The Democratic Party Candidate Wars
If you pulled 10 people off the street who self-identify as progressives, and asked them who they’re supporting in the fall, 8 of them would say “anyone but a Republican”. The differences are really that small between Obama and Clinton, regardless of how much ideological variance their individual rabid supporters might perceive…and the candidate wars among the supporters are getting very silly.
I’m sure that ASZ readers are aware of the current candidate wars that are occurring between netroots supporters of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The wars have even extended well beyond the netroots, with former Dem party bigwig Donna Brazile stating that she’ll bail on the upcoming election if “superdelegates” decide the nominee.
It’s all getting very silly. In the main, I’d opine that those among us with strong opinions for one candidate or the other are in the vast minority of real voters. Yes, we’re engaged to a fault, and many of those among us who are political junkies fail to understand that “main street” isn’t really paying much attention to the pissing contest. If you pulled 10 people off the street who self-identify as progressives, and asked them who they’re supporting in the fall, 8 of them would say “anyone but a Republican”. The differences are really that small between Obama and Clinton, regardless of how much ideological variance their individual rabid supporters might perceive.
One thing that’s absolutely useless: to ask a rabid supporter on either side to “chill”. No one wants to hear that, as it tends to get the hackles up. That’s just human nature. But I think it’s important for everyone to realize that, indeed, those of us who are very engaged in the political process are a small minority, and while we can have some impact (from a fund raising or GOTV standpoint), overall, our opinions and personal feelings don’t really translate to the average voter who won’t become engaged until after the party conventions in late summer.
Parody always works to lighten the load of self-importance, regardless of the topic. In that spirit, allow me to point you to a great election parody on Suburban Guerrilla. Yes, the faux-musical skewers the Clinton campaign, but in a lovingly executed manner by someone who is a marginal supporter of Hillary Clinton. It’s funny, it really is, at least if you can step back from the candidate wars long enough and appreciate the piece from a pure satire perspective.
Enjoy…
I’m here to say that negative campaigns by either Hillary or Barack are going to fail. As far as I’m seeing it, that means Hillary is going to fail.
Go Barack Obama!
obama is perhaps the dem’s bush…short on substance, but you’d like to have a drink with him.
i have huge issues with clinton, but she’s not an empty suit. the mccain camp will attack him as soft and naive, and they will be right.
Dear Obama supporters;
Mr Lewis denied the comment Secondly have you seen the economic news. The price of imports is up 1.7% Hmm Mr. Obama has been running around saying that NAFTA was a bad Idea. Where do you think prices would be for manufactured goods if there was no overseas compitition to the US manufactuers. The answer is about 5%. Obama doesn;t understand economics and would be a disaster for the country. The story is below. Also, Mr. only have been a Senator for THREE YEARS isn;’t qualified to tackle these issues. Also HRC is ahead in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania and we are counting Florida and Michigan. The last I checked they are US citezens and will be voting in the general election. Finally Mr. Obam will not win a general election because he only wins Red States which he won’t win against the Republicans.
The price of imports rose 1.7 percent in January and was up 13.7 year over year, the highest annual rate since the Labor Department records began in 1983. Fuel costs led the rise, ballooning by 5.5 percent last month. Imported food and beverages also cost more in January, and the price of Chinese goods ticked up by 0.8 percent. Export prices rose 1.2 percent, and American companies are also charging more for food, industrial supplies, and agricultural products.
i’ll vote for either one
I think people are underestimating Barack Obama. Just when you think he might not have enough substance, he gives a speech in Virginia following his Washington, Nebraska, Maryland win. He was on fire. He talked specifics. The next day, he took Maine.
Obama versus McCain, will be interesting dialog. Two formidable candidates. Hillary is just plain silly and defiant now. It seems the writing is on the wall with momentum for Obama.
Obama did not get where he has on a fluke. He is a man who by most calculations, has beat a lot of odds. He was a black man being raised by a white family, grandparents primarily. He did not come from wealth, he came from a broken home. He succeeded on his own merits. He had a self drive not handed down from generations of expectation. He was treated as a black man though he was half white so that is what he identified with he will say. By any accounts of American history to date, he has beat all odds since this nation’s beginning. I want him to win. Not just for my own needs regarding the economy, or healthcare. I pay my own insurance and it’s too high, and I worry about the housing issues, and jobs.
But there is a bigger issue in this country right here today. It has lurked in our psyche since before the Civil War. Studying history we each must wrestle with the obscene truths that our forefathers kept and used slaves to better their station in life. Slavery began in our country in 1719 when the first black slaves arivedin Jamestown. It wasn’t until the end of the Civil War in 1865 for each state to ban slavery. Then began a long history of Jim Crow laws forbidding basic human rights to blacks.
I don’t know what lies ahead for America, but along the lines of history, right prevails. That is what makes us great. Not that America is perfect and has not had faults. But that we prevail and do what is right.
I want Barack Obama to win. It’s time. Call it change, call it a miracle when a black man can be president in America. I call it closure to a dark piece of history and the beginning of something great.
Hillary all man made,
she is transparent, yellow suit, synthetic.
Barack Obama, all natural fibers,
he is the fabric of our lives.
I am a health care specialist and I think it is important to make a distinction. I have studied plans and approaches to healthcare. The conservative opionion specifically denounces a move toward so called universal health care because of the emphasis to place greater control and expansion of the federal government. The view that this would produce a healthcare system which approaches healthcare in a socialistic cost control manner. This is the goal of Mrs. Clinton. It is important to understand that she did in fact attempt a health care reform when her husband was president and with a democratic congress, the undertaking itself was so poorly implemented behind closed doors costing millions after months of work. The end product was a program which was not accountable and was a flop.
Obama lays out a plan which will emphasize not a universal approach with mandates or government run, but provisions placed which achieve overall lower costs in traditional insurance premiums to individual and employer policys. He suggests by emphasizing prevention in our payer systems, we will reduce the high costs of healthcare. As a nurse, it has always been so evident that the diabetic in DKA coma, or the obese man in congestive heart failure, or the man smoking and losing his leg to vascular insufficiency would benefit from a preventative approach to healthcare.
With the development of technology and advancement of medicine, we are dinosaurs in our healthcare delivery and payer systems. We are the greatest country providing the greatest R&D in the world for medical breakthroughs. But we do not emphasis the use and knowledge of healthcare to make us healthier. It is known that the greatest approach for control of Diabetes is implementing good blood sugar control. Maintaining AIC, maintain weight control, adequate testing. Most health care plans in this country do not provide adequate coverage for teaching, nutritionist counselling, etc. We provide great coverage for all the areas of medicine which are the most costly. The amputation from a failed diabetic plan. The nephropathy, the blindness, the frequent ER visits for diabetes poorly managed.
Each chronic illness could be better managed with an emphasis on prevention, education. This country’s health care system pours billions into end stage diseases of people that could have been treated more aggresively early on.
Working in the ER, any given day we treat Chronic lung disease patients, COPD who continue to smoke, lack medicine, education to prevent that visit and ultimately the complications that result in expensive treatments.
The rising cost of health care is directly related to our approach and unwillingness to commit to education to prevent and to improve America’s overall health.
Obama speaks of this goal to introduce prevention and education to bring costs down. I support this approach.
I understand your opinion somegirl, and the opinion of anyone on this race is important. I personally connect with Barack Obama, but the strength of him as a person isn’t what my comment was about. Mine was about whether negative campaigning will work, and I do not believe it will. The genius of the Obama campaign is that they’ve innoculated them against a great deal of negative campaigning by railing against the politics of the past, by punching up the notion of unity. Politically, it’s going to make negatives turn on whoever uses them, whether Hillary Clinton or John McCain.
It appears to me the notion of reasonablemenss and unity and a new kind of politics that Barack Obama presents is not fake. It may turn out to be naive for him to promote it, but it appears to be what Mr. Obama really believes. To that end he’s responsible for this position he’s put Hillary Clinton and John McCain in, that they can’t effectively use the powerful tools of negative campaigning with the impunity they may have been able to in the past.