Letters to the Editor
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@jebldmm
Have you conveniently forgotten that Obama was not well known until fall of 2007?
Obama's popularity with blacks coincided with wide publicity and success of message. If color of skin was all that was needed, Obama would have been killing Clinton in the earliest polls among African Americans. Instead, it took time and publicity about his views, family, and experience.
You've got the process backwards. You can't win over someone that's already in your camp. You are simply making a very false assumption that blacks would have voted for Obama anyway. I know I wasn't going to, Clinton had my vote and then lost it. Or rather, Obama won it. Then, Cinton really lost my vote.
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@pointus
I'm flattered. I didn't think I was a good enough writer to be on anybody's payroll. I'm not, by the way, although if anybody from Clinton wanted to hire me part time I would probably be willing. Earlier in this thread I provided a list of instances that back up my claim that Obama's campaign used Rovian politics. I could write an article summarizing them, but it has already been done. Other's have added to my argument. I know that Obama's more ardent supporter's don't like to think of him as a politician, much less one who is willing to do anything to win, but you need to remember that Obama is a product of a political machine that is legendary for it's willingness to do anything to win. The power of the Chicago machine has faded in people's memories, but the players are still around, and many of Obama's manager's were active in the machine in it's heyday and have studied it's policies.
The man won his first election unopposed by challenging his opponents right's to be on the ballot, including "the popular incumbent, Alice Palmer, a liberal activist who had held the seat for several years". He didn't say he was better than them. He didn't campaign at all. He used an underhanded trick to win. This is the man who is above politics. This is the man who is all about hope and change.
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@AlecsMom
Have you conveniently forgotten his illustrious speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the one that catapaulted him to the national stage and set him up as the next great Democratic President? Obama was hardly unknown when he chose to run.
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@jeb
Since you've delved into the subject of what politicians, even Obama, will do to win, what do you think of Clinton glomming onto McCain's gas tax holiday?
Is it a principled stand or sheer fraud and hackdom?
Please also address Clinton and Magnequench since this is also a current stump issue she's mining for votes. I'd love to hear what you have to say about Easley and Cinton's staggering lies about the genesis of this national security debacle.
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Don't Believe The Hype! The Truth is in Popular Vote & National Polls
to suggest that hillary clinton "botched" the black vote is a complete misnomer as it both (1) mischaracterizes her current support which includes many african-americans (like myself), and (2) mis-analyzes both her nomination and general election prospects.
if one looks to the facts and not the hype, the numbers and not the spin, hillary clinton is well-positioned to win both the nomination and the general election.
the argument for hillary's nomination is easily and viscerally and reliably summed up in 2 metrics:
1. popular vote total come june 3rd.
- hillary currently trails by approximately 482,500 votes (NOT INCLUDING florida and michigan). with 8 contest remaining, if she averages a 60,313 vote advantage from those contests, she overtakes him in the popular vote (again that's WITHOUT florida and michigan). add florida and/or michigan to those june 3rd totals and obviously the margin of differential in hillary's favor only gets larger.
2. national polling, which already takes into account all the much bally-hooed voter constituency defection scenarios, including african-american defections, and which nonetheless says hillary is the people's overall choice.
- all the public handwringing and posturing over "fractures in the party", particularly among african-americans if super delegates back hillary for the nomination are just that: posturing designed to try and distract super delegates from the facts already staring them clearly in the face.
- by it's very nature, national polling samples voters generally. this means national polling samples already include representative percentages of the following categories of voters:
a. hillary-supporters who have declared that they will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if hillary is not the nominee.
b. obama-supporters who have declared that they will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if obama is not the nominee.
c. independent voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if hillary is not the nominee.
d. independent voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if obama is not the nominee.
e. blue collar voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if hillary is not the nominee.
f. youth voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if obama is not the nominee.
g. white female voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if hillary is not the nominee.
h. african-american voters who will either sit out the fall election or vote for mccain if obama is not the nominee.
clear and irrefutable facts will be right before the super delegates eyes come june 3rd and those facts, not speculation or fear or intimidation, should govern their final decision on a nominee. if they rely on these facts -- popular vote totals + national polling data of clinton head-to-head against either obama or mccain nationally or in individual key core and swing state matchups -- super delegates will be led inexorably to select hillary clinton as the party's nominee for the 2008 presidential election.
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@jeb
The convention speech in 2004. Yeah, that really pulled in millions of voters. Not. That propelled him in Illinois, period. Obama was a blip on the radar nationally.
I barely heard of Obama for years, except for a stint on Oprah. I follow politics closely and he barely registered for me as a national politician. OTOH, Clinton was in the public eye for several years, appearing on Meet The Press and other programs with regularity.