Gobama!
I'd be negligent in not mentioning the historical primaries that just ended with the contests in South Dakota and Montana. I also can't hide my displeasure with Hillary. You want thoughts on what to do next? Here are mine: Exit. Stage left.
I hope her supporters watched Obama's speech last night. Like his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, it articulated progressive positions clearly, succinctly, and with gusto. He didn't sound like a "deranged narcissist" (to quote Jeff Toobin last night). Oh and Karl Rove and the rest of the FNC talking heads started using policy arguments against Obama's speech ("How will we pay for all those teachers?"). When the Republican attack machine resorts to policy arguments, you know you have a winning candidate. Congratulations to Barack Obama, hopefully the 44th President of the United States.
SLIGHT UPDATE: When Hillary told her supporters to go to "hillaryclinton.com" the whole crowd chanted the website with her. The whole thing reminded me of "Set it and forget it" from the Ron Popeil infomercials. See for yourself.
FURTHER UPDATE: This Roy Sekoff guy makes a great Simpsons reference comparing an Obama/Hillary ticket to Lobsters Stuffed with Tacos.
I hope her supporters watched Obama's speech last night. Like his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, it articulated progressive positions clearly, succinctly, and with gusto. He didn't sound like a "deranged narcissist" (to quote Jeff Toobin last night). Oh and Karl Rove and the rest of the FNC talking heads started using policy arguments against Obama's speech ("How will we pay for all those teachers?"). When the Republican attack machine resorts to policy arguments, you know you have a winning candidate. Congratulations to Barack Obama, hopefully the 44th President of the United States.
SLIGHT UPDATE: When Hillary told her supporters to go to "hillaryclinton.com" the whole crowd chanted the website with her. The whole thing reminded me of "Set it and forget it" from the Ron Popeil infomercials. See for yourself.
FURTHER UPDATE: This Roy Sekoff guy makes a great Simpsons reference comparing an Obama/Hillary ticket to Lobsters Stuffed with Tacos.
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 8:19 AM
22 Comments:
The front page of today's NY Times suggests you got your wish. My read of the second page of the article is that Hillary is now running for vice president.
Money quote: "We pledged to support her until the end. Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is.”
I just don't see how anyone can blame Clinton for not quitting earlier.
The truth of the matter is that this primary election is being decided by superdelegates. Neither candidate had enough pledged delegates to clinch the nomination. And the difference in pledged delegates was very small (only about 3%).
Hillary will concede this week, but superdelegates won't formally pick the nominee until the convention. I don't see any reason why it was wrong for Clinton to make the case that she was the more electable candidate. Especially since, you know, it may actually be true.
I think McCain should pick Hillary as his vice president.
If Obama does not choose Hillary as his VP, then McCain is on his way to the White House.
12:11 is right. A McCain-Clinton ticket would be unstoppable.
that guy behind Clinton is really excited about EVERYTHING
Am I the only dem utterly annoyed by Obama? He's like a smug, self satisfied 14 year old. He barely won the nomination and is too far left to win the general. bravo dems. we suck.
Uh, Hil's voting record is actually more left on many issues than Obama's.
No, you are not alone. I can't stand Obama and I am a lifelong Democrat. This is the first time in my entire life that a Republican might earn my vote. Only time will tell.
3:54: voting record, funny. his rag tag gang of hipster followers means he is liberal. The general public does not generally follow voting records. generally.
(Also, Obama loved to vote "present" so much at his last job that I don't know he's met the threshold for HAVING a voting record. Plus he's still a smug turd.)
Obama doesn't bother me that much. He's another run of a mill democrat politically with a high degree of charisma.
What bothers me is many Obama supporters and how much they believe and idolize him. His whole "changing how politics works" thing is so ridiculous coming from a solidly left politician with no concrete cross-party planks (i.e. just as ridiculous as when Bush was saying the same rhetoric in the 2000 election). Also a cult of personality is building around him.
Compare Obama
to Che Guevara to Mao Zedong.
Not to say that Obama is encouraging it, but it rather just pointing out that it isn't really a good development for an already fragile democracy.
Yes 1:36, yes.
I'm waiting for when Obama and McCain are debating and McCain says, "Barack, you like to talk about post-partisan politics and working across the aisle. Let's take turns naming bipartisan actions we've each led."
Uh that would be the best question ever for Obama because any semblance of independence by McCain has been quickly disavowed during this election cycle. Immigration reform? When hell freezes over. No torture? Well a little paddlin' never hurt anyone. I'm not even sure if he supports McCain-Feingold anymore.
NOBAMA 08!
Except, Armen, the Republican primary is over, and McCain doesn't need to play to the far right anymore.
I think you can be sure that McCain is going to move back to the middle in terms of how he presents himself. He knows he can't win the election by playing to the religious conservatives, as Bush has done.
And let's face it--Obama doesn't have much under his belt in terms of accomplishment in government. It's not like he can brag about all the times he voted "present."
This is just what Obama needs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/opinion/09cohen.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Average Americans just love it when Europeans, and the French in particular, declare who should be president (especially when referring to "good Americans" like Michael Moore in the same breath). Wide circulation of this article would be the surest way to hurt Obama. Fortunately for him, it's in the New York Times.
Wow, there's a lot of Obama hate here for a Boaltie blog.
What I'm a little surprised at is how people call Obama smug. Firstly, when is he smug? The only time I can think that people would think he was smug is when he refrained from many of the political attacks on Clinton that many of us expected... you know, he took "the high road". I see the exact same actions throughout the Democratic primary and think "I'm so glad he's not playing the game of Howard Wolfson and Mark Penn."
Second, is smugness a terrible thing in the general election? I promise you it's not arrogance... that would be assuming you're the inevitable candidate. Someone arrogant wouldn't be launching a 50-state primary & general election strategy right now, with voter drive after voter drive. Maybe I just interpret his smugness as confidence, but that's exactly what I want in a leader.
Anyway, I understand that people have varying opinions about politicians, I know Clinton supporters are probably a little sore that she lost, etc. etc. , but I just can't understand how someone who calls them self a Democrat could vote for McCain. Unless of course, they hate America.
"I just can't understand how someone who calls them self a Democrat could vote for McCain. Unless of course, they hate America."
I am so sick of those kind of comments. The good vs. evil dichotomy that some Democrats love to use is so tiresome. I never knew how stupid it was until I was on the other side of it. As a Clinton supporter I was practically flogged for not supporting Obama at Boalt. Somehow because Hillary put up a good fight she became this evil, horrible monster. Sure it is her fault for conceding the whole change mantel, but it didn’t make the comments I heard any easier to listen to. She would have been a vast “change” and improvement over Bush.
Up until now, I have always voted Democrat and always vilified the Republican candidate. I am not going to do that anymore. If you look at McCain’s record it really isn’t that bad. I don’t hate America because I might vote for him. I am undecided at this point, and I certainly won’t be bullied into voting for Obama just because he is a Democrat. If he wants my vote, he needs to show me how he is better than McCain. So far I am not seeing it.
"If you look at McCain’s record it really isn’t that bad."
The naïveté of that comment destroyed any substantive significance the rest of your comment may have had. Fail.
"The naïveté of that comment destroyed any substantive significance the rest of your comment may have had. Fail."
Conclusory. Fail.
Clinton supporters have plenty to be upset about, and I say that as an Obama supporter. There is a long list of legitimate (and not so legitimate) grievances that Clinton supporters in this thread have voiced.
But with all that said, I just can't see how a Clinton supporter can go over to McCain. The difference between Obama and Clinton on policy is close to nil: they differ on mandates for health care, possibly on free trade (though I doubt the sincerity of those differences), and perhaps a touch on the timetable for withdrawing from Iraq.
The differences between Clinton and McCain, however, are stark. We can start with a woman's right to choose (and what that might mean for the Supreme Court), move on to the war in Iraq (and the long term likelihood of the "surge" succeeding), chat up the Bush tax cuts (McCain is now in favor), and finish it off with health care (the differences between his commitment to universal health care and hers is extreme).
I have to hope that cooler heads will prevail here. The primary was extraordinarily close, and, as a result, bruising. But I think the issues at stake here are too big to remain focused on the various slights (real and imagined) that Clinton faced. John Paul Stevens is 88 years old, Souter wants to return to Vermont, RBG is 75 years old.
Clinton supporters: take your time making the decision; it is too important not to.
"'The naïveté of that comment destroyed any substantive significance the rest of your comment may have had. Fail.'
Conclusory. Fail."
Bravo, both of you. Epic fail.
Also 3:12, I was kidding when I said unless you hate America. I was using the type of "you're with us or against us" that Fox Noise & a good chunk of a the Republican base use for humorous reasons. I don't actually think you hate America if you vote for McCain. I just think you hate the people that live there. (again, joking)
Also, listen to the wisdom of 4:43. Don't be mad at Obama because Clinton lost. It was a tough race, and Obama stayed much classier than Ted Kennedy did vs. Carter, than Reagan did vs. Ford, etc. Be mad at the likes of Mark Penn. I give Hillary crap for flaunting the "inevitableness" of her candidacy because arrogance bothers me, but truth be told, she should have won anyway. It was due to the sheer idiocy of Mark Penn that she didn't win. Be mad at him. Don't be mad at Obama. Like 4:43 says, the policy differences there are almost non-existent, and with several liberal SC justices getting old, and three of the most conservative justices still being under 60, the potential for disaster here is freakin' scary.
Take your time, lets the wounds heal. There's no rush, and the stakes are too high.
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