Many of you will remember that I was a Hillary Clinton supporter at the beginning of the primary season. And I still like her. I do, however, think she has made some mis-steps in her campaign. And I do think it is time for her to withdraw from the race; that is, if she has the best interests of the Democratic party in mind. I'm not sure anymore if she does.
OK, what mis-steps has she made? Well, talking about non-existent sniper fire to boost her foreign policy experience was a mistake. And the contant negative barrage against Obama was not a good idea either. I'm a firm believer in a candidate talking up their positives, not in talking up the competition's negatives (or trying to create negatives where none, or few, exist).
And all the crap about experience is just that, crap! Hillary Clinton is well within her rights to talk about her experience, but is mistaken to try to tear down Obama's. The current edition of Forbes does a good job of breaking this issue down: "(Clinton) often boasts about her long resume and has used the phrase "35 years" (frequently to talk of her experience). That time frame accurately reflects her career in public service and policy-making dating to 1973, when she went to work for the Children's Defense Fund. But her math is off when she compares her own experience with that of her Democratic rival...He has spent three years as a community organizer; four years as a full-time attorney handling voting rights, employment and housing cases; eight years representing Chicago in the state Senate; and three years representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate. That's a total of 18 years in public policy matters - and Obama is 14 years younger than Clinton." So don't let her kid you, Obama has a significant amount of relevant experience.
OK, so why do I think she should withdraw? Well, it is next to impossible for her to overcome Obama's delegate lead given the remaining primaries and the rules for allocatin delegates. So Obama will have more delegates. That should give him the nomination as long as the super delegates cast their votes for the candidate with the most delegates. If that does not happen, and Hillary would win, it almost assuredly would sour the young and new voters that Obama has so successfully drawn upon to bring him to this point.
So here is the scenario that should happen. Hillary withdraws, immediately if not sooner. Unconditionally. And publicly declares her support for Obama in the general election. Then, the super delegates should work with both the Obama and Clinton camps to secure the VP slot for Hillary. No, Obama and Clinton are not the best of buddies at this point, but they would make a very formidable Democratic ticket in November. Both Obama and Clinton should embrace this ticket for the good of their party. And they should do it now!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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7 comments:
Fuck the Party!!!
Oops, let me rephrase that.
Fuck the Party, yesterday!!! There is a reason why the 'founding fathers' argued against party politics. Just as there is a reason why the argued against "foreign entanglements'. We are currently watching as those reasons being played out.
Now, we should be played-out with party-politics. I say, "Fuck the Party" because that is exactly what the Party has done to you at every turn. Whenever there is a conflict between ‘the good of the party’ and ‘the good of the people’ the Party’s welfare wins every time.
It is precisely for this reason that an Obama-Clinton ticket is antithetical. Obama's advocacy is for real change while Hillary is mired in entrenched interests.
So, once again I say, "Fuck the Party yesterday!!!"
i will agree that obama cannot ask hilary 2 be vp because it would be hypocritical 4 him, as the candidate of "change". that's why i think he might go 4 richardson.
also, !!csm!!
please, please, please don't force hil 2 drop out until after indiana votes! pretty please?
i can't stress how envigorating this is 4 my state. we finally matter! hilary is in fort wayne 2morrow, at a restaurant i ate at 2 weeks ago. barack was there last week, and they'll probably both be back again.
let me also add that indiana voted itself into a blue state (kind of) in 2006. dems made gains in a diehard red state then, so in general, it's now 50/50.
it is entirely possible that dems could deliver the hoosier state to obama in november. if hil drops out 2morrow, that might be less likely.
so stop forcing her already! ;)
If she won't drop out then I wish she'd at least stop attacking Obama as inexperienced. If she stays in the race she ought to at least keep it clean - that is, promote herself, communicate her ideas, and try to convince voters to vote for her on her merits instead of trying to besmirch the probably Democratic nominee.
i agree.
I have to commend you csm, you seem to know when you are licked(all over(an line from an old Mothers album)and the fact you can change course when the original course is untenable. That is a good trait.
I will say I wonder how much "real" change you will get from Obama as I heard a story on NPR yesterday which surprised me(it probably shouldn't have). Apparently, Obama and Hillary have received much more money in contributions from Wall Street types than McCain. I'll bet the reasoning for the Dems over the Reps is that Wall Street loves to pick a winner, but the question still remains; if any of the three get in will there be any real "change"? I wouldn't hold my breath. Money talks and when it does it usually gets an ear.
So count me with derF, "Fuck the Party", though probably for different reasons.
Thanks, Bawdy (I think). I was a Hillary supporter, but the only way she can now win is behind smoke-filled doors and that would alienate so many of the yound Obama supporters. She should face facts and realize that Obama has beaten her - fair and square.
And it seems like the calls for Hillary to withdraw are growing.
I don't know about getting any real change, either, but of the three existing candidates Obama seems to be the one most likely to be able to deliver real change. For me, though, I'll be happy with change away from the GWB policies that McCain seems to want to continue. Anyway, "people" scream and yell for change but then run away from substantive change whenever it rears its head (e.g. the FairTax). So, I'm not so sure most folks really want a LOT of change... so if we can just get someone in office who can bolster our image in the world and veer us away from the ridiculous policies of the existing administration, that'd be nice. And who better than a black man named Barack Obama to show that the USA is not entirely comprised of repressed right-wing white assholes.
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