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Hope vs. Fear
Or it might be that these stories, even if discredited, offer voters a permission slip to vote against a man they consider, in the title words of a John Sayles movie, "The Brother From Another Planet." This is what the Clintonites have been arguing for months to superdelegates. They note that they don't have a problem with Obama's response to Wright, or to Obama's not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem in a photo, or to Michelle Obama's views on race in America—but, you know, voters might. They are too susceptible, the argument goes, to GOP-style appeals to make reasonable distinctions between bogus character attacks and the real issues that affect their lives. In the next breath, these same veterans of the Clinton wars have the nerve to call Obama the elitist for a few ill-chosen words, as if their entire rationale for disqualifying him weren't patronizing toward average Americans at its core.
At the same time, there is new research to back up the Clinton argument that the election could be affected at the margins by racially tinged voting. Ever notice how Obama often seems to lose a few points between the final polls and Election Day? Well, when human pollsters call, they can get a slightly more pro-Obama result than when a computer voice greets the same voters. Apparently, some people will confess that they won't vote for Obama more readily to a machine.
Of course, the Clinton forces must argue that this country has a lot of lying voters, because right now Obama polls just as well as Hillary against McCain in every battleground state (including Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania) and leads McCain in five medium-size states where Hillary currently trails the GOP candidate.
John McCain, too, will likely face some tests in this area. The North Carolina Republican Party is already airing an anti-Obama ad featuring Wright. McCain implored the state party not to run it; he worries about a backlash. But McCain failed. When the "527" ads appear in the fall, the story will likely be as much about McCain's inability to persuade his own party to pull an ad (not a good sign for a potential president) as about the hashed-over and nasty content of the ad itself.
The point is, no one knows for sure whether America is ready for Barack Obama, and anyone who says he or she knows is full of it. This leaves superdelegates and voters all facing the same basic dilemma that has animated American politics for so many years. They can vote their hopes or vote their fears.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: kristinkare @ 05/20/2008 2:02:55 AM
Comment: Clinton takes Indiana by a ???razor??? and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.
The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive ??? and most likely to be decided by superdelegates
If you???re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama
If you haven't done so yet, please write a message to each of your state's superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com
Obama Supporters:
Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It's that easy...
Clinton Supporters too ???. !
It takes a moment, but what's a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !
Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it's appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It's that easy...
Posted By: powin @ 05/13/2008 4:22:51 PM
Comment: Mr. Alter,
The media's clarion call that it's done with a statistical dead heat between the three prospective contenders for the White House, seems too early to toss FL and MI voters out to sea. CA, FL, MI, PA, OH, MA, NY are a must........and, although I LIKE Obama, he hasn't won the most critical blue states...That's one robust reason to continue this democratic process.
Despite MILLIONS of supporters, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been vehemently vilified because it remains socially acceptable to be sexist. Corporate men dominate the airwaves; these men have held the keys to success, and invariably, they oversee most election coverage (Philadelphia Inquirer).
"Media news people, frequently operating with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to [CONVINCE} themselves that they choose and interpret the news "objectively" and on the basis of professional news values....[Not in this scenario, however.] Voter attention is focused on style and personality ("Yes We Can") --anything but the issues that are of primary concern to the concentrated private power centers that largely finance campaigns and run the government" (Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Women in the media, too, have been lulled into tolerating it because it is difficult to stand up to SEXISM at the risk of losing their paychecks. It's blatant that women in the media see the disparate treatment of HRC, but have convinced the masses that this pugilist is a pariah.
Without an NIE report read, Senator Obama touts his sound decision-making (as a State Senator) for opposing the War in Iraq. With hindsight, unbeknownst to him, there were no weapons of mass destruction. His argument that he made the right choice is a fallacy: he didn't make any such decision as a U.S. Senator with the emotions of September 11th still riding high and our response to maintain strong national security. Albeit, none of these assertions are earth-moving or original arguments; what is important here is to remind voters that he does not command a bastion of foreign policy knowledge nor does his redundant, "I voted against the war" a viable argument to support his candidacy.
Unfortunately, those who purport that the frontrunner will unite people have already demonstrated that the frontrunner will unite NO one except perhaps the myopic misanthropists, who, most likely, come January 2009, will be in a seething cauldron of woeful, broken promises teeming with scintillating rhetoric.
Share this with the superdelegates.
Posted By: powin @ 05/13/2008 4:21:20 PM
Comment: Mr. Alter,
The media's clarion call that it's done with a statistical dead heat between the three prospective contenders for the White House, seems too early to toss FL and MI voters out to sea. CA, FL, MI, PA, OH, MA, NY are a must........and, although I LIKE Obama, he hasn't won the most critical blue states...That's one robust reason to continue this democratic process.
Despite MILLIONS of supporters, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been vehemently vilified because it remains socially acceptable to be sexist. Corporate men dominate the airwaves; these men have held the keys to success, and invariably, they oversee most election coverage (Philadelphia Inquirer).
"Media news people, frequently operating with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to [CONVINCE} themselves that they choose and interpret the news "objectively" and on the basis of professional news values....[Not in this scenario, however.] Voter attention is focused on style and personality ("Yes We Can") --anything but the issues that are of primary concern to the concentrated private power centers that largely finance campaigns and run the government" (Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Women in the media, too, have been lulled into tolerating it because it is difficult to stand up to SEXISM at the risk of losing their paychecks. It's blatant that women in the media see the disparate treatment of HRC, but have convinced the masses that this pugilist is a pariah.
Without an NIE report read, Senator Obama touts his sound decision-making (as a State Senator) for opposing the War in Iraq. With hindsight, unbeknownst to him, there were no weapons of mass destruction. His argument that he made the right choice is a fallacy: he didn't make any such decision as a U.S. Senator with the emotions of September 11th still riding high and our response to maintain strong national security. Albeit, none of these assertions are earth-moving or original arguments; what is important here is to remind voters that he does not command a bastion of foreign policy knowledge nor does his redundant, "I voted against the war" a viable argument to support his candidacy.
Unfortunately, those who purport that the frontrunner will unite people have already demonstrated that the frontrunner will unite NO one except perhaps the myopic misanthropists, who, most likely, come January 2009, will be in a seething cauldron of woeful, broken promises teeming with scintillating rhetoric.
Share this with the superdelegates.