Letters to the Editor
-
@MyNameHere
"...While I agree that this contest has gotten ugly, the winner will put it behind them...."
This is a sui-generis campaign; as such, there is no historical antecendent for what's happening, now. You have two groups, women and blacks, represented, respectively, by the candidacies Clinton and Obama. Or, as least that is how a significant number, in both camps, see those two candidacies (Obama, until the Wright contretemps, had admirably attempted to stay away from such an emphasis until "they puullled him [back] in").
Anyone of those constituencies feel stiffed by superdelegate shenanigans or other skullduggery they'll react. As I've said below, pay particular attention to the reaction of African-Americans, should Obama's candidacy be subjected to a Democratic politburo version of the "Okey-doke"--I submit that a significant number of them will have no trouble sitting out the general election or even shifting to McCain, for the reasons I've stated in the previous post. Likewise, should older, white working and [some] professional women believe that the Clintons' attempt to win back the White House has been stopped due to Inside Politics "bamboozelry" they might well do the same thing [although, I believe, the former scenario would be far more damaging, in the near term and long run, than the latter].
This is not your daddy's election; fair or foul, this is a whole different smoke.
-
It AIN'T Hillary trying to shut the store down early and disenfranchise millions of voters!!!
And NOBODY should let the self-entitled turds of Obamateur's and the religious right and Republican country-clubbers let them get stripped of their right to vote in this election either.
whatever name calling Obama and his repulsive supporters can dish out but can't take in is NOTHING compared to what the people have been through the past seven years and it s NOTHING like what they will have to go through when McCain sweeps the floor with Nobama.
Don't let it happen. Don't let a bunch of vulgar turds and Republican phoney pretenders take this election from you!!
-
Point well taken Rocky57 but
This is not your daddy's election; fair or foul, this is a whole different smoke.
-- Rocky57
My point is in regards to the back and forth smearing not determining Democrat voter turn out in November. I agree that if something like a superdelegate swing taints the winner that there may well be voters who sit this one out, but that's because there would be disgust at the process, not at the ugliness I'm referring to. In that respect, this is exactly like your daddy's election.
-
There may be hope yet
Today I was discussing Hillary's "mis-spoken" comments with a fellow Democrat. I make no bones that I support Obama, and was really letting rip on Mrs. Clinton. A Republican co-worker who was listening in chimed in on how people are finally understanding what huge liars the Clintons are. I then turned on him and asked him exactly which story about the Clinton presidency he felt was under-reported. I spent about 10 minutes arguing with him in defense of the Clinton presidency until I realized that as Democrats, we're all family. We can fight amongst ourselves, and be pretty viscious in doing it. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let a Republican dump on the Clintons or any other Dem.
-
Shawnwm
Troll much?
-
Being constructive
...how to be constructive about such sentiments, or where to go from here?
Well, ended up 'tearing up' my first post. The short 50,000 foot answer is that we need a break with the past. For a certain period of our history, the scales of justice will never be balanced. Our task is to see if they can be more balanced during our times. We need to expose the 'its ok when my side does it because the other side does it too' thinking for what it is. An excuse.
-
Shawn of the Dead
Man is he the most angry, lividly undead dude that you've ever seen? He's a rotten corpse of a curse, and just risen again mean. Talk about floggin' a dead horse!
-
@MyNameHere
In a race decided by party insiders, I wouldn't see that happening with two traditional candidates, especially, if one were an insurgency on the order of an Obama type challenge [matters of skin colour and gender, aside].
I may have misspoke, just a bit, with regard to the question of historical antecedent. I'm sure that you remember the candidacies of Ford and Reagan, in the '76 GOP primary race; that is the closest thing we have, in modern electoral history, to what is going on, now. Reagan was the insurgent and an ideological candidate who fought Ford down to the convention. Many people, including Ford, believe that that bitter campaign and candidacy weakened Ford's general election effort and suppressed the GOP vote enough for Carter to win in a squeaker. That, however, was a bathroom drainpipe leak compared to the tsunami that could happen in the aftermath of a brokered-or prolonged-'08 Democratic candidacy for the general election.
-
@ manos
"Lividly undead!"
Brilliant phrase!
:)
-
@ Rocky57
Rocky57 says -Many people, including Ford, believe that that bitter campaign and candidacy weakened Ford's general election effort and suppressed the GOP vote enough for Carter to win in a squeaker.
Let's also not forget a little thing called Watergate that also had a little to do with supressing GOP vote. I think the discrage and subsequent pardon of Nixon was too much blood on the hands of the GOP. It's hard to believe that the nation would have voted Republican again. I'm not trying to totally discredit your argument. I see it's merits, but again my point is that the media has a vested interest in seeing the two candidates trash each other. It's just good TV ya know. However, I ultimately think when the voters have the chance to vote one or the other, they won't sit it out. There's to much at stake.
-
@MyNameHere
"...I ultimately think when the voters have the chance to vote one or the other, they won't sit it out. There's to much at stake."
See my "Come Again?!!..." post to Joan.
-
@Rocky57
I just finished reading it, and you articulate your opinion well. I understand it and think it's a pretty sound one. I just happen to think there is a lot yet to happen. Misteps yet to be recorded. Gaffes yet to be spoken. Scandals yet to be properly publicized that will make today's arguments seem like a distant memory.
We'll see what the final vote count is later this year, but I feel like despite the particular intensity being felt now in the Democratic primary, there are bigger fish to fy that will indeed be fried by the people en masse come November.