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• Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:12 PM

  nydem08, how were you 'shown the door?'

  nydem08, I don't understand your statement that you were 'shown the door' by others within the party. Can you provide specifics?

  Are you referring to the various political figures who called on Clinton to step aside late in the race, when the electoral math made her chances of success extremely slim?

  As a longtime democratic voter, and a longtime admirer of Hillary Clinton, I lost a great deal of respect for her when she voted to grant President Bush his "blank check" to invade Iraq. I thought it was disgraceful to surrender the powers of the Congress to a demagogue; I felt that anyone who could read could tell that Bush and his cohort were lying to the american public; and I believed that voting to send soldiers into battle as an act of personal, political ambition was a stain on her character. I did not believe Clinton's subsequent protestations that she voted the way she did because she was lied to. The lie was bald faced and unconvincing when it was told, making it impossible to hide behind with a straight face.

  What pushed me strongly away from supporting Senator Clinton was President Clinton. That man's erratic, narcissistic behavior during the campaign convinced me that he would be unable (not merely unwilling) to play a supporting role to his wife. I think that a Hillary Clinton unburdened by Bill would have been a stronger candidate.

  When Senator Clinton began comically padding her resume and inventing stories to bolster her image, I became embarrassed for her. I believe that the people publicly calling for her to step aside were trying to spare her further embarrassment, not trying to forestall her victory. Remember that these calls did not come when Clinton was perceived as the inevitable nominee, or even merely close in votes; they came when she was so far behind that victory was impossible, barring a miracle.

  During the campaign I did not see any indication that Senator Clinton or her followers were systematically marginalized. Maybe I just wasn't looking, or not looking in the right places. If you could point me to a specific list of grievances, it might help me to better understand your extreme frustration.

  —mikemcc Read mikemcc's other letters
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