In October FL and MI she acknowledged, would not count. Now, its a federal case. (FYI I want them to count even though DNC said they wouldn't) Bush similarly, changed the Iraqi Mission based on what was expeditious. First it was WMDs, (unsustantiated claim but he manufactured papers and got respected general to lie about it), then when no WMDs were found it was a link to Al Quaeda. Then when it seem people were buying that, it become Iraqi Freedom...to bring democracy to the region. And on and on. He keeps changing the mission and hoping nobody notices how absurd it is.
Temperamentally she's been all over the place. Sometime she seems together and really sharp (loved her on the O'Reilly Show) and sometime she seems really disjointed and spastic. GW at least has maintained an even temperament but McCain is very much like Hillary in this regard. He comes across really even sometimes but we know he's unstable too...and that scares us so why wouldn't it concern us if Hillary displays it too?
I understand that you may THINK Hillary has better capability to lead, but WHAT PRAY TELL or you basing that on?
I don't hate her and as i said I would vote for her in a second if she was the nominee. But based on JUST THE CAMPAIGN ALONE, i'm not so sure she'd make a good "Chief Executive". Her policies and Barak's policies are nearly identical. So for my dollar i'd choose someone who has demonstrated an ability to lead effectively, efficiently manage huge sums of money and 10's of thousands of supporters. Who managed to maintain equilibrium in the face of the Wright scandal PLUS who has policies I agree with.
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Pammy
A lot of money has been spent trying to make you either hate black people or think that they hate you. See my earlier post about this tactic that has gone on for decades and beyond. The GOP needs the non-rich to segment themeselves into tribes and be suspicous of one another.
VERY few people claim that Obama supporters hate women, or that Clinton supporters hate blacks. In the main (and especially in the 'real world' outside of this forum, more people just happen to like Obama's message better - their policy is very similar. While Clinton is my #2 choice - and I think her health care policy is better - I find it hard to believe that she can be an agent of change given the oppostiion's hatred of her. Sad, but true. Hillary then trashed her image with me by her campaign style.
IF Hillary pulls off a miracle, I will vote for her against McCain. I hope that you too will reconsider and realize that there is more we have in common beyond the Pepsi v Coke context of the primary. McCain is a real danger, despite his moderate reputation he will likely name a SC justice. He will chase his tail with the ecomomy, and maybe even attack Iran (which would result in $7 gas prices if not more).