Let's not forget that this 'army' of Clinton supporters was fooled into believing that Hillary's candidacy was viable at the end and that it resulted in a 'greater popular vote' and nearly as many delegates, whereas in reality she strung her candidacy along, unfunded, racking up debt that none of these phantom supporters were willing to support with donations. A candidate's viability is determined by willingess of donors to donate which allows them to advertise and campaign. Hillary showed that she did not have this actual support but kept trying to run up the numbers to try and prove a point and 'make history'. Well she did make history in racking up the largest campaing debt. Where are her donors/supporters now? She owes over $30 million in campaign debt but hasn't been able to raise more than a million. Put your money where you mouths are, 'supporters'.
Hillary's New Job
According to a new CBS News poll, about one quarter of Hillary Clinton's supporters say they will vote for John McCain instead of Barack Obama in the general election. That is a very big number and can do significant damage to the Democratic Party in November.
Hillary Clinton's new job from now until then must be to bring this number down to as close to zero as possible. It was her campaign that drove up this number by emphasizing Obama's negatives, implying sexism against Senator Clinton and sowing division within the Party. It's her job now to get the number down by doing the opposite and bringing the party together.
I have talked to so many of her supporters who always assured me that once the fight was over, Hillary Clinton was going to be a lion in supporting the Democratic nominee and she would bring everybody back into the fold. Well, this is the time. I think she will ultimately be judged by how well she does in bringing these voters back to the Democratic Party and helping the party win in November.
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Check out the blog on her website. They are foaming at the mouth. Her "supporters" are saying that they won't give any more money to her because she will only give it to Obama (and yet there is some optimism that she can trick Obama into paying off her debts, then they can get him to choose her for VP, and then they can trick him again by voting for McCain AND Hillary and get their revenge that way. ...as one put it "a Republican president and a Democrat president" (sic)...as though that is some kind of fabulous deal for McCain...that is how nuts they are. They don't seem to know that it is impossible to vote a split presidential ticket. Why? Have they never voted before or do they just not pay attention?).
Apparently, she doesn' t realize that it is THESE supporters who just might cost her her political career. She may be even more naive and narcissistic and out-of-touch than she seemed. The image of all of those public female faces contorted with bile and saying the most outrageous things about her opponent. Who wants to identify with THAT?
If you like this economy, like this neverending war, do not want affordable health care, like tax breaks for the very wealthy but not the middle class, want to invade Iran, want to keep the loss of habeus corpus, want to overturn Roe vs Wade with supreme court justices like Alito and Roberts, then I guess John McCain is your candidate. I just can"t believe that Hillary--who stood against and still stands against most of these these things-- was your candidate until now. And do not kid yourself, refusing to vote at all gives McCain the advantage of at least a half-vote. If there were 21 voters, ten voted for McCain, 9 voted for Obama and two Hillary votes stayed home, McCain would win.
Thus it begins. Is Obama so weak a candidate that his supporters are already setting the bar low and mentioning defeat? At the same time, you make it Clinton's respoinsibility if he loses? Give me a break. Your reasoning is flawed and suggests that if Clinton has that much power, she should be the nominee. You can hate Clintion all you want, but it is the Democratic Party that installed Obama and DEFINITELY employed sexism as its weapon in doing so. I voted for her...will I vote for McCain, of course not. Will I vote for Obama, no way. If he can't win without Hillary, then I don't want him.
Any alleged HRC supporter , especially a woman, who would not vote for Obama is not thinking clearly. Possibly a RNC plant. Your logic betrays you.
You're mentality is what's wrong. You... HRC! Same thing! ME! ME! ME!
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Is sour grapes more important than what Mc Cain would do to us? You were either never going to vote for him, or your still not able to see past your own upset. Take some time to reflect...
Hillary Clinton lost the bid for the nomination fair and square. She tries to be one of the boys with her whisky guzzlin' and gun tottin' for a few votes and ended up looking very UNPRESIDENTIAL. She ran a racist, sexist, disingenuous campaign and deserved to lose. As a woman I'm ashamed of her. She has enabled Bill Clinton to abuse and rape in the case of juanita Brodderick and even hire private investigators to discredit these woman. She's no feminist, she just a power crazed individual with an amoral personality. As soon as her followers come back to earth and realize this the better for the country and the Democratic Party. VOTE OBAMA 2008
It is not my responsibility or Hillary Clinton's to persuade the many dems (women, blue dogs, etc.) that are ticked off not because we lost but because of the nastiness and vitrol especially from the move on meanies in places like here attacking her supporters (who, by the way, represent a majority of dem voters). I had a long talk today with my mom who is madder beyond belief about the way Hillary was treated in the press and by fellow dems. I have a sister in law who is Jewish and says she will never vote for BHO.
It's time for Barry/Barrack Hussein Obama to step up to the plate. This is no longer Hillary's responsibility to carry the water for the team. BHO has got piles of dough, supposedly the best minds in the election biz, and of course his uncontested youth and charisma. As long as Hillary doesn't defect to McCain (like Obama did to Lieberman in the Conn Senate race and dumped anti-war dem Ned Lamont for a warmonger), her job is done.
Barry/Barrack Hussein Obama will now either win and lose not because of endorsements or other people's campaigning, he will win because he convinced us the voters he is the right man for the job.
To suggest that it's up to Hillary to unify the party is a self admission that maybe, after all, BHO is nothing but smoke and mirrors. And that she was right after all.
It is YOUR responsibility - AND Hillary Clinton's - to stop spreading the lies that you put out throughout the campaign.
She did NOT win the popular vote. We here in Michigan had no candidates to vote for and you forget that the 43% that voted Uncommitted was actually a vote against her, not for a candidate because no name was on the ballot to choose.
The truth shall set you free.
It is absolutely Hillary's responsiblity since she sowed anger and dissent to bring the party back together again, and she knows it.
Or she is finished as a Dem and she knows it. It could not be more urgent to come together now.
Being stubborn about it won't bring us a better life or help our country OR the Iraqis. Put your egos aside and stop being such babies.
Quit spreading the LIE that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Barack Obama wasn't on the the ballot in Michigan, so if that counts as democracy then Bush won in 2000 fair and square. Oh, and caucuses don't count either, right? So if we ignore a huge chunk of voters then Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. This isn't about your burnt pride or Clinton's this is about doing what is right for the country and fixing the Bush mistakes while we still can.
Hillary is responsible for bringing her voters back to the fray. Her spin machine created the riff, and if she cares about the American people more than she cares about herself then she has to fight tooth and nail to talk sense into people like you.
I think it's very telling how Hillary's group of followers are holding a country hostage because of their 'woman' vote. You are right, several tidbit's never made the press, when both Hilary and Bill, 'incited' their brand of 'racism' and 'inexperience", 'unworthynes' etc., We should place our anger behind us.
Bill Clinton spread the 'character assassination' crap when spotted with a small group of mostly women, stating "well, he hasn't stolen a car yet, that I know of". These subtleties run like a virus through the blogs, other voter's, older women, young voters who do not know of the Clinton's past, and they defend them wholeheartedly.
Obama, really, has more experience than Hillary. Six years in Illonois Senate, 4 yrs (i think), in U.S. Senate. Hillary and Bill, since Yale, have been professional campaigner's, debators and fund raisers for their own little piece of heaven. Most illegally, like money laundering. But, although someone else takes the fall, they have escaped charges.
The same crowd of Democrat leaders that forgave Bill and Hillary, time and time again, has had enough of them and want to move on. The know the risk if Hillary won, and it wasn't a pretty picture. I am proud of the Delegate's that want a 'clean' slate for their constituencies, their voters, for all Americans. I'm proud of them.
Cenk, you write as though Obama started with the vote of every Democrat in his pocket, and the Wicked Witch somehow poisoned the minds of half of them and stole their votes. If a Clinton supporter had written the same lines from the opposite perspective, I suspect you would be among the first to scream "Oooh, entitlement, ooooh".
I supported Clinton in the primary because I believe she would have been a better-performing candidate in the general election. I also think that any of Obama, Clinton, or Edwards would make a fine President. My view of the continuing race- and gender-consciousness in the US is that Clinton would be hurt less in the Electoral College contest than will Obama. You may disagree with me, but that us my analysis, and that is why I voted for Clinton. It actually had nothing to do with her; I've had that opinion since before the primary race started.
I am sure that Obama can win the general, but it will be trickier. I will, of course, support him. I am sure that Clinton will too, but not because of you telling her it's her next job. She will support him because she is, like me, a Democrat.
Why don't you start talking about Obama and McCain? Many long-term Obama supporters say they want to "get past" Hillary, but that will only happen when you stop talking about her.
The true blue Democrats and those without party affiliation, who are adherents to the ideas of justice, peace, fairness, and unity for all, will go for Obama. Any claimed Hillary supporter who does not, engaged in an unfortunate and trifling game of charades during the primary. Their move to McCain simply reveals their true color (RED) and their true game (provocateur).
I repeat because it is important:
This election, as in all previous elections, has less to do with the candidates and more to do with the aggregate mindset of the electorate. The president elect will only be symbolic of the electorate"s desire for the best results for the entire country, or in the case of the scourge that is Gorge Bush"s Presidency, -- symptomatic of the deep sickness within the electorate. I see signs of acute and potentially malignant sickness and I see signs of a desire to be a better nation. Which idea will win? That is what I am watching for. John McCain"s candidacy represents much of what is wrong with America in it banality, and its reflection of solutions void of innovation and transformation. I see no hope or change in the details of his campaign. I see more of what I have seen for far too long in America. We do not need a sedative but a pick me up. John McCain covets an America that is asleep so he can do his dirt undisturbed and without scrutiny -- like Bush.
This is now Barack's party. It's not up to us to "get behind" him now because someone believes that Hillary supporters won't vote for him. It's up to him to convince me to vote for him. We Hillary supporters, especially on this blog and elsewhere, have put up with all manner of flaming bombast from Barack supporters, yet now you expect us to get over it and just get behind someone we don't believe in. Articulate discussions were reduced to the basest forms of schoolyard name-calling which to anyone who was (fortunate enough to be) asleep for the last fifteen years would read and think they were being uttered by Gingrich and his fellow "Contractor's". We don't need to support Barack because bloggers and pundits say so. It's our choice to vote for whomever we want. Barack is going to have to work his ass off to prove that he is worthy of my vote. Whether Hillary says to or not is irrelevant. She was my candidate and she lost. Now I am looking for a new candidate. If Barack convinces me that his policies are the best for the nation, I will vote for him. But I'm not going to vote for him because a blogger says I must. If bloggers are afraid of us, what does that say about your candidate? There are 18 million of us. And not all of us are as reasonable as me.
There are no longer 18 million of you. The real Democrats are voting for the Democratic candidate - Barack Obama - so clear up that misconception and stop inflating the number.
Whether HRC "won" 18m votes, or 18m voters chose not-Barack makes no difference. The real point is that those votes count as going against Barack Obama. How that translates to the general election I don't know, but it's pretty significant. As a real Democrat I vote for real Democrats who have substance, not just empty suits who shout empty jingoism.
Are you kidding me!?!?
"Articulate discussions were reduced to the basest forms of schoolyard name-calling which to anyone who was (fortunate enough to be) asleep for the last fifteen years would read and think they were being uttered by Gingrich and his fellow 'Contractor's'."
Hillary Clinton is the one who compared Obama to, let's see, Ken Starr, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, etc. It was Hillary Clinton who intimated that she was staying in the race because Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June. The venom was being spewed alright, but it was the Clinton campaign that was spewing it. It was Hillary Clinton who demonized Obama to her supporters. Remember her cute, coy answer on 60 Minutes, when asked if Barack Obama was Muslim? "Well, as far as I know, he is not a Muslim." It is her job to help heal the rift she has done so much to create. And as far as her supporters sitting out the election, or voting for McCain instead of supporting Obama, if you truly believe in democratic ideals, and don't want to see yet another conservative judge appointed to the Supreme Court, then how could you not support him? He will appoint liberal judges, fight for a woman's reproductive rights, give voice to the voiceless. McCain will continue the policies of Bush, Jr. But I guess since your candidate can't win, then why not just take your toys and go home.
I guess the point I'm really trying to make is that your man won. Congratulations. Now it's his job to convince me that I should vote for him. It's not Hillary's. And what you quoted of mine was not related to the candidates or their campaign surrogates, but to the language used here and at evilorange about Hillary and toward those of us who voted for her in particular. You wanted her gone. She's gone. Again, congratulations. Now he's got to earn the other 18m of us, and fight the RAM. Nobody said a war on two fronts would be easy.
When, exactly did Hillary compare Obama to those people?
Obviously you didn't watch the "60 Minutes" interview. You should.
Despite what the Obama campaign wanted you to believe, the key point in the RFK reference was the "June".
Swanky? That seems to be a misnomer.
swanky posted this little gem:
Democrats will be divided because of Obama's b.s., not Hillary's. That b.s. victory show in Iowa last week was the last straw. I could've been convinced that he had the good sense to lead the country in an astute and dignified manner, but he's just an arrogant pr**k, and thank you but I've had enough of that for the past eight years. posted 05/28/2008 at 15:41:33
Dear swanky: We do not need the support of bitter trools. Go whine somewhere else.
And if you have time to search the archives for previous comments of mine, you have time to help your man convince me to vote for him. At least get a girlfriend.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. We're not bitter, we're just not buying the b.s.
HILLARY SUPPORTER MYTH-BUSTING:
MYTH 1: Obama called for Hillary to bow out. PATENTLY FALSE! IT WAS THE POLITICAL PUNDITS, NOT OBAMA.
MYTH 2: Obama doesn't have enough experience. HE'S GOT JUST ENOUGH WITHOUT BEING A WASHINGTON FIXTURE FOREVER (See: Abraham Lincoln).
MYTH 3: Obama supporters are sexist. DOES THAT MAKE YOU A RACIST, THEN? REAL DEMOCRATS ARE NOT SEXIST OR RACIST.
MYTH 4: Obama is an elistist. THE MOST RIDICULOUS AND UNTRUE ACCUSATION OF ALL. FOR AN EXAMPLE OF ELITIST, LOOKUP "GEORGE W. BUSH" AND "DICK CHENEY."
If you plan to vote for McBush because of the above myths, then you need to get your facts straight before you put the final nail in the USA's coffin by voting Republicans back into office to finish their destruction of our Constitution and the United States of America!
To those who say that Hillary wants Obama to lose because she's actually running for 2012, even if it's true being seen as not having lent him sufficient support could really work against her in 2012 among those who have been supporting Obama. Her actions through November will be heavily scrutinized and endlessly analyzed.
And endlessly criticized, apparently. Old habits die hard.
I have voted the Democratic ticket for the past 37 years. The first president I voted for was George Mc Govern. And was the first year that 18 year olds could vote. So I do understand all the youthful excitement for Mr. Obama. My wife of 35 years has also voted a straight party line in local and national elections; we have both donated monies to the party over the years. And we have both voted for Women, Hispanics, Oriental and black candidates here in California. Heck I even vote for white candidates. We are concerned that the Democratic party is failing us, and no longer considers the voters views, but rather decides what it believes is good for me. This is fine, the democrats make there decision and then I base my vote on what my feelings and concerns tell me. I am not a Republican so I will not vote for Mr. McCain. But I will also not vote for Mr. Obama. It"s more a gut feeling than anything else. I will not vote for president at all. (I voted for John Edwards, my wife voted for Hillary in the California primary). And before you call me a racist my last name is Dias, and have voted for whom I felt was the best choice for me regardless of race. I wish Mr. Obama and his supporters well. This will be an interesting race.
Hillary can start by proving her speech was more than just words: as John Edwards did with his endorsement she needs to release her delegates so they can freely choose their endorsement for the general election.
If she is really supporting Obama there would be no reason to hold them and keep the party divided.
Posted June 6, 2008 | 02:19 PM (EST)