Letters to the Editor
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libertyson
Tell 'em like it is.
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@SarahBrice -- Voting For Hillary, or Simply AGAINST McCain/Bush
Why is it bad (not okay) for African Americans to vote en bloc for a black candidate, solely because he is black? Conversely, why is it good (okay) for women to vote for the woman candidate just because she is a woman?
It's a tough question, isn't it? Because there's the argument that the history of slavery and discrimination against African-Americans makes the possibility that Obama could be president a historic opportunity.
And there's the argument that the history of male-dominated society -- including women only getting the right to vote in the 1900s -- makes the possibility that Clinton could be president a historic opportunity.
I don't necessarily think those are frivolous reasons, but they're divisive, and they're hard to overcome. Because, they generate the ensuring arguments: but sexism is worse than racism, but racism is worse than sexism, she's older so he should let her have her chance because he can try again later, she's old news with baggage, she should step aside for the younger/fresher guy, and so on.
There is no right answer. If you're Black, and you feel strongly that you want to see a Black president (from your party, of course), then you probably aren't going to be swayed. And if you're a woman, and you feel strongly that you want to see a woman president (from your party, of course), then you probably aren't going to be swayed.
Do I wish that any voter -- male, female, young, old, African-American, white, professor or plumber, blue-collar or white-collar, etc. would vote for the person they think is best qualified -- irrespective of gender, race, etc? Absolutely. That would be the ideal.
But it's not the reality.
In the meantime, I'm a "best person" voter too. But lately, I've also had to do more "voting against" someone, than voting FOR a particular candidate. I felt that Kerry was mainly a vote against Bush. But I did it, because I felt so strongly about Bush.
I have said that if Hillary is the nominee, I will vote for her. Even though I cannot forgive or accept her pandering, craven war vote. Before, I could say that, knowing that I felt ok about her, even if my choice was Obama, and I feel he offers so much more to America and our future. I felt like, well, at least she's not a Republican, warmonger, neocon, dirty trickster.
But as time goes on, as Hillary's campaign has degraded, as her moral and ethical compass has sent her spinning away from what is right, as she's threatened to obliterate Iran, and race-baited, whined poor me, and made bad decision after bad decision, bungling her campaign warchest, ad nauseum...it's become clear.
If I am forced to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, I will be holding my nose and voting AGAINST JohnMcCain/George Bush by voting Democratic, but I certainly will NOT be voting FOR her or what she personally stands for.
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Elite vs One of the Guys
Hillary Clinton: Wellesley University, Yale Law School, corporate law practice, net worth (jointly with husband) $109.000.000.00 (income: her salary, speaking engagement fees, money taken from lobbyists by husband, etc.)
Barack Obama: Occidental University (2 years then transferred to) Columbia University, Harvard Law School (on loans), community activist, civil rights law practice, net worth (jointly with wife) $4,200.000.00 (income: salaries of both husband and wife and royalties from his two books)
On the face of it, who would seem to be the more elite candidate and who would seem to be the more ordinary "regular" guy candidate?
Barack Obama, who, according to his wife, was lucky enough that his 2 books went on the best seller lists so they could pay off their school loans, 3 years ago with the royalties. This would have occured when he was approximately 43 years old and she, approximately 41 years old.
The Clintons have never, to my knowledge, stated if they had owed school loans or not and when they were paid off.
Sorry, couldn't let this one go unstated, since it keeps coming up in articles, interviews and letters to editors all over the place.
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Maneuvering the black vote
So, has anybody broached the very strong possibility that the Obama campaign was successful in maneuvering the black vote towards its candidate by giving black voters a (mostly) guilt-free pretext for deserting Hillary Clinton, en masse and pretty much overnight? Ergo, characterizing her, and Bill and her entire campaign, as users of the black community. It would take the MSM to put this strategy over the top, and that's exactly what happened.
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@ AncientAssyrian
Thank you for saying it much better than I ever could. I have done the exact same thing as you -- voted for someone but really voting against the other candidate. For the first time I feel as though I am really voting FOR a candidate I believe in and man, does that feel great!!!!
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Come on, Sarah
You are conveniently leaving out the difference in ages between the Clintons and the Obamas, not to mention the fact that the Clintons left the White House deeply in debt, and never having owned a house of their own. Obama is clearly every bit as ambitious for his own ends as Hillary Clinton, if not more so. Do you really believe that, upon leaving the White House, the Obamas don sack cloth, join the Peace Corps, and renounce a steady stream of speaking fees? Afraid not.
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Fed up...
As a member of two "key" demographics in this election cycle - Black and Female - I am sick and tired of hearing time and again that my preference for a candidate can be summed up as simply voting for my race or gender. It is beyond insulting to insinuate that I haven't the intelligence to look beyond those factors and consider the issues and policies that each candidate brings to the table. Not to mention the fact if that is the sole criteria by which I judge candidates, well then, I must have stayed home for every other presidential election, since *gasp* all previous candidates were white males. Hillary Clinton's scorched earth campaign again Barack Obama smacks of "If I can't win, neither will you." I understand that this is politics, and candidates do whatever it takes to win - but it was the attitude and tactics of the Clinton campaign that lost my vote - they blew it, pure and simple. Obama is by no means a perfect candidate - and in fact, even after Clinton lost my vote, I was still ambivalent about voting for Obama. But bottom line - his campaign has been by far more effective, more strategic and has demonstrated more poitical savvy and yes, EXPERIENCE than that of Hillary Clinton's. And THAT is why he has my support.