spent most of today with the thought in the back of my mind that we're facing, at least, seven weeks' worth of damage to the Democratic party while McCain's campaign laps up video and audio to use against us once we finally, if ever, have a nominee.
The better half of that time was engaged in trying to look at the bright side, like the fact that yet more states will get to have their say in what has become a truly national process, that even Michigan and Florida might be able to make amends with a new primary or caucus (and it looks like it's beginning to happen). I tried real hard to find the sunny side in all this.
And then I come home to read this sewage:
"I think that since we now know Sen. McCain will be the nominee for the Republican Party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. And I think it's imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander-in-chief threshold," the New York senator told reporters crowded into an infant's bedroom-sized hotel conference room in Washington."I believe that I've done that. Certainly, Sen. McCain has done that and you'll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy," she said.
Calling McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee a good friend and a "distinguished man with a great history of service to our country," Clinton said, "Both of us will be on that stage having crossed that threshold."
Only the Democratic party could take the biggest structural and atmospheric electoral advantage they've had in, well, forever, and manage to screw it up with words like that.
Continue reading OffTheBus contributor Dean Barker over on his blog, BlueHampshire.
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It is a sad day when the bright and promising future of the Democratic Party is so swiftly Clintonized. Monsterous indeed. We can only hope Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, John Edwards, and Nancy Pelosi are making the tough phone calls on behalf of this country's future.
Hil keeps on showing her Rep card. She is a Dem with a Rep voice out to destroy Obama and McC. Hil just wants to get into the WH to get back at Bil. She has her allies ready for war. Hil is not in this for winning th e election for the people, she is in it to win it for Clinton. She is sneaky. Hil sets up the playing field and runs for both goal post. McC still thinks he is a prisoner of war and reacts to this election with a I''ll never surrender message. Someone please tell McC that Vietnam war is not the War we're in right now. He calls it Iraq but deep down he sees this war as the V war. McC is so into a dementia moment, he appears to think he is still 25. Do you think that he really knows that it's Bush and not Truman,Nixon or Reagan. Now Hil is on the arm forces team and she talks too much to McC because she is singing the same old J Mc song. Obama will straighten out these folks soon. Right now Hil and Mc are just having fun. This way neither has to produce records. His health and her claim for experience, Rezco, et al re her funding transparency.
It has become increasingly obvious that Sen. Clinton is perfectly willing to irreparably damage the democratic party so long as she gets the nomination. That she could so easily lose in the general election, and given the strongly negative perception in which she is held by fully half of the voting public, likely WILL lose, is the reality which she refuses to face, but one which should be keeping the Democratic super-delegates awake at night. It serves Sen. McCain's purposes perfectly to have her belittle her opponent and deman his abilities without regard for the effect should he defeat her in the primary. McCain is gracious in his praise for Clinton as he echoes her attacks on Sen. Obama; he hardly has to write any of his own material!
As for the meat of Hillary's assertion, just WHEN has either she OR McCain "demonstrated" that they "can cross the Commander in Chief threshold"? It's my firm belief, backed up by the memoirs of numerous ex-presidents, that NO-ONE is ready for the job until they have DONE the job, that the office of POTUS is, by definition, unique and requires on-the-job training. This is why we vote for a candidate whose plans for the future appeal to us, and whose judgement we believe we can trust in a crisis. Sen. Clinton is showing both a lack of regard for the future and a serious lack of judgement.
To me, John McCain demonstates a total unfitness to serve as commander in chief. The arrogant, high-profile, militaristic approach to international affairs, as adopted by the Bush administration, would only be amplified by McCain. Hillary needs to shut up about phone calls at 3am!
Yes, it would be nice if the powers-that-be in the Democratic Party leadership would make them stop, but I suspect that I mean a different "them" than you do. The "them" I would like to be stopped is the corporatist media that is fomenting this food fight, only too happy to supply an endless supply of pies to the two sides at every available opportunity. It's way past time for the Party Leadership to step in and demand that the campaign be returned to a conversation about the issues that are confronting our country and how we as Democrats differ from the Republicans on those issues and why our positions are better for the country. Prosecution of the Bushies to restore the Rule of Law that is one of the cornerstones of our democracy; restoration of the Balance of Power instead of the Unitary Executive that is another cornerstone of our democracy; changing the face of our foreign policy from the military back to statesmanship and diplomacy are just a few of the things we need to be talking about. Instead we've allowed ourselves to be manipulated into acting like little children. At this rate we will get exactly the candidate and the President that we deserve. Every time I listen to an interview with Gov. Dean or anyone else considered to be in the Leadership, they never try to steer the conversation towards what we should be talking about, seemingly only too happy to go right along with the drama that is being foisted on all of us.
Who in hell"s fire cares if the very detestable HRC has over 30 years experience, in doing what, exactly? Tagging along with Bill during his presidential tours? Is that what she calls Foreign Policy experience? Or is it the campaigning she did for Barry Goldwater when she was a staunch Republican? Her 30 yrs experience also includes all the crap things she"s done like support NAFTA, launch character assassinations against the women who her husband had dalliances with, as well as announce her total support for Bush"s War in Iraq that she"s never apologized for like John Edwards had done. Nor has she come out and apologized for the NAFTA fiasco. How dare she sell herself as the one who can become Commander-In-Chief on day one? On what merit can this Hillary spectre regard herself as someone with experience we can trust? She is the most fragmented political personality I have ever seen " if the Dem"s don"t wake up soon we will get stuck with McCain who obviously is a war-time politician, he believes in war, in believes in the military and to put it succinctly "if it takes 100 yrs. to get the job done in Iraq, then so be it . . . he"ll keep us there all through his term. Like so many others, I have lost whatever regard I had for HRC, when I saw her "Red phone" ad " her real problem is that Obama came out of nowhere and took the country by storm with his mannerisms, his great oratorical skill, his affability and his unshakable ease in being comfortable in his own skin. Hillary on the other hand is so fragemented, it"s hard to tell which personality will come out of the closet from day-to-day. And I used to like this woman? Man, seeing her in action makes my skin crawl " that"s not someone I want for my president, just like I didn"t want Dubya " but I guess it will be, what it will be, call it destiny! Obama for Unity " HRC for Division!
I'm glad someone previously brought up the likely scenario that many so-called Democrats are actually Right-Wingers in Left-Wing Clothing. After all, the Republicans spent 40 years systematically weaning their way into every aspect of political life in every voting district across the country. All of a sudden, we Democrats woke up one day and found that we were on the outside looking in, a victim of our own self-imposed Political Correctness that the right wing uses to cast us as wimps who waffle from one side to the other on every issue. No one likes the school yard bully but they rarely fail to succeed in real life, especially when there victims have become deluded by their own narrow minded self importance. There are far too many people in public life that have forgotten the passion that initially inspired them to run for public office. An excellent reason for imposing term limits on every public office. In politics, as in Nature, the old growth must occasionally be eliminated for the new growth to survive and the forest to have a future !
Expect more of the same. I am not one who "loves or hates" Clinton. I am a yellow dog Democrat who was pleased to have two great candidates. I had forgotton, you see, the Clinton years in the fog of this current facist administration. Yikes. For the first time in my life, i will vote for a third party candidate. Clinton thinks she can disregard the youth vote because she is so confident of people like me. I do not think so. Ralph Nader might have been right about everything. Imagine my astonishment.
Folks, we should not use Nader to stifle the efforts of our youth. These young people are showing more adult like minds than some adults who are parents. The youth have gotten involved. They do not want to use the old tactics of yesteryear to fight for the Change they see for America. Why engage them in negative sleazy ads and rhetoric? Obama has proven that he is the best candidate for the job as pres. He is a uniter. He has the the safety of America at heart and has shown his good and better judgement for making decisions in a crisis moment. He's Anti war. Troops want to come home and they need Obama to bring them home safely.. Obama will weave the broken fabric that has torn America from foreign leaders. Hil knows this . That why the Rezco and Nafta gate was open, via Hil. We need to stop the Hil drama, step back and look at this election without rose colored glasses. Let's join these Youth support Obama and stop this foolishness about Hil's dumb power via experience. Obama has more actual experience than Hil to win this primary which will catapult him winning the election in Nov. He will beat JmcC hands down. no doubt about it. Vote and support Obama
As an Independent I can certainly relate to this post.
Clinton's odious certainty of winning the nomination is in her own fevered mind and no where factual at this moment in time. If she can't figure out a way to cheat herself into the nomination Obama would have to be the supersized dolt Clinton claims him to be to put HER in the VP slot. If he does that, I won't vote in this election -- that's how much I refuse to cast a vote for HRC.
In my opinion, it's not worth waiting in line at the polls to cast a protest vote for Nader, though he does bring some necessary dialogue to the political debate.
The snarling hag strategy will hurt Obama's chances in the fall if it continues. Both because of the attacks and because the unseemliness will be associated with the Democrats and with politics in general, repressing the vote to some degree.
That will not change the math of Obama having already sewed up the nomination, maybe not dejure, but defacto. Nor will any other selfish, hellish tactic the desperate Billary comes up with change the fact that Obama will be going to the convention with a big lead in both popular votes and delegates.
I am getting REALLY tired of the sexist language against Sen. Clinton. If this is an indication of the maturity of Obama followers, I can't imagine an Obama presidency. If "hag" is the only word you can find in your vocabulary, something is seriously wrong. Sexist language and commentary don't need to be part of disagreements about candidates. And neither do the "cute" monikers like Billary. This is just juvenile and shows a lack of any better arguments to use. If this is all you have to offer in support of your candidate, or as an argument against Clinton, I feel sorry for the Obama campaign.
Save your pity mabelle. I am guessing the '55' is your age? Perhaps date (year) of birth? I've got a few years on you and a whole lot of life experience. Most "terms" are the frustration of not being able to put into words the depth of exasperation and disgust too many people feel toward HRC. Here is a woman who stayed with her philandering husband despite being ridiculed on the world stage by the exposure of his infidelities and his lying about it. Why? Because she knew Bill Clinton has the charisma and the chutzpah to come throuogh it all pretty much unscathed and he is an enormous power figure. Without him, you know bloody well she wouldn't have gotten nearly as far. As Barack Obama said "Sometimes I don't know which Clinton I'm running against" because BILL Clinton has been the real reason she has done anywhere near as well as she has. He is the one who draws the crowd and he is the one who draws the money. The term 'Billary" is just that, a description of two people when it should be one. Without Bill, Hillary would have been a flash in the pan.
I still believe the best demovratic nominee would have been Edwards but unfortunately the MSM and fellow democrats wanted Clinton or Obama . I refused to listen to the reich wing lies and BS about Bill Clinton but after reading that he refuses to release documents and Hilliary has yet to release their tax records , add to that her unprofessional anti democratic - anti Obama speeches and praise of Mc Crazy and her votes sypporting the bush oil war , the patriot act, the bankruptcy bill I too believe she thinks if she can't have the presidency she'd rather have Mc Crazy than Obama . It is time that the democratic party get behind the man who can and will beat Sen Alzheimers .
Advice for Obama:
It is time to remind all Americans that the time has come to stop living in FEAR. Americans today need a dignified leader to help boost our confidence, to help us look in the mirror and feel proud again. Eight years of fear has become too degrading to a dignified people. By continuing to exploit our fears for their own selfish ends, manipulative politicians such as John McCain and now Hillary Rodham Clinton lower the dignity of our great nation. We owe it to our national pride to give them the boot.
America is a great nation whose citizens are sick and tired of living in FEAR. For the past 8 years the supermacho Bush administration has capitalized on the terror inspired by the isolated event of 911. It has manipulated this fear beyond reason as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and violate international law, and also to threaten Social Security, Medicare and other highly valued social programs by spinning our country into massive debt through a war that we did not need. In the mean time, most Americans are AFRAID about the future. They are AFRAID of losing their health care insurance (if they have any), of losing their jobs, of paying for their kids' educations, of urban violence and rural hatred, and many other things.
Rudy Giuliani's presidential run showed us that there is a limit to how long people with reasonable self esteem will continue to react to irrational fear. WIth the red phone ad, Hillary Clinton has shown us that her true intentions have nothing to do with maintaining our dignity as Americans: she will stoop to the low level of Karl Rove or a right wing talk show host just to forward her ego-driven need for power. Hillary has degraded us and lost our respect. She does not deserve to be president.
I'm a WW-ll vet and an anti war Democrat. Clinton is trying to show McCain as a Hawk while she is trying to out-Hawk him. I have no idea who will win the Democratic nomination, but if Hillary wins I think I might vote for McCain. He talks big, but he might not be as ready to push the bomb button as Hillary. She is so commited to taking her directions from Israel that McCain might be a better choice to try to bring a peaceful solution to The Israel-Palestinian problem which is, after all, the festering sore that is causing most of the troubles. I would think that we can guarantee the territorial intergrity of Israel while reining in their expansionist ambitions. Hillary will not do that. McCain might. Our best hope is Obama. I think he will give his first allegiance to the best interests of the U.S. and I think he has the intelligence to make it work. First though, you have to have the desire. He has it.
Advice for Obama: It is time to remind all Americans that it is time to stop living in FEAR. Americans need a leader to help boost our confidence, to help us look in the mirror and feel proud again. Eith years of fear has become too degrading to a dignified people. By continuing to exploit our fears for their own selfish ends, manipulative politicians, like John McCain and now Hillary Rodham Clinton, lower the dignity of our great nation. To save our national pride, they should be given the boot.
America is a great nation whose citizens are sick and tired of living in FEAR. For the past 8 years the supermacho Bush administration has capitalized on the terror inspired by the isolated event of 911. It has manipulated this fear beyond reason as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and violate international law, and also to threaten Social Security, Medicare and other highly valued social programs by spinning our country into massive debt through a war that we did not need. In the mean time, most Americans are AFRAID about the future. They are AFRAID of losing their health care insurance (if they have any), of losing their jobs, of paying for their kids' educations, of urban violence and rural hatred, and many other things.
Rudy Giuliani's presidential run showed us that there is a limit to how long people with reasonable self esteem can continue to react to irrational fear. WIth the red phone ad, Hillary Clinton has shown us that her true intentions have nothing to do with maintaining our dignity as Americans: she will stoop to the low level of Karl Rove or a right wing talk show host just to forward her ego-driven need for power.
As I just said in another column, Hillary knows she's being rejected, despite all her huffing and puffing about "winning." And she's giving us fair warning that if she can't steer the ship, then sink the s.o.b. "Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned."
I wish the "Super delegates" would determine her a threat to the party as a whole as that is all she is now. She is praising McCain like she has him on the ticket to win with her support!!! Last time I looked she was under the democrat ticket and he's a republican. She is holding the door open for him to become president. So why vote? My vote obviously didn't matter and nor will anyone else who is a democrat if she is allowed to totally destruct the party! Howard Dean has no control over her as she has already determined who will be president. What is Hillary going to get from this? Not power as she will lose in the biggest landslide in history when all democrats figure out their vote is null and void due to the clinton antics. How made them god and the ones who can make the decision over who we get to have as president. Mac will win because we will give it up and stay home. Sad when I chose hope and a new direction and they will steal from us our votes in broad daylight and not give one good damn that they did it....
I agree.However, We now need to step back and support out Youth. They have not gotten engaged in this election process to stifled by the negative ads and rhetoric. Furthermore, why can't the delegates be divided equally from Mi and Fla, any overage to Edwards,and these states be seated at the convention. This way the states will be satisfied. The candidates will be satisfied, and the Dem Party will be satisfied and no one will have to pay the expense of a do over election. This hype about Super Delegates is dumb. The people need to speak and address this issue of fairness in the division of the delegates is the only way. Howard Dean needs to stop his hype and stop trying to make a mountain out of this molehill. Stop the fear and threat of the SD's. Stop listening to the media. BE honest , be on task or get off the pot.. End of Message.
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Posted March 7, 2008 | 09:07 AM (EST)