Letters to the Editor
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Good point, so let us end the primary
Since Sen. Obama fans are asking so rabidly for Senator Clinton to end her bid, maybe Senator Obama couls lead the way by dropping out of the primary. That will certainly stop the primary season.
In case, you did not get my point, that was a satirical statement. Asking anybody to not participate in a democratic election is in my opinion violation of the core demcratic principles. And I thought progressives new better.
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regarding the "prisoner's dilemma"
ourobouros(?) writes:
If both candidates (and their respective supporters) sincerely believe their rhetoric about change and bringing people together, then it should not be a problem for them subsume their egos and join forces to effect change for the greater good.
For my part this looks very unlikely. In no small part because most voters seem to be choosing one or the other based on personality attributes(real or imagined) and we've had very little discussion of policy. So many voters have invested Obama and HRC with all sort of psychological freight, preoccupied with how voting for X vs. Y makes them "feel about themselves", one of the lamest, most questionable reasons to choose a politician known to man, and yes, woman.
But no wonder so many Obama and Hillary supporters say they can't stomach voting for the other guy in the general! If you insist on making politics personal and obsessing about how "historic" Hillary and Obama's candidacies are, what do you expect?
There's also the issues of race and class, and some democrats are undoubtedly learning things about themselves they don't want to acknowledge. While I don't believe either that racism drives all democrats who refuse to support Obama, nor that sexism drives all democrats who support Mrs. Clinton, these elements undoubtedly play a role for a significant portion of each demographic.
Finally, there's the Republicans crossing over to keep the race going(mainly, or so I gather, voting for Hillary.). I don't know if Republicans are less sentimental than democrats as a whole(unlikely), but they generally aren't obsessed with identity politics, or candidates making them feel good about themselves, and this is part of the reason, irrespective of how they feel about him, they will vote for McCain with great discipline and without the democrats' navel-gazing qualms.
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regarding the previous comment
the typo regarding sexism and people supporting Hillary is probably self-evident. Silly me.
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Hey Benen!
What campaign have you been watching?
But after 16 months of campaigning, does anyone seriously question the "resilience" of either Democratic candidate? Aren't Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, after 16 months of campaigning, "tough" enough?
Well, yeah, alot of us have questions about Obama being "tough" enough. Obama had no scrutiny the first 15 months, and his worst debate performance was the ABC crap-a-thon last week, so we should expect a whole lot more crap over the next six months! Not encouraging his response so far, in yoda-speak
Indeed, if the underlying premise of Seib's argument is true, why aren't there more questions about John McCain's "toughness and resilience"? After all, he won the Republican nomination over a month ago, and barely had to break a sweat doing so.
Huh? McCain was nearly at death's door in NH; broke, sleepin in cheap motels with no staff, the MSM saying he was done, etc. And Romney spent millions on negative ads on McCain; alot rougher ads than Clinton has done on Obama. And that whole "5yrs-in-Hanoi-Hilton" kinda answers a toughness question, don't ya' think?!
This general election isn't going to be easy, folks! If we just believe sweet-little blogging like this, we're gonna get our clock-cleaned again in Nov.
IMHO.
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prisoner dilemma?
Obama has a reasonably large lead in delegates, given the small number still in play. What incentive does he have to make any kind of deal with Clinton? And what kind of deal is this supposed to be? Clinton has no interest in being his VP. She's just playing out the string because she figures she has nothing to lose, and he's just biding his time.
As for McCain, I wouldn't worry too much. His time will come. The Republican brand is in the crapper right now.
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I'm Not Freaking
like a lot of others. Yeah, there have been a lot of "character" issues that are already old news, and most people are sick and tired of them. What is there left to use?
Meanwhile, states which never have received any attention are gearing up to be the next "crucial" primary. Democratic voter registration turnouts are at all-time highs in state after state, and voters are fully engaged as they are personally feeling the impact of Bush policies.
Yes, the general election is not going to be easy. They never are. But I feel good about party turnout in November. The hard choice is being made now. For anyone with half a watt, November is a no-brainer.
And as for money, I've been saving most of mine for the general election and hopefully others are thinking along the same lines. I think there will be no problem out-raising the republicans.
Bottom line: There is too large a gap between the campaign platforms to use "character" issues as a litmus test. It IS the economy once more, and four more years is certain disaster. Those who don't believe that never will. They're called republicans. Any there aren't that many of them any more.
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Happy McCain
Is McCain happy about two Democratic candidates gouging each other's eyes out in a fight-to-the-death cage match? Can't imagine why he wouldn't be. What has become clear in the primary contests is that each Democratic candidate has deep negatives among voters in different regions and groups. It's certainly clear that Catholic voters in particular aren't lining up behind Obama. These divisions could be a lingering problem after the convention, when either Hillary or Obama will have to immediately bury the hatchet and then unite their base behind the nominee.
Regardless, given discontent about the war, the sagging economy, the rising prices of fuel and food and the historically low approval ratings of the encumbent president, I don't think there is much for any Republican running for office to be happy about.
I usually vote Republican but I won't bet the farm on a Republican victory in the fall. I'd say it's the Democrats race to lose, although at times it seems like they're doing a pretty good job at doing just that.