Letters to the Editor
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CONTRIBUTING TO A POISONOUS ATMOSPHERE
Here's the deal. Both Obama and Clinton have been successful in pursuing their own strategies -- his was to campaign in all 50 states, appealing to people to move beyond fear and self-interest to a vision of vision, collaboration, and unity, appealing to everyone's commitment to a collective hope for the future; Clinton's strategy was to hang on to the "blue" states, ignore the rest, add one more to reach the electoral college majority, and to appeal to people's self-interest and concerns and anxities and fears. Now we're in a stage where her campaign's "war room" tactics -- all or nothing, constant attack, all offense all the time -- seems to be draining the energy and hopefulness from the campaign, the voters, and the country. Combined with the growing negative economic news, it is going to be more difficult than ever to restore a positive, hopeful vision for the future, but it there's anyone who can do it, it's Obama. When the press contributes to Clinton's relentless attacks, it makes it more and more difficult for Obama to continue to offer a vision of unity and hope. More than the measure of Obama, however, it's a measure of Clinton -- her relentless ambition and unwillingness to focus on unity and hope and to put the good of the party and the people before her own fate.