Don't Come Any Closer, or I'll Shoot -- Myself

Hey there, Pennsylvania Democrats: are you sure you're old enough to vote? Because some of you are acting like two-year-olds.

A Franklin & Marshall College poll has found that if Barack Obama wins the nomination, 53% of Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania voters would vote for him. Of the rest, 19% plan to vote for McCain, and 13% will sit on their hands on Election Day. Ditto Obama supporters -- 60% of them would support a nominee named Clinton, but 20% would vote for McCain, and 3% will stay home from the polls.

For some of these petulant, my-candidate-or-the-GOP-guy Democratic voters, it appears it's more about personality over policy. They'll choose four more years of Republican appointments of judges, Republican policies in the Iraq war, in environmental matters, in abortion and family planning programs, and tax cuts for the already prosperous ... all this over a Democratic fiscal and social and war agenda.

Nice work, people. If you want to cast a protest vote, why not choose Ralph Nader? This isn't like Florida 2000, where voters were confused by the ballot. If McCain wins as a consequence of this ''my way or the highway'' sulking, Democrats will know who they have to blame: themselves.

Follow Patt Morrison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Op-ed columnist

Comments

[wolfi101]

Hopeless277, it's very easy to listen to party lines and believe them to be the truth.

[Doofus]

So, about 20% of disgruntled would-be Demos are actually Repos-in-disguise ready

[tubette]

You are absolutely right!!! Initially, I felt, regardless of who wins the nomination , I would vote for that person. And while I still might, I know that I will not campaign in my precinct and I will register as an Independent if it isn't my "candidate".

[PoliticalEnnui]

Ms. Morrison, if likely Democratic voters are acting like two-year-olds, you can find little solace in playing the 12-year-old taunting, "You're such babies!" Personally, I see this largely as HRC's fault. I've never voted for a Clinton despite being a natural left-leaning voter. Every time she takes the character-assaulting low-road, I remember why. Meanwhile, she has managed to convince her own feminist-entitlement supporters that a vote for Obama is a vote for an empty suit. Live by the sword, die by the sword: welcome back to the 1990s and Clinton-styled partisanship. What else can you expect from the team that gave us 2 terms without a majority victor. The circle forms in the Alleghenies--bring your own pistol.

[RButler]

The Obama supporters were saying they wouldn't vote for Hillary going back to last summer on this site way before any Hillary supporters returned the favor more recently. IT'S CALLED BACKLASH and it's due to the hateful, arrogance Obama campaign. They call Hillary a 'witch' or a 'monster' and then expect us to vote for Obama. No way.

[Squirtapotamus]

If I said "I'm sorry" would that make it better?

[rudyinbama]

Yep, I will still vote for Obama if he is nominated, but it frightens me that half of his supporters seem to be viscious hypocrites mercilessly trashing the Clintons while they insist they and their candidate are somehow elevating politics, and the other half are just nuts.

[PoliticalEnnui]

This isn't backlash. I HAVE NEVER supported the Clintons. I've tolerated them, but NEVER given them my vote. This is NOT a CONSEQUENCE of "being in love" with Obama; my support for Obama is a consequence of my long-standing distrust of the Clintons. That is what disgusts me most about Clinton supporters, that they somehow think that if Obama stood down that I would cheerfully give them my vote. WRONG!

[SamiNJ]

Continued,…You are a neo-con in a pantsuit. Your hair does look fabulous, but that mouth and the words you choose ever so carefully have driven me out. If obama had lost as many as you did for as long as you did,.. there would be no question, he'd be gone. But the Clintons never quit. That kind of arrogance and entitlement (combined with an incredible ability to exaggerate dangerous situations and the danger one is in itself) makes me think you would be just a third Bush term. Your internal makeup is way too similar. Hey,..this country needs a third party anyway. Maybe down the road she will be credited albeit indirectly with setting the country on a new path. Because she absolutely has no concern for the Democratic party as it is. How did I ever defend these people?

[Gadrielle]

Ohhh, Sami, I am so with you. How did we ever defend these people for so long??

[SamiNJ]

I really have no idea. "that depends on what the definition of the word 'is' is...." ugh.

[SamiNJ]

Sure, blame the voters. We did choose Clintonian practices didn't we? I know I know,.. Obama is such a dirty pool player. pu-leeeeeease. Take just a moment and put alllllll the things Clinton and her sleaze squad have conjured up in her fit over a fight for what she is obviously entitled to. How dare we think of someone else. "I am honored... absolutely honored.... SHAME ON YOU!, ...hey look at this photo of the dark man in a turban, scared yet? ... no he's not a muslim AS FAR AS I KNOW.... you can't trust him to end the war just ask his foreign policy advisor, forget that I have said the exact same thing with regards to troop withdrawels...He is winking and nodding to Canada on NAFTA which I opposed internally and was against, forget that I'm talking out my A** on this... john mcCain is a hero and has passed the Commander in Chief 'threshhold' as have I,.. don't ask me how becuz my stories get crazier as the days go by, but what has Obama done? so he can think ahead like any rational person, like Zbigniew Brezinski could, but I had to prove I had brass balls and could be as tough as a man! so what if people die as a result, my polls show I am strong!" blah blah blah... no, shame on you Hillary.

[GonzoBum]

Thank you for this blog. While I am Obama supporter, I will still vote for Hillary if she wins despite her campaign shameless pandering and fear mongering that is detracting from Obama's appeal in the general election. However, we must take into consideration that Hillary's attacks on Obama will look friendly in comparison to rovian playbook and he must prepare for this inevitability. There is far too much at risk to even let the country be run by the lunatic fringe for four more years.

[Camel54]

I've been making this argument for nearly a year and am surprised at the number of people who still make those ridiculous comments. I'm not sure if they think others will fear the possibility of them not voting so much that they'll change their ways and decide to agree with the angry commenter just so that vote is not lost. Who knows? Sadly, pointing out that a president makes roughly 3000 policy-affecting appointments doesn't seem to reach the logic center of some people's brains.

[dexxjones]

this sounds like spin to me. i am aware of MANY black friends who will sit out if hillary bamboozles or roves her way into the nomination. i am not aware of any clinton-voting friends who will not vote for obama.

[ORSunshine]

But do you live in Pennsylvania? Because the poll was only conducted in one state, it really represents a minority opinion...

[maggieb]

I am a Black PA voter who will not vote for Obama under any circumstance.

[missmarg]

...and I too am aware of many black friends who will never vote for Clinton, and almost double the amount of white friends who will not vote for Obama. That "typical white," comment was a real stinger.

[Gilda]

That's what we want to hear!

[hopeless277]

If Clinton gets the will of the American people overturned by the SDs, there will be no Democrat running anyway. They are both radical war mongers being paid by lobbyists and corporations to rape and pillage the country for them. It's really 6 of one, half a dozen of another. Me, I'd just as soon see a registered Republican destroy this country than a registered DINO like Hillary. If Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, my vote will go to John McCain. Like I said, 6 of one........

[SamiNJ]

Agreed. How did I ever defend these people?

[Aleka]

I just dont understand how the clinton people have decided that Obama is the one cheating to win...when he played by the rules and won fair and square? What kind of logic is that?

[ntdev]

As demonstrated in Texas and Washington State, American people said it LOUD and CLEAR: no Obama please! You cheating fanatics are hijacking the will of people through this ridiculous thing called "caucus". If you have to tell us Obama deserves the nominee as the results in Georgia and Idaho show, I'm perfectly fine for you guys to vote for McCain. Anyway, you are counting on those Republicans to hijack people's will.

[jstock]

ntdev: not overly sure what you're saying here, but how did Washington and Texas say it loud and clear that they didn't want Obama. In Washington, he won both the primary AND the caucus. In Texas, thanks to Rush Limbaugh's fun and games, a lot of Republicans crossed over to vote for Hillary. Since Texas primaries are open to all parties, the primaries are also open to GOP hijinks, which is why they have an additional, Democrats - only caucus, in order to more accurately determine their preference. Playing by the rules, Obama won MORE delegates in Texas than Hillary did. You lost me, though, when you moved into the part about the results in Georgia and Idaho. I don't get it...

[SkipHarv]

ntdev so what do you call the process of the super-delegates choosing a candidate other than a 'STATELESS" caucus. There will be bickering among the caucus goers about who they will vote for and why they would for said candidate and afterwards they will vote. To paraphrase one of the great Americans orators Linus Van Pelt, "That's what a caucus is all about Charlie Brown"