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• Wednesday, June 4, 2008 03:03 PM

  We are fortunate that our candidates are better than their supporters.

  At least some of their supporters, hopefully over-represented by a very large factor here in the Salon letters section. And I suspect they are - after all, this embarrassing exchange of epithets has been dominated by a very few individuals, perhaps 6, perhaps 8, with the rare interjection by some reasonable soul.

  I'm sick of the lot of you. And I don't even have to name you. Everyone knows exactly who I'm talking about.

  I'm an Obama supporter, so this post addresses those 3-4 fools presuming to speak for him here. I'm embarrassed by you. I don't believe for a second that Hillary Clinton is intent upon destroying the Democratic party or its nominee. And if she has aspirations to the Vice Presidency, that's hardly a development that should shock the conscience.

  If you sit back and think, a much more likely explanation for the behavior you consider so despicable might be as simple as this: it may take a day or two for a human being in the heat of a nomination battle to move out of campaign mode and into reconciliation mode. For that matter, when a human being is intent on a specific goal, like winning an election, considerations of one's options upon losing are hardly helpful and likely emotionally and psychologically debilitating. I would strongly recommend that you let her come down and weigh her options.

  And consider the debt she owes her supporters and those supporters' need for a satisfying outcome, some real payoff for their physical and emotional commitment to their candidate. And if you want to win in November, you would do well to carefully consider that. Intentionally or no, Hillary may be helping to broker some sort of detente between the factions - a win-win deal that may go some distance toward satisfying her base, unifying the party, and electing Senator Obama to the presidency.

  And, finally, consider what the candidates are saying about one another.

  Barack Obama, last night:

  "We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning – even in the face of tough odds – is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency – an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton."

  Sadly, I could find no transcript of Senator Clinton's comments before AIPAC today - can someone help me out? - but she was extraordinarily gracious to Obama, even stating (and i think I have this right, verb tense and all): "Senator Obama is my friend, and let me be completely clear - he *will* be a friend to Israel."

  Please, people. Step back. Take a breath. Allow this process to work itself out. I believe Obama's graciousness will be fully rewarded, and that Senator Clinton will prove herself to be both instrumental and unexpendable in winning the Presidency this Fall.

  And if that doesn't convince you, then please just shut the fuck up. Go somewhere else for awhile and grow the hell up.

  —Ricardo Malocchio Read Ricardo Malocchio's other letters
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