Oh, Yes She Can

Here's what is scary. It's not August. There aren't any Republican attack ads.

And yet, Obama is getting swiftboated... by himself.

Admittedly, as someone who will remain a Clinton supporter to the very end, I have been enjoying the rude awakening that many Obama supporters have recently received from !quelle horreur! Barack Obama, himself.

FISA, gun control, public finance, the death penalty, religious-based initiatives, late-term abortions, Iraq, turning his back on groups such as MoveOn, and throwing people like Wes Clark under the bus. They all add up to Obama's progressive base wondering with justifiable uncertainty: Who is this guy and what the hell is he doing?

Well, it seems that Barack Obama can and will do whatever he pleases -- particularly if it paves the way to victory. In order to win the nomination, Obama posed as the candidate of Change. Remember he was the outsider who wanted to restore Hope in all of us. He was the candidate we could Believe in. Not surprisingly, after 8 years of Bush fear-mongering and Republican-led emoting hate towards terrorists, Obama's offering of emoting hope and unity towards feel-good horizons was extremely appealing. The marketing worked. Back then, Obama appeared pure, honest, and trustworthy; Obama was definitely not the entrenched, untrustworthy Washington-insider, Hillary Clinton.

But who is Barack Obama now?

Unfortunately, none of us know who Barack Obama really is especially in light of his recent mercurial political positions.

Usually when someone behaves in such an unrecognizable manner, you turn to the person in question's past history for reassurance. Not so with Obama since his public record is so short. Indeed, Obama's public life started a mere 10 years ago and his uncanny ability to spend no longer than two years in any one post or place translates to Obama never being held accountable. That lack of accountability translates to Obama being an unknown entity merely offering up his lofty, poetic, and very pretty promises to trust. But lately those pretty little promises aren't holding up much -- let alone anyone's trust.

And I am not going to shut up and trust Obama for the sake of party unity. Just like I refused to shut up and trust Bush after 9/11. Remember, Dissent is Patriotic. Obama promised to be something different. He promised to stand up and do the right thing. He promised the Change that many people were yearning for. While I never believed him to have authentic principles, Obama's early supporters did. And those early supporters are responsible for Obama receiving the nomination. They voted for Obama specifically because he said that he wasn't the type of person that he has now revealed himself to be.

So why is Obama acting like his early supporters don't matter to him?

Because he can. He doesn't need you folks anymore. Obama knows that he has all of your votes in his back pocket. He knows with certitude that you will not vote for McCain. So as long as Obama stays more than a hair to the left of McCain, he'll do just fine, thank you. Obama really doesn't need to pander to all of you and your silly Progressive causes anymore. He and Michelle have got a general election to win and a large swath of (perceived) centrist voters to sucker.

But if there was ever a year that the progressives could have run on a strong, strident and non-negotiable platform against the Republicans, 2008 should have been that year. More than 70% of Americans are unhappy with the course of our country -- a country that has had Republican leadership for the past 8 years. If Progressives and their candidates cannot be true to themselves and their core-guiding principles now, then when?

2008 is the ultimate year for an unyielding progressive platform and agenda because on every major issue that Americans care about (like for example Iraq, the economy, the environment, health care, and national security) the Republicans (and the policies of the Right and Center-Right) have failed miserably.

More pointedly, in 2008 when more Americans identify themselves as Democrats and supporting Democratic principles, why in God's green Earth would Obama or any Democratic candidate for that matter ever run anywhere near the center? It's idiotic. Take a look at South Carolina where Obama received more votes than all of the Republican candidates, combined. Go further and add up both Obama and Clintons' votes in South Carolina, and you have a Democratic landslide! And South Carolina is supposedly a fairly conservative Republican state.

So it's not that Obama is merely abandoning the Left. No, it's that Obama is abandoning the vast majority of the American people and what they truly want from their political leaders after 8 horrendous years of George Bush.

Alas, as many Clinton supporters already know, it's not so bad living under the bus once one's been thrown there. The important thing to remember is to not get disillusioned and bitter with the political process. You (yes, We) can all still make a difference.

Here are some simple ways to stay a part of the system and send a message to the tone-deaf Obama:

1. Unhappy with Obama's turnaround on issues that matter to you?

STOP SENDING YOUR CHECKS TO HIM. Spend 5 minutes on Google and send money directly to organizations that support your issue or cause. For many grassroots organizations, a little money goes a long way--your money will be well spent and better spent.

Remember that Obama opted out of public financing--that means he needs your money. If you stop sending it, he might pay attention. More to the point, by sending cash directly to well-established organizations that support your cause, you will know that your voice is truly being heard and appreciated.

Furthermore, such organizations will not materially change their position on any issue to fit the prevailing winds. With these people there is no risk of getting burned or thrown under the bus.

2. Nervous about Obama's seemingly lack of core-guiding principles and even more concerned about how he will govern as President?

Start supporting Hillary Clinton as his Vice President. Clinton would serve well as a stern rudder to Obama's wayward sails. Hillary Clinton has a well-documented public record and history. Like it or not, we fully know Hillary Clinton and we know how she governs. We know her core principles. More to the point, we know that there are certain non-negotiable, core Progressive principles that she would never capitulate on.

Any Obama supporters who initially found Clinton unacceptable because of her triangulation and willingness to do anything to win, might as well listen to your own recent justifications about Obama and his own triangulation and willingness to do anything to win. Enough said?

3. Reminder to all: The Superdelegates have not yet voted. They cast their vote at the Convention in August which means Hillary Clinton's "suspended" campaign could be reinstated. (Because, Oh, Yes She Can!)

Of course, this reality is probably why the Republicans have remained mostly silent against Obama since they'd rather run against Obama than Hillary. The Republicans know that a small window remains open for Hillary to get the nomination. And a coup at the Convention is not entirely out of the question-- particularly in light of Obama's recent behavior in thumbing his nose at the Progressive base. Yes folks, it's not too late.

It's July 9, 2008. There are 6 weeks left until the convention in Denver. And I think all Americans should be paying close attention to see what Barack Obama does. Does he continue to flounder and move to the center compromising important Progressive principles? Or does he correct his wayward ways?

Democrats must have a candidate with clear conviction to beat John McCain in November. The question that must be answered between now and August is whether Barack Obama is that candidate.

Comments

[Faith1101]

"But who is Barack Obama now?"

BO is the same empty suit conman he was before he started this trip that he himself said he shouldn't have taken. Obama didn't win anything, he's a fake, a poseur, and you people need to wake up and smell the patriotism. We won't vote for this no judgment, no character conman. America deserves better - America deserves the best, and that would be Senator Hillary Clinton.

[Robbedvoter]

Thank you, Kristen
As usual you say it best!
None of the candidates reached the required number of PLEDGED delegates to entitle him/her to be presumptive anything. This is in the hands of the super delegates - all delegates really.
It would be something if all primary voters would also remember what they really believe in - all those quaint notions of democracy, civil rights etc and act accordingly.

[dlswriter]

The sooner you face the fact that Hillary is NOT going to be the VP either, the sooner you can compare Obama to the alternative.

Obama is not going to make the same mistakes that you and Hillary did thinking that everything was a foregone conclusion.

[tbone99]

I beg to difer - he does seem to think that he's said everyprogressive thing that he was ever going to before the primary - and now he's on to please his real electorate - the powerful and corporate .

If thats not thinking the left is a foregone conclusion , I don't know what is.

[dlswriter]

You don't understand that the winning margin for Obama is slim. The contest with Hillary should have reinforced that fact.

Obama's lead men aren't going to make the same mistakes that they did with Kerry. There are certainly many more congressional and senate seats that Obama can help garner if he plays to the center.

I like the strategy to crush the repubs throughout the country. It's the smartest strategy that's come out of the Dems in a long time.

[drbala]

Thos that don't know (living in a cave), Obama is a candidate of Change! Here is a letter-to-­the-editor on SFO Chronicle which best describes what CHANGE is all about for Obama. Let the progressive get the shaft, gimme the keys to the whitehouse!

Sen. Barack Obama likes to tout himself as the candidate of change and to that end he has succeeded.
He has changed the landscape of campaign finance reform by opting our of public financing for the general election. He has changed his stance on gun control. He has changed his stance on whether or not Iran poses a threat. He has changed his position on NAFTA. He has changed his position on the FISA law.
He has changed his position on Jerusalem. He has changed his position on ending the Cuban embargo. He has changed his position on the decriminalization of marijuana. He is changing his position on withdrawing our troop from Iraq. He has even changed his pastor.
We need a president who is more than just a bumper-sticker slogan. Like a chameleon, Obama changes his position depending on the direction of the political winds and that is a change we can do without.

[Hatty]

After reading the comments, I have a few observations. First, every time I read posts from Obama supporters, I am reminded of the Dennis Hopper character in "Apocalypse Now". Second, one of the posts described Obama better than I can...she referred to him as a "hologram". I think that's accurate. And as for his broad support, I live in Iowa. Obama crushed everyone in my county in January. On July 4, he had three active supporters. We are a swing county in a swing state with two legislative races that could solidify Dem majorities in Des Moines. The acolytes are nowhere, so the party folks and downticket campaigns are ignoring the Presidential race. I hope his ads are good; the ground troops who do GOTV and Absentees aren't even mentioning the nominee.

[Democrab]

Obama will probably change parties after the inauguration.

[rationalthought1]

Denial is never a pretty thing. The Clintons are just too dysfunctional. Bill had his chance, did okay then got bored so we ended up with a tabloid presidency. Enough already - its time to move on, folks.

[closetodemfection]

Dysfunctional, how so? In their personal lives? WHO CARES?

That tabloid presidency you dismiss was the best decade this country had in the last 40 years.

[kindofblue]

I agree with just about all of your points, except the glaring contradiction of your continued delusion that Hillary would have done better. She has a proven record of triangulation of the worst sort (flag-burning, AUMF, not to mention all the Mark Penn stuff). Get off that hypocritical argument and you have a point, but it is neutered by holding out Hillary as a beacon.

[closetodemfection]

Do you really believe that flag burning and mark penn are reasons why she wouldn't be a more effective POTUS? That's absurd.

As far as AUMF, other than Kucinich, everyone voted for it.

Obama's claim that he would have stood up and not voted for it now rings hollow. If he couldn't stand up to Bush on FISA, he certainly wouldn't have stood up against the war after Colin Powell sold it. And Obama ducked out of Kyle-Leiberman so he wouldn't have to go on record - pathetic.

Hillary may have made mistakes, but at least she's been in office long enough to learn from them.

So wake up, Hillary is the far more competent candidate right now. I'm not saying Obama wouldn't get there, but he's not there yet.

[kingshmoopy]

23 Senators voted against the Authorization of Use of Force, including Kennedy, Reed, and the very missed late Senator Paul Wellstone from MN. Clinton would not have been standing on her own, a good number of Senators had the sound judgment to vote "Nay."
Please see the link:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&vote=00237&session=2

[saltysea]

I hope you reconsider--maybe schedule a time where he could sit down and talk with you all about your concerns. Regardless of how i feel about his FISA vote, i do (still) believe he will be a great President.

[crl9]

Why?

[SeanGardner]

"Start supporting Hillary Clinton as his Vice President."

Oh, you forgot that the only person who selects the VP candidate is the Presidential Candidate. Please keep that in mind.

Trying to force Obama to pick Clinton is tacky, and the type of move that will further ruin her profuile in the minds of Democratic voters.

You and I don't have a say in Hillary being his VP. Obama does. And frankly, she is the wrong choice.

[closetodemfection]

For pete's sake, HRC doesn't want the VP slot. She was offering to do it as a gesture of unity and the press jumped all over her. I have good reason to believe she's turned it down. Good for her, it would have been a waste of her talents.

[AAKAlan]

Hopeless, absolutely hopeless!

One more die-hard who can't cope with the undeniable fact that Hillary lost the primary. Period. Done. Toast.

You'll use any excuse, any slander, anything to get your gal in power, including a complete denial of reality.

Please, finally, just go away. Hillary is fine with where things are. You're not.

Get a life.

[closetodemfection]

"Go away" and "get a life" is soooo May 2008.

That was before Obama's change message started to rapidly unravel - and his lack of experience seeps through his every move. Every decision.

Why is he floundering so much now? Because he has no political core. He hasn't been in federal elected office long enough to find himself. He never had time to come to what he really believes, he served 4 months and started campaigning on big ideas.

So he's being advised! His advisors are making the decisions, which is why he's all over the map. That is a sign of what's to come if he were POTUS. It can't happen. The country is on the edge of financial collapse. We CAN NOT risk putting someone who doesn't know what they're doing at the wheel.

I was all on the unity bus after Hillary suspended, but two weeks ago I hopped right off. I've never looked back. FISA was the final straw.

I don't believe Obama can win this election. I believe he's headed for total disaster. The DNC is absolutely useless and their incompetence has left this party in ruins. I believe the ONLY way we'll have a democrat in the White House is if the supers come to their senses go back to endorsing Hillary. I believe that she is the ONLY one who can get us out of this mess.

[SeanGardner]

"The Republicans know that a small window remains open for Hillary to get the nomination. And a coup at the Convention is not entirely out of the question-- particularly in light of Obama's recent behavior in thumbing his nose at the Progressive base. Yes folks, it's not too late."

Keep dreamin' honey. Obama will be the president, and the "convention coup" you are trying to encourage will be be put down.

I'll see you at Obama's inauguration.

[Ged2012]

GET A GRIP!

We were WOWED when he said that he is willing to work across the aisle.

That's what he is been doing with the FISA bill, late-term abortions, and so on.

Who said that Obama is only the President of Democrats or the RADICAL left-wingnuts? He has to be President of ALL Americans. We may be passionate about progressive agendas, but he is not stupid to disregard other voters who may have different views from ours.It would be unfair to call it pandering, since he has to represent all our hopes as a people. He may disagree with us on a lot of things, but this is the reality of life--We can never accomplish anything without listening to the other side.

[ikesambobby]

You didn't have to say that you are a Clinton supporter. I could tell that the minute I started reading your post.

[usindecline]

Kristen,

You are still one of my heroes. Few people have the mental clarity and conviction that you continue to express so eloquently. Thanks for this post -- you've said what I and many of my friends have been thinking for so long.

In light of Obama's sad and profoundly troubling 'yes' vote on FISA today your words are especially resonant. Hillary Clinton was the WYSIWYG candidate from the beginning. Her departure from the campaign is the nation's misfortune. Thoughtful voters have no reasonable choices in November.

I hope some of your suggestions come to pass.

[Prism]

Bravo! You speak for many frustrated hard-core Democrats who see a "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" farce being perpetrated on the American people! Obama, the stealth candidate with the miniscule portfolio and ever-shifting positons has punk'd an entire party. Clinton was always clearly the stronger progressive candidate up against a breathtakingly biased, distorted and mysogenistic juggernaut. We will rue the day this extraodinary public servant was so atrociously treated by those who would most benefit from her wisdom, experience courage and command of issues.
Naral is now the beneficiary of my campaign dollars. Thank you!

[Heidfeld]

Well said Prism... and honestly, I could never understand why there was such a divide amongst the people.

What I mean is that there were people like us that could see from the very start that Obama was a fraud. People that instantly got that vibe that he was a salesman and nothing more. Yet so many were fooled, so many were taken.

What happened to all of the perceptive people out there? Seriously? These recent events have just made me shake my head. It was so painfully clear to me that the guy was full of BS, and I still don't understand why more people dont see it. Are they really that gullable?

[apikores]

i am furious with obama for his backpedaling, on telecom immunity more than on anything else. if my vote mattered he would get it but given as i live in NY he is not. more importantly, he will not be getting the $100 i had set aside to give to him.

THAT SAID

suggesting that clinton, the woman who voted to declare the iranian revolutionary guard a "terrorist organization" would somehow make him more progressive is a suggestion so breathtakingly cynical and disingenuous that it is beneath contempt. anyone who thinks that HRC wouldn't be tacking just as far--if not farther--to the right had she won the nomination has their head so far lodged up their larry johnson-worshipping puma ass that reason couldn't get anywhere near their ears. hell, she was ALREADY tacking right back when she thought she had it sewn up. the fact of the matter is that as progressives we are not the people elections are fought over. at the end of the day these moves might help ensure obama wins, and as much as they piss us off, to him it's just spending political capital that he probably feels he has earned. how many of those of us who are not going to vote for him over this live in NY or CA? it sucks monkey balls but the math is not in our favor.

[rrlieberma]

ELECTABILITY!

The only job of the delegates in Denver is to select the electable candidate, and she is HRC.

To participate in the ELECTABILITY WATCH - a no-cost grassroots action to weekly remind the SDs of why Hillary is electable and BO aka Bush 3 is unfit - please let me know at rrlieberma@gmail and we will send you a list of 18 SDs - one for every million HRC votes - and more background and sample letters.

EWers are now doing thousands of emails and calls weekly to their lists. What may seem unlikely now will be simple common sense in late August.

I want a Democrat back in the White House. Do you???

GO GO GO!

[Independentchoice]

I completely agree with you.


PUMA/ JUSTSAYNODEAL

[SeriousBlack]

Why is it so hard for you guys to see that when a party has declared their nominee and that has been in effect for 5 freakin' months, that for someone else to come along and manage to barely wrest the nomination away at the convention, COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY dooms that party to defeat in the general? Simply because 90% of the supporters of the other nominee will end up being so disgusted that they will stay at home on election day?

Just answer one question. Let's say the situation is reversed, and it was Hillary Clinton who managed to win the nomination by the same small margin that Obama actually did. She is the presumptive nominee from June all the way up to the convention. Obama somehow manages to stage a floor fight at the convention and grab the nomination away from Hillary Clinton.

ARE YOU GONNA TELL ME THAT YOU THINK OBAMA WOULD WIN THE GENERAL?

OH, OK. AND WHY NOT? UMMMM, BECAUSE AT LEAST (IF NOT FREAKIN' MORE) 90% OF ********YOU******** HILLARY SUPPORTERS WOULD STAY HOME ON ELECTION DAY.

ISN'T THAT CORRECT?

[SeriousBlack]

I notice that there have been no answers to my question.

Isn't that interesting.

Now get the heck over it and do what is ACTUALLY necessary to elect a Democrat to the white house (like you SAY you want to do) rather than being sore losers who would rather punish everyone else in America just because YOUR candidate is not the Democratic nominee.

Sheesh.