With John McCain as the GOP nominee it is a simple choice for Democrats. Who would be better for the Democrats?
Hillary Clinton v. John McCain two white candidates ages 61 and 70 respectively.
Barak Obama v. John McCain black vs. white ages 46 and 70 respectively.
When you make your choice you must consider who would do better against McCain in November considering the factors of issues, age, race, and appeal to independents and Republicans. Given that both Hillary and Barak are very close on the issues, Democrats should nominate the srongest candidate. Below are the major factors which should be considered.
Since most of the Democratic voters are women, gender should not be a major factor in November unless Democrats believe that there is a male bias against Hillary.
Race could be a negative against Hillary because of African American turnout in which Obama would have a clear edge.Appeal to independents and Republicans would give Obama the edge.
Appeal to experience and Commander in Chief status would go to Hillary.
Appeal to young and 1st time voters goes overwhelmingly to Obama.
These are the factors that Democrats must consider in a head to head battle with McCain. How you weight them is up to the voters.
While we Democrats were inspired by Obama and hoped he could change America, the Republicans have held their nose and elected the best candidate they could find for the general election.
This election should have been an easy win for the Democratic nominee, but instead, we will now have to raise millions to hope that this country can vote for a black man or a woman who is married to a political lightning rod.
But getting out of wars is harder than not getting into them. That is how we got stuck in Vietnam for so long. And Hilary Clinton has shown repeatedly that she responds to attacks on her toughness by talk radio by showing how pro-war she can be.
It will be hard for Obama to get us quickly out of Iraq. I have trouble seeing Clinton doing it at all. As recently as a year ago she was still acting as if the Iraqis like us, so there would be no problem just leaving a small force there to deal with al qaeda. Her experience does not seem to have given her any understanding of what we face. (Or she sees dealing with Iraq as a purely domestic political problem). Neither is encouraging for ending the war.
He has not been in great health, and some of his strange pandering and inconsistency suggest mental degeneration. I think the country probably will recognize the folly of repeating the Reagan mistake.
I think the critical mass from the Democrats' perspective is energizing the 18-30 voters, which are overwhelmingly Democratic, and attracting independents. Those two factors are clearly an Obama advantage.
Hillary attracts traditional base Democrats, and they are going to vote for the Democrat in the general election anyway. With the exception, I suppose, of some small percentage of the HRC lovers/ Obama haters that appear here frequently.
I just don't get this one...WHAT experience?
She has almost as much as Obama, if his state experience is thrown in.
The one thing that appeals to me with Obama is the fact that he not only is a Constitutional lawyer, he is a Constitutional PROFESSOR.
I think I like the fact of someone who knows where to put the oil and the water and the new spark plugs in the old piece of machinery.
Like a well-loved clock, our Constitution needs some gentle maintenance and repair from the inside out.
I guess what I'm saying here is that being an expert on the constitution doesn't mean diddly squat as far as the electorate is concerned...ie. it's not a factor in this election, nor are any number of other important issues, apparently.
Even bigger is considering the downticket effect of having either one on the ballot. The GOP is giving us a ton of opportunity with all their retirements and open seats this year. And 2006 proved we can pry out even incumbents with enough people-power.
Which candidate is going to have the biggest coattails? Which the shortest?
Which states are hurt by having a black man at the top of the ticket? Which states are hurt by having a Clinton?
Which is going to attract the most new volunteers to the Democratic campaigns?
Which is going to energize your preferred Democratic base (women, minorities, conservatives, progressives)?
Which is going to help the most with free media? Which is going to encourage the most donations?
Which is going to run a 50 state campaign? Which is going to run a battleground state campaign? What effects do either have on downticket races?