Sunday, February 24, 2008
Bitch Is the New Black
Tina Fey's brilliant and hilarious recap of the Obama/Clinton race aside, I'm going to be real here: If the Dems decide to get cute and nominate Barack Obama then I am going to vote for John McCain. I've voted Republican in the past and I'll do it again.
Enough is enough. If this Clinton-bashing gets to the point where we nominate a nobody senator who really fumbled in yesterday's CNN/Univision debates, then I'm going to go with the party that is lock-stock-and-barrel committed to bringing this country back from the brink of implosion. And I certainly won't support a two-faced party that has taken sadistic pleasure in elevating the Clintons only to tear them down at every moment.
Take note, Barack: The Dems made those JFK references when Bill was running in '92, the Clintons were all up in the clam chowder in Hyannis and now look at the mess they're in.
The lack of perspective and historical deference in the Barack movement is chipping away at the values of the Democratic party. We're the party that stands up for the little guy and makes Washington work for him. Barack can't do that. The GOP is watering at the mouth, waiting for the Dems to hang themselves with this wack candidate.
We still have time to make the right decision and usher our party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I'm talking to you, Texas and Ohio.
I supported Hilary at the start, but unfortunately, in the course of her campaign, she has proven to be a weak condidate and unfit for the presidency. If she were stronger, she should have been able to sweep Obama away. I was certainly waiting for her to do so. Her failure is mostly of her own doing, and not from "Clinton-bashing." She should have had a stronger message, and, yes, a more positive one. She certainly got the negative side right. Frankly, I think both Hilary and Obama are a big roll of the dice, and although I agree with you on some points concerning Obama (in reality neither Hilary or Barack will be able to make Washington work for the little guy), I've decided to roll with Obama. I've also voted Republican before, but I would certainly never vote for a lemon like McCain under any circumstances. I would rather just sit this election out.
ReplyDeleteBen.
I think I can understand what you're feeling -- if Hillary still manages to pull off the nomination, I'll probably spend a few weeks or months swearing that I'll vote for McCain. I think, though, that I'll finally come around to voting for whichever Democrat is up for the Presidency, if only to ensure a more liberal Supreme Court. You may never reach that point in your own decision, and you may continue in your resolve to vote for McCain out of protest.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, though, that I'm really puzzled by your statement that the Republican party is "lock-stock-and-barrel committed to bringing this country back from the brink of implosion." You can certainly argue that McCain has more foreign policy experience than either of the Democratic nominees, but I really don't understand how the current Republican party could merit as much praise as you're giving it.
As for Clinton and Obama, we're disappointed for different reasons: you're unhappy with Obama because you feel that he's an insubstantial neophyte who won't be able to foment any real change (a concern that I think is totally justified), and I'm disappointed in Clinton because I feel that her poorly run campaign has disproven any argument that she's ready to lead the entire country. Tina Fey's points about the media's favoritism of Obama are valid ones -- he certainly hasn't gotten the drubbing that Clinton has. But if Clinton hadn't set herself up as the "inevitable" candidate, then refused to change course or shift strategy when her inevitability started to look a little shaky, then the media wouldn't be having quite so much fun revelling in her downfall. And for journalists, the only thing more intoxicating than a falling-from-grace story is a story about an unlikely underdog. That's why they've has been so hard on Clinton and so (relatively) easy on Obama: it's all about crafting a narrative, and Clinton, in her overconfidence, handed them a juicy one. Part of being a good campaigner is having the agility to respond to changing circumstance -- and on that score, Clinton's candidacy has been an unfortunate one.