ELECTABILITY: That is All. Nothing Else Matters.

Okay people, this is a very big deal. We need to focus.

In five days we pick our champion to go up against the GOP nominee and try to finally win a presidential election this century.

There is exactly one thing we should be talking about, thinking about, measuring and mulling over: ELECTABILITY. Who is more likely to be able to beat McCain (or Romney) in November?

That is all. Nothing else. On health care, regulating the economy and righting the tax burden, on Iraq, on Supreme Court appointments, and on showing the world America is finally willing to repudiate our worst president ever, both of these candidates are worlds better than any GOP alternative. Either one will do. I want the one that wins. And so do you.

Or hey, if not, feel free to write in Ralph Nader in November.

Yes, they differ in theory on a small handful of issues, but they agree totally on the vast majority of issues. Their differences will be important if we get the chance to govern, but right now, most of them matter laughably little.

As for who would be more industrious or more inspiring in office, who campaigns dirty or can't control their surrogates, who snubs or cries (or even lies) or any of the other drama we have endured over the past few weeks: all of these things are completely irrelevant distractions except insofar as they shine some dim light on who might fare better between now and November.

There is a lot to consider when you try and figure out who would be most likely to prevail. Who can better appeal to swing and persuadable voters? Who can better turn out the base? Who would do better with Hispanic voters, white men, African-Americans, married women, youth, whomever? Who can better connect with people emotionally and motivate them? Who would look better under fire from the GOP attack machine? Who would do better up against the likely GOP nominee - whose narrative and character presents the more appealing contrast? Who can the American people believe in?

We have five days.

Just remember, folks: ELECTABILITY. That's it. Nothing else matters.

Think hard, and happy voting.

Comments

[ronmyers]

Electability, yes. and while thinking about that please note that in presidential elections (and often in primaries) voters nearly always follow the following rule: Pick the candidate who appears the less smart, or if that is nearly a tie go with the less experienced.

[SensibleCentrist]

The Feb 3, 2008 Wash Post poll says it all:

McCain 49% beats Hillary 46%

Obama 49% beats McCain 46%

That's a six point advantage for Obama. And it is entirely logical. Obama appeals to moderate Republicans and Independents, and will not galvanize the Republican base as Hillary will.
If the Democrats nominate Hillary, they will lose the Independents and moderate Republicans, and hand the election to the Republicans.
So, Super Tuesday voters, the choice is yours.
A vote for Hillary is a vote for McCain to be our next president.

[polcomm]

I agree that Edwards would have been a good candidate as far as Democrats are concerned. However, as much as I liked him, he was too liberal to win a national election. Democrats have to stop picking people who make them "feel good" and think about the practical matter of winning. Al Gore and John Kerry ran terrible campaigns, both of them. Gore should have won but he blew it and so did Kerry. I don't think Hillary will blow it, which is why I think she is the better debater (she has proven that in every debate) which is important. She has won almost every debate but one. She knows everyone in Congress and was reelected to the Senate with almost a 69% approval rating, including Republicans from upsate New York, which used to be very Republican. These are facts on the ground not possibilities. Obama may have potential, but running for President is not for beginners, which he is. The Democrats may blow it yet with another extreme liberal, and with that, blow the White House for the third time since Bill Clinton.

[Guitarsandmore]

ELECTABILITY: That is All. Nothing Else Matters.


They elected Hitler too, and I guess that's all that matters.

[TheIndependenceParty]

I put my independent dollars behind Edwards, because he never fashioned himself a candidate just for Democrats, but for the working people of America. The dollars are gone, so now the DLC and the DNC can find the bucks to pay for their Democratic campaign. I won't donate to the DNC again, ... since their Congress has collaborated with Bush to fund the war with my taxes, deny Children health insurance, and passed the Protect America Act, and even extended the law 15 days to allow the limelight of the election to pass.

What you forget, Mr. Neffinger, is that there are many Independents becoming ever-more frustrated with the Democratic Congress and Party and their pathetic performance as the opposition party.

We Independents have a few months to decide wheher the devil we know, and the demons they will nominate, are all that much different or worse than the Democratic candidates. "How could they NOT be worse?", you ask? It is clear what the Republicans are about. Romney and McCain both pledge to slam the Federal coffers closed (on "entitlements") and open the borders to more "Free Trade". They say the window of opportunity for those is closing. Read: The American People are wising up!

So, how do we contrast these with the Democrats in Congress who supported NAFTA, and the War Funding, and in the simplest and most graphic terms acted like paid whores to Bush, ... saying "No, No, No!", and doing that because it is part of their political game, sans diapers, and perhaps his preference. Signing statements notwithstanding, He got everything he wanted, ... and sent the bill to the American People, ... with the collusion of the Democratic Congress.

The electoral system, for all its faults, reveals EVERYONE for what they truly are. Rather than sample ballots, the canvassers at polling places should offer noseclips and brown paper sacks.

[SusanEH]

Electability - to all these Edwards people, why weren't they donating to his campaign so that he didn't have to go for public financing? If you support someone - HELP them win. I would love elections to not include this vast expense to get elected, but Edwards would not be able to hold back republican swiftboating if he didn't have the money to fight back. (One of his young staffers told me that if that happened he would have xxx and xxx and xxx groups coming to his defense and doing rebuttal ads. The groups were 527's - which Edwards says he is also against.)

[Chipyarb]

Folks, MSNBC had a great report this morning about Obama. I have been saying this since he was running. He is untested! Look what Bill Clinton did to him in two weeks. It derailed his campaign and he was defending himself the entire time. Don't think for a minute that the republicans won't bring out Karl Rove. We hardly know this guy, and we don't even know his wife at all. They will leave nothing untouched. He was just named the most liberal Senator in 2007. Do you think that true Republicans, and even Independents will cross the line once we start to see his record? If he gets the nomination, his White Horse will turn yellow very quickly.

As the article says, vote for someone who can win the election. The best ticket that would be unstoppable would be Clinton/Obama, Clinton for eight years, and the Obama for another eight years....giving the Democrats the White House for 16 years!

[zanychris]

The Dream Team: Clinton-Obama '08

[ilcapo]

this is a no-brainer...whos is drawing huge crowds?young voters?ind­ependents?­and even republicans...you know who it is,the Senator from Illinois...Obama 08!!!

[scgaw]

It's too late. John Edwards was the electable candidate. The race is over and the Republicans have won.

[abroadabroad]

To lend some credence to my inspired little snippets throughout this thread, I offer these lines out of Gail Collins' column in today's New York Times, which she wrote in the form of a fake Voter's Guide:

What if I want to pick the one with the best chance of winning?

Experts in voter behavior could not figure out what little New Hampshire was going to do five minutes before the primary. What makes you think you can predict how people in Ohio and Florida are going to feel in November? This is the line of thinking that led us directly to John Kerry.

So how do I decide who to vote for?

There’s no intellectual answer. Stop torturing yourself and feel free to go with your gut.

As a big Gail Collins fan, I encourage you to read the entire column here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/opinion/02collins.html?ref=opinion

[BigBen]

It is really impossible to decide who is the most electable candidate against McCain since we don't know whether the right wing of the party will accept him. Certainly Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter seems not willing to support him. Also we don't know if the left wing of the Demo's will support Hillary and we certainly don't know what the right wing of the Demo's will do if Barak is the nominee.So talking about electability now is sheer guess work and dream fulfilling.

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

President Hillary and VP Obama in 08 - down the road, President Obama. Better than anything GOP has to throw us.

[dsigeorge]

Exactly right John. That's why at this stage I support Obama. He's the one who will be able to defeat McCain.

[peaceandfreedom]

ELECTABILITY: That is All. Nothing Else Matters.

So if we pander to the Religious Right, promise to overturn Roe vs Wade, prevent Gay marriage, allow a few key buildings in a major city to be "bombed," invade two countries and threaten a handful of others while escalating the fear level at home till it's off the chart, make deals with the major oil corporations, Halliburton, Bechtal, Blackwater, and borrow enough money to sink an entire nation into debt, we can win? Right? I mean those are pages from the playbook that has worked like gangbusters twice? Oh and I forgot, suborn the Supreme Court, tamper with voting machines and steal 2 elections. Good stuff, right? It works. It makes your guy, or gal, electable. And as we know, it is all about winning, and looking damn good while you do!