What are Obama devotees going to do if Clinton becomes the democratic nominee? Most Clinton supporters say they will actively support and vote for Obama if he become the nominee, but many Obama supporters don't reciprocate this good will.
I still haven't heard anything concrete to warrant the extreme Hillary hatred hurled from all sides. Stanly Fish, in a recent New York Times opinion piece, summarizes this trend succinctly:
She is vilified for being a feminist and for not being one, for being an extreme leftist and for being a "warmongering hawk," for being godless and for being "frighteningly fundamentalist," for being the victim of her husband's peccadilloes and for enabling them. "She is," Horowitz concludes, "an empty vessel into which [her detractors] can pour everything they detest."
This is not to say that there are no rational, well-considered reasons for opposing Clinton's candidacy. You may dislike her policies (which she has not been reluctant to explain in great detail). You may not be able to get past her vote to authorize the Iraq war. You may think her personality unsuited to the tasks of inspiring and uniting the American people. You may believe that if this is truly a change election, she is not the one to bring about real change.
But the people and groups Horowitz surveys have brought criticism of Clinton to what sportswriters call "the next level," in this case to the level of personal vituperation unconnected to, and often unconcerned with, the facts. These people are obsessed with things like her hair styles, the "strangeness" of her eyes -- "Analysis of Clinton's eyes is a favorite motif among her most rabid adversaries" -- and they retail and recycle items from what Horowitz calls "The Crazy Files": she's Osama bin Laden's candidate; she kills cats; she's a witch (this is not meant metaphorically).
Everyone blames her for what her husband does or for what he doesn't do. (This is what the compound "Billary" is all about.) If she answers questions aggressively, she is shrill. If she moderates her tone, she's just play-acting. If she cries, she's faking. If she doesn't, she's too masculine. If she dresses conservatively, she's dowdy. If she doesn't, she's inappropriately provocative.
Personally, I'm always suspicious of the superficial mob mentality. If the mob is flocking to Obama while launching vicious attacks on the Clinton Frankenstein monster with "crazy eyes," I'll feel compassion to help Frankenstein.
Expectations for an Obama presidency have become so heightened that a Clinton nomination will be an especially big disappointment. The Democrats have been criticized in the past for being too fractured and the republicans praised for supporting their candidates when the time comes.
Could Obama supporters pick themselves up and rally behind Clinton in the general election? Or, will democrats continue being their own worst enemy: 'I'm not getting exactly what I want, so I'm going to go pout now (or vote for Nader).' One thing is certain, we'll hear from these same Obama supporters complaining about the State of the Union when a Republican is back in the White House again. "Unification" is easy to talk about if you get your way, but what happens if you don't?