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• Tuesday, April 15, 2008 11:19 PM

  @ odanuki

  Now I am getting your drift. I hope you will forgive me. I am not always a good reader, especially past my bedtime.

  Let me rephrase what I think you are saying. You are saying that Obama has done well with upper class liberals and AA voters. Correct? You are saying that he is now facing the problem of winning working class voters and that his "base" if you will is secure.

  So you are wondering why Clinton does not have similar concerns about making inroads into Obama's base. Correct? Especially should she win the general election wouldn't she need "well-educated liberals whose generosity" would help her launch a general election campaign?

  I think the answer is that if she doesn't win PA there will be no general election campaign for her anyway. I think it is a matter of tending to first things first.

  Where do you think those voters will go if Clinton is nominated? Do you think that they will vote for McCain?

  Did you read the TNR article that Joan linked to? I thought it was a pretty good article. Obama's problems will begin if/when he wins the primary votes he needs to convince the superdelegates to swing for him. Then he will face problem with voters whose demographics didn't really matter that much for him in the primary and he will not be able to depend upon his caucus strengths.

  BTW, I just hate the caucus idea and not because Obama has been winning them. As someone who has worked with disabled people, I believe that caucuses are a violation of the spirit if not the letter of ADA law. A circumstance where there is no early balloting which allows the disabled, the aged, and the housebound to secure a mail in ballot is egregiously discriminatory. I worry that should Obama become president he would bring pressure to bear to keep the caucus process because it favors him. However, it is immoral to disenfranchise voters who cannot otherwise get to the polls. Caucuses are difficult for single parents with small children, old people with walkers and canes and hip problems, and a variety of disabled people -- including those in nursing homes and hospitals. My neighbor down the street doesn't even go to church anymore, so enfeebled is she.

  Also, not all possible caucus places offer easy accessibility for the handicapped.

  Moreover, they lack privacy, they don't allow for timid people to have the same input, and they are often held during times when working people cannot get off. Primaries rather than caucuses allow working class voters to have their say because if they cannot take off work, they can vote absentee.

  Obama's apparent advantages in the primary due to caucuses will disappear in November.

  —AKA Smith Read AKA Smith's other letters
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