The video above is from Obama's Be A Democrat for a Day that he launched in Florida last year. We all know the same campaign was tried in Nevada until they got caught distributing very negative fliers.
Below is part of an email going out to Californians, which my friends have been to kind enough to share. I'm not registered in my home state right now, so they knew I'd want to see it:
... ... Remember, you do not need to be a Democrat to participate in the primary. Republicans and unaffiliated voters who choose "Decline to State" as their party preference can vote for Senator Obama.
Once someone is registered as "Decline to State," here's how it works:
Unaffiliated voters must specifically request a Democratic ballot. If they are voting in person, they can request the ballot at the polling place.
If they are voting by mail, they must contact their County Elections Officer and request a Democratic ballot ... .. Our campaign wants as many Californians as possible to participate in the Democratic primary -- to support Barack, but also to reconnect with the political process. ... ..
It's seems obvious the Obama campaign realizes their candidate can't win the nomination with Democrats alone. So why not bring in other people, even those who have no intention of voting for him in the general? Great way to stack the game in favor of our opponents. Let them choose our nominee.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the
comment you replied to
The feeling going on in the country right now around this campaign feels like everybody is drinking the koolaid rather than thinking -- thinking -- about what is best for America and the American people. They're getting drunk and feeling no pain. What on earth is going on? Manipulation is in full swing, and the koolaid is flowing. It's really getting scary.
We are presently in the middle of the primary season. The positions that these Democratic candidates hold now, is as far left, as they are ever going to go. As soon as one of them wins the nomination they will veer back to the right. If there is something that we want from them, we better ask now. The majority of Democrats want to end the war now! They want a universal single-payer, not-for-profit, health care system! They also want Bush and Cheney to be impeached, indicted, and sentenced ASAP! It seems obvious why the Network decided to exclude Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the one and only candidate who supports these positions. . 'Medicare for All'
Yes, Obama basically is running as anything BUT a democrat. He should switch his affiliation NOW to be Independent or his true party....The Party of Reagan!
What gets me is that his supporters are trying to paint him as the Next Coming of Jesus, and he allows campaign tricks such as this to claim he can get "independent" voters which basically are Rethugs dressed up for a day!
Talk about inflating the numbers and definitely one sure way of guaranteeing another 4 years of Rethug policies!
Taylah.....I was on my way to the fan club site for the best entertainer in history, Barbara Streisand, and I nearly schlock up in my coffee after seeing the gnectshlitzsen in your post! Obama is trying to win over the underschmeckel that don't usually vote Democratic?!
Taylah, honey can we talk? I was starting to think that Obama was like buttah......but now I think I'm becoming all verklempt!
Oh, and look what a simple search turned up, on HuffingtonPost none the less, Hillary and Obama tied with Republican write in support in New Hampshire. Look - I already realize that Obama supporters aren't interested in the truth but you can't fool all us out here.
Obama is trying to pull the Democratic party to the right, in a year when we have a brilliant opportunity to pull the country left.
He is running praising the Republicans and their ideas, and scolding Democrats. He has been doing this from the beginning, and covering it in a veneer of hopeful unifying speeches. And the sheeple and the fawning media keep lapping it up, just as they did in 2000.
No thank you. I have had enough of a "uniter not a divider" telling me that the problem is those partisan divisive Democrats, and remaining strangely silent on the sins of those partisan Republicans who have run my country into the ground.
He is sounding way too much like the incompetent Georgie Boy for comfort. This guy is a disaster waiting to happen.
This latest campaign effort to spin Obama as a Republican is such a joke. How many posts, campaign memos and Hillary supporters need to push this line before people see it's just another page out of the politics 101 playbook.
Hillary voted with the Republicans.
Obama stood to oppose them.
Hillary voted with Bush.
Obama stood against.
Hillary votes with the DLC.
Obama refused to join them.
This scorn and ridicule being heaped upon Obama for trying to bring millions to vote for a Democrat!
How dare he believe our principles might be shared by a wider electorate?
No candidate -- Democrat OR Republican -- can get elected with only the support of registered members of his or her own party.
Stop getting pissy, just because Obama is acting on the obvious -- and because your own candidate has little support outside the so-called "Democratic base."
Hillary Clinton will get clobbered by any Republican because see is so disliked not just by them, but also by her own party. If Bloomberg inter the race it is all over for her.
Obama is a split-personality candidate. His progressive supporters think he's left of JFK, but his record and rhetoric show that he's to the right of the DLC.
I'll admit that there may, in fact, be a handful of right-leaning independents and Republican who would actually vote for him. However none of the Republicans I know would consider voting for him against a real Republican.
In their zealous denial that this is an issue, Obama's supporters seem to forget the fact that Republican sabotage of Democratic nomination processes is well-known in past races. This is not a vague theory. The fact that the Obama campaign would encourage this activity, with a sort of "don't-ask-don't-tell" regarding whether you really intend to stay a Democrat, is a sign of Obama's situational ethics and duplicitous strategy.
One thing you can say about the DLC: it may espouse many of the same centrist positions as Obama, but at least its aim is still to grow and make more relevant the Democratic Party. Obama's only concern is to grow and empower Obama.
I felt the same way after Iowa where Independents and Republicans could change party for the night and caucus. I felt that was how he won in Iowa.
The demographics of his supporters are not as diverse as Mrs. Clinton. He has the youth, college educated, and African American support, but that isn't enough to win. He talks a lot about unity, but he doesn't appear to be working on unity within the party to help him win.
You are making one entirely baseless and misinformed assumption ¦ that Independents and Republicans ¦ WHO ARE WILLING TO GO THROUGH ALL THE EFFORT TO NOT ONLY CHANGE THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION, BUT TO GO VOTE FOR OBAMA will not then support him in the general as well.
Seriously, do you really think that is even a remote possibility? Would you do it just to cast ONE vote in populous California or Florida for a Republican candidate you didn't like? Of course not. The Republicans trot out this same argument every time anyone wants to create an open primary system. States that have open primaries have NOT experienced this. You must know that. Why would you post a blog asserting not just otherwise, but otherwise with the caveat that voters have to change their registration first?!?
Obama actually appeals to Independents and some Republicans as well. That is a GREAT thing. It's also a huge asset that will assure that we don"t get another 4 years of disastrous Republican mis-leadership in the White House. Get on board and lose these silly Republican talking points.
It is time to wake up and realize that Mrs. Clinton does very well with the party zombies and interest groups but she has no chance to attract intelligent independent voters needed to win a general election.
You're correct that Senator Clinton is doing far better among Democrats. However, she's failing miserably among Independents and moderate Republicans. Tell me again how you can win a general election without Independents and moderate Republicans?
Loading comments…
Posted January 21, 2008 | 01:42 PM (EST)