Obama supporters! - A positive place to talk about his campaign

[WildernessBride]

Yeah, but Buchanan's an idiot.

There's a lot of talk this morning that some people in the Obama camp are ready to take the gloves off and stop playing nice. There seems to be a division in the campaign at this point, with about half wanting to really hammer Hillary on things like her NAFTA flip-flop, her Iraq war vote and Iran war-mongering, and everything else, and the other half wanting to continue as they have and stay above it with only minor counter-punching.

Along with the campaign, I'm of two minds about it. I like that he has tried to remain above it all. The question is, will he get credit for that effort if he now goes negative, or will they just call him a hypocrite instead of someone forced into that strategy by another candidate who is obviously more than willing to get down in the slime? At the same time, I almost wish that his creative campaign staff would get to work putting Hillary out of her (and our) misery. I can just see it now:

Fade in: Hillary's latest ad featuring Osama bin Ladin.
Voiceover: The Hillary Clinton rule of politics is that you should vote for her out of fear. We'd like you to see a few people that disagree with that strategy.

Show brief clips of:

FDR - "The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself."
Eleanor Roosevelt - "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

Voiceover: But Barack Obama believes that this former president probably said it best.
Clip: Bill Clinton saying, "Now one of Clinton’s laws of politics is this: If one candidate’s trying to scare you and the other one’s trying to get you to think...if one candidate’s appealing to your fears and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."

Barack: "I'm Barack Obama, and not only do I approve this message, I couldn't have said it better myself."

That is awesome!!!!

 

[Fitswimmer]

Revy...someone needs to add you to the marketing payroll. This concept would be genius. Send it in.

It's excellent..and Obama should use it.

 

[LuvDuke]

I'll make the sacrifice for the team.

On election day, I'll keep my "needle and thread" handy for any Democrat who needs a little bit of help to vote for the Democratic candidate who was not their first choice.

Planet Bush has their "Operation Chaos". I've got my "Operation Your Nostrils Are Sewn Shut, So Just Vote".

 

[chobie]

It's not even a close call.

I am a firm supporter of Obama, but if Clinton wins I will skip to the polls on election day a cheerfully vote for the Democratic nominee.

Maybe the reason Obama supporters are more likely to say they will vote for Hillary if she gets the nom, than the other way around, is that many of us still like the Clintons and have for many years now, whereas Obama is a relative new-comer to the political scene, compared to the Clintons.

 

[chris1gill]

Interesting statistic coming out of Exit polling....

From CNN exit polls: Clinton gets a 1.7% bump from Republicans who won't vote for her in the Fall.

5% of Democratic voters today will not support the same candidate in November. Clinton takes these voters 2 to 1, giving her a 1.7% bump.

Fits, honestly with everything she has said and done, and her beliefs regarding National Security, I'm not convinced she would be better for the job, nor am I convinced she would not be better for the job when compared to a bumbling fool like McCain, perhaps the fool is the safer bet from a National security standpoint. Clinton has gone way past the Hawkish stage....

 

[JennyMominRI]

I just asked this on the Hillary thread, and I'll ask a variation of the same question here.

I understand the anger at the way Hillary has campaigned, and I understand her shortcomings..but is she REALLY worse than McCain??

As a human being..yes..As a politician..No.
She will have my grudging vote if she's the nominee

 

[ChrisFL]

I agree, and I know it's a bit off topic, but don't you think she is just beautiful. Her eyes are gorgeous! My DH doesn't see it (I thik it's the short hair he doesn't like) but I think she's stunning. And she's smart to boot!!

Her hair is a bit short...maybe she'd look better with longer hair, but overall kinda attractive

 

[zulaya]

I'm an Independent and always will be. If we had a Libertarian party, I'd probably fit there more.

I won't vote for Hillary. If it comes down to it, I'll write in Obama.

Just because the Clintons have been around for a while doesn't mean she gets a free pass on my vote. This type of good old boys politics needs to be broken. Just my opinion.

 

[WildernessBride]

I'm an Independent and always will be. If we had a Libertarian party, I'd probably fit there more.

I won't vote for Hillary. If it comes down to it, I'll write in Obama.

Just because the Clintons have been around for a while doesn't mean she gets a free pass on my vote. This type of good old boys politics needs to be broken. Just my opinion.

I agree, I like the idea of a new person on the scene with no ties to the past, it's time for change, I believe.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I'll make the sacrifice for the team.

On election day, I'll keep my "needle and thread" handy for any Democrat who needs a little bit of help to vote for the Democratic candidate who was not their first choice.

Planet Bush has their "Operation Chaos". I've got my "Operation Your Nostrils Are Sewn Shut, So Just Vote".

To soften the blow...there will be drinking afterwards.

 

[wvrevy]

As a human being..yes..As a politician..No.
She will have my grudging vote if she's the nominee

Well said, Jenny!



Also...I sent in my idea for an ad to the campaign. No idea if anyone will actually read it, but it's worth a shot.

 

[WildernessBride]

To soften the blow...there will be drinking afterwards.

That was funny...thanks!!!

 

[NewJersey]

I think you will find that the large majority of HC supporters are quite reasonable and a pleasure to read, even if we disagree on candidates. I read the HC thread regularly, but have taken the added step of blocking out the commentary of posters who are more shrill than substance. It greatly improves my enjoyment of the thread.

Same here - I blocked the shrill posters...so much better to read that thread now (for the most part ).

That's okay. If any poster on the Dis thinks for a moment that any con thread poster has any iota of respect for any Democratic candidate, then they are truly drinking kool-aid, and perhaps smoking something too.

I think I love you.

That may be true but I can also understand the anger that some feel. On both sides! It's the supporters that are causing most of the bad feelings IMO.

But it is what it is. Where do we go from here? How do we soothe the hard feelings?

Pour a glass of Kool - Aid. Honestly, I think after the primary the vast majority of supporters on both sides will come behind the candidate and work to defeat McCain.

read this this morning. I find the fact that it's the NY Times Editorial Board who penned this opinion, the same group who actually endorsed Hillary over Obama, particularly interesting. IMO, for the good of the party, the NC/IN primaries can't come soon enough...

So true - If we win by double digits in NC, and IN is as close as they say, I think this will be wrapped up.

 

[zulaya]

Also...I sent in my idea for an ad to the campaign. No idea if anyone will actually read it, but it's worth a shot.

Revy, I hope they use it and not just in the primary states that are upcoming, but nationwide. That would be a powerful message.

I hope they don't disregard it because it was sent from outside. It's too good a concept to pass by.

 

[LuvDuke]

To soften the blow...there will be drinking afterwards.

I liked you from the beginning.

 

[marybet]

To soften the blow...there will be drinking afterwards.

That will help! Both DH and I will vote for her but only because McCain would be a disaster.

On The View today Whoopi said she would kinda like to see McCain win because the Republicans made the mess and a Republican should clean it up. Joy then added "or make it worse". If there are any Democrats who think that McCain is a better choice than Hillary or Obama they are deluding themselves. That is the worse thing about Hillary dragging it on, we need to come together against McCain, and sooner rather than later.

I do not believe that Hillary can win the nomination without resorting to dirty tricks, calling in every favor people owe them, and even a little blackmailing. I think she is willing to do all these things and probably stuff I haven't even thought about. This to me is the "experience" she speaks about. I was impressed by her during the first several debates, she does act "presidential" but I have come to believe that it is an act. I do not believe that she will "fight for us everyday", she will fight for herself, she wants the power, she wants to be the first woman president and the people are the means for her to get that. She proves it with every negative speech and ad. Even though I believe all that, she is still a better choice than McCain.

 

[aplejax76]

I think it is a mistake to say that if one candidate wins, a certain population is disenfranchised. We have two great candidates, and certain demographics are "choosing sides." It does not logically follow that if one wins, the others have been excluded from the process.

It is divisive to suggest that the voters that line up behind a candidate that does not eventually win have been marginalized. They took part in a democratic process and their side did not win that day.

You're right, it is divisive and probably politically incorrect but it doesn't make it less true.

 

[wvrevy]

Hillary only acts "presidential" in the respect that we've drastically lowered our expectations of how a president should act.

Also, think about this...When McCain sang "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran", he was joking. When Hillary threatened them with "obliteration", do you think she was?

Here's the problem: I don't trust Hillary to be what she now claims to be. She was for NAFTA long before she was against it, and every public remark she made back then was very enthusiastic in her support. That weighs a lot more with me than some back room meetings that only her supporters seem to be able to remember. She was, again, an enthusiastic supporter of the Iraq mistake. When casting her vote, she made a dramatic and heart-felt speech in favor of invasion - not of giving Bush the power of diplomacy, which is what she now claims. She claims to want change...but has done nothing to put her power to use while in the senate. Where have all these wonderful ideas she's spouting off during all those years when - junior senator or not - she could have been putting that name of hers to good use in trying to get progressive legislation passed?

So no, I don't trust her, I don't like her very apparent sense of entitlement to the nomination, and I greatly dislike what she has become during this campaign, and what she is doing to the party. Will I vote for her over McCain? At this point, I'm still undecided. I don't think I can vote for McCain....his name is just to close to that terrorist fella McVeigh's for my comfort. But that said, I'm still not certain I'd vote for her, either.

Hopefully, I'll never have to find out how I would make that choice.

 

[MassJester]

You're right, it is divisive and probably politically incorrect but it doesn't make it less true.

So is the losing side in any election automatically disenfranchised? If so, should we be concerned since one side will always be disenfranchised, right?

 

[wvrevy]

You're right, it is divisive and probably politically incorrect but it doesn't make it less true.

YES IT DOES.

Disenfranchisement means that you do not get a say in who represents you in government. It does NOT mean that you don't get to choose who any political party nominates. The simple but undeniable fact is that the party makes the rules, and the party decides how those rules apply. If the Democratic Party decides at the convention in Denver to never again hold another primary and instead pick a nominee randomly from the New York City phone book, they are perfectly within their rights to do just that.

So again, saying that voters in Florida or Michigan have been "disenfranchised" is not "politically" incorrect...it's just plain incorrect.