A blogger said abotu this campaign to not get sucked off message, and added " Never wrestle with a pig, because you get dirty and the pig loves it..." (i.e. don't counter these attacks)
That anemic Milquetoast crap is what democrats are famous for and it will cost you the election again this time -- as it did with Kerry in 2004, and as it cost Mc Cain the nomination in 2000.
The democrats continually make that mistake and you are making it now, and you are helping the democrats make it again. Which is more important to you? To the democratic party ? Wrestling the pig and getting covered in mud and winning--OR not wrestling the pig and loosing? Swift boating, Rove style groundless accusations (whether they are about Mc Cain's fictitious love child, or Obama's supposed Muslim roots) Have been shown to work, in the last election and in 2000 against Mc Cain. If you want the democrats to win, than you better learn how to fight, and you better learn how to attack better than these anemic responses so far. You can attack forcefully and stya on message and be honest and factually correct...
For Example "Filling your tires is an act of patriotism! It saves the coutnry from buying more Oil and it saves the average American .12 cents a gallon. Now John Mc Cain hasn't had to worry about the price of gas for a very long time, in fact John Mc Cain doesn't even drive himself anywhere and hasn't for years, John Mc Cain is so wealthy he has never had to worry about saving .12 cents a gallon, but myself, I just finished paying off my student loans so I KNOW how important .12 cents a gallon is. Maybe John Mc Cain doesn't need the money, but he can show his patriotism now by using one of my tire gauges to check the air on the straight talk express. Maybe if his tires were full he would stop veering so far off course"
John Mc Cain has spent a lot of time and money comparing Obama to Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears and now Charton Heston, he's complained about the race card, about how the media is biased towards Obama and more.
What hasn't he talked about?
What is John Mc Cain going to do about health care?
Why is John Mc Cain in faovr of a tax cut for the wealthiest 2% in America
And the most important comparisson-- What are the differences between John Mc Cain's policies and George Bush's policies?
Well if you liked the las 8 years in our economy, the last 8 years watching our reputation fall around the world, the last 6 years watching our brave soldiers fight a war based on a false pretenses, than vote for John Mc Cain, if instead you want a difference in policy as well as how business is done in Washington than you vote for Obama. It's that simple.
If you talk, blog to/with Hillary supporters these are the points that you can make that are
A) TRUE
B) NON OFFENSIVE
C) INDISPUTABLE
I believe that most Hillary or Mc Cain folks are operations chaos flunkies from limbaugh, but to those that are influenced and even to the republican trolls these poitns put an end to it... 1) She is under investigation currently in the case Mark v. Clinton. The case will be coming to court again in November 2) Her husbands donor list to the Clinton Library is confidential and they have not released it but there is a lot of concern about who is in there, and it seems like some of the people he pardoned have contributed. there are questions of quid pro quo 3) There is a lot of vetting that needs to be done on contributions as it relates to his 109 million of income and foreign interests etc. 4) There is also the matter of his women. He plunged the nation into a a scandal once, I wouldn't want him anywhere near the white house now. With the recent vanity fair article which he did not entirely refute, it seems that he is still engaging in affairs. This is not the kind of conduct we expect from a "second" husband, or anyone one or two heartbeats away from the white house. 5) He was impeached as the president and convicted of perjury and disbarred. Can he even get a security clearance now? And then there is the trouble with Hillary. 1) The republicans still see her as public enemy number one and her presence on the ticket would motivate the base of the Republican party 2) She has made multiple denigrating statements against Obama that the Republicans will play and replay. 3) Bosnia, and the RFK comment and a lot of her posturing and gaffes are also going to be used in adds by the republicans 4) Obama has said clearly he is about change and turning the page, well then you don't hire a stalwart of the status quo onto your ticket. 5) Furthermore the OBAMACANS ( crossover republicans) would jump right back to camp mc cain with a Clinton on the ticket This is intended as no slight to Hillary Clinton, just being honest, Overall she actually would probably bring more headaches onto the ticket then votes....
The Demonstrators at the DNC meeting yesterday were sad to watch really. they wre fewer than 1000 people, and they were very clearly very very angry and it didin't seem reasonable at all. the media is actually trying to ENCOURAGE this conflict, this split. it makes great news...
DEMOCRATIC PARTY SPLIT !
Very sensational, but the reality is there is not a "split" I think 1/3 to 1/5 of the party LEANS hillary, we have to not fan the flames of division. I for one want some sort of revenge on HRC, but that is not the right tack to take I don't think. I think we have to encourage them to join our STRENGTH instead of pointing out their weakeness...
Instead of saying to them "YOUR SIDE LOST!" say "HEY OUR (meaning WE--YOu and I --- US --Together) OUR side is WINNING :-)" Be happy, welcoming understand that they are unhappy, and encourage them to be part of our happiness. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset with them also, but I'm trying to psyche myself out of it...
I don't want Hillary as she birngs many of the negatives of the clinton legacy, and dampens the positive of the Obama beginings. This would be my laundry list
1) White Male
2) Vet and/or military background
3) Deep backing by EITHER clinton supporters or other Republican supporters
4) Kind of a tough guy, who is well spoken but yet appealing to reagan democrats..
Hagel, Webb, I don't like Rendell so much, I like Richardson, but I want someone a little more military/ tough guy esque...
Some posters have asked "Why don't the superdelegates just come out and endorse?!" They are in a bind. If they come out now, or cam out before the "ALL THE VOTES WERE CAST" ( as HRC constantly says is important) than there is the perception that the party insiders ended the race. This would leave HRC the argument that " PEOPLE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE!" and if you think about how some people have been waiting a long time to be able to cast their vote for a woman, well it seems fair to allow the process to play out.
If the SD's had come out earlier, there would have been the argument "ENTIRE STATES WERE LEFT OUT OF THE PROCESS BESIDES MI AND FL!" and of course HRC would say this over and over and over. So my belief is is that after June 3, there will be a huge flood of SD's comming to Obama and in the meantime it has remained a consistent trickle ALMOST LIKE IT WAS PLANNED THIS WAY (between 2 and 4 a day) At that rate by June 3, it's pretty much over anyway without anybody being able to say that the process was "SHORT CIRCUITED" etc.
That is what I think the strategy is and how it works...
Some posters have been saying that we shouldn't make a big deal out of this. I definitely disagree.
No, when a candidate for president says she is staying in the race because her opponent might get killed, we don't let that go, we do say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" It's one thing to espouse a new kind of politics, it's something else to look the other way when someone says something completely unacceptable. The former takes courage, the latter cowardice...
Hillary Clinton was revealing her cold opportunism, and her total lack of regard for the country and for the well being of the democratic party. Never mind what an assassination would to the people of the Unite States, the Democratic Party, Michelle Obama, and Obama's two little girls
The only way that Hillary Clinton wins the popular vote is if
a) You count Florida and Michigan
b) You give Obama ZERO votes in Michigan
If you don't count Florida and Michigan then Obama is ahead by 449,000 votes
If you count Florida he is still ahead by 265,000 so the ONLY way she can claim popular vote is if you award Obama zero votes in Michigan. This of course is the ulitmate hypocrisy. How can she Claim to be so concerned about counting the votes and then give Obama ZERO votes in Michigan?
Lastly and most importantly I think, or maybe the most ignored statistic. One of the things about the clinton math is they count the caucus votes the same as if it were a regualr primary. In fact if the caucus states HAD BEEN primaries, Obam would have been far ahead int he popular vote. To make this point clearer, of all the states (not including Florida and Michigan) Obama AVERAGED 53 % of the vote and Hillary averaged 41% of the vote that is a SUBSTANTIAL difference.
Hillary Clinton announced today that she was willing to take her fight to the nomination if the convention if the DNC refused to seat Florida and Michigan. This is a game of "chicken" with the DNC, with Obama and with the country.
Historically the two times that a nomination fight has gone to the convention, the democrats have lost the election. Hillary is very aware of this, the DNC is very aware of this, so what Hillary is basically saying is..."If you don't seat the FLA and MI delegates the way I want, I will cost the DNC the election..." Or in other words the DNC has to do it her way, or she will make the DNC lose the election.
As anyone who blogs knows there are quite a few staunch HRC supporters who believe that the media and mysogynny teamed up to cheat her out of the nomination. While it seems like most reasonable people believe that the results are fair, Hillary could CONTINUE to fan the flames of dissent among her supporters and create an internal war at the DNC convention and beyond.
The important thing is that the party, the superdelgates, the Florida and Michigan Delegates, do not allow her to do this. However if she has the support of enough party insiders then there is nothing we can do but watch the democratic party be torn apart.
I sincerely hope that plans are underway at DNC headquarters to outlfank Hillary's potential move here,and if not does anybody know anything that we can do to precent HIllary from doing this?
If she worked for me I would fire her. She claims that she has the popular vote count, of course this is only true if in Iowa, Maine, Nevada, washingotn and Mighigan, you give Obama ZERO votes, and yet she talks on about how every vote should count. This is the ulitmate expression of her hypocrisy and dishonesty as well as her contempt for playing fair.
I'm not sure how to handle this...
I believe that an Obama/Clinton ticket brings a lot of the negatives of the Clinton legacy, without some of the positives. It would energize the anti- Clinton republican base, it would revive the endless scandles that dogged the Clinton white house, and it would bring Hillary's negative campaigning against Obama front and center as Mc Cain would use it to campaign against both of them.
Furthermore since the white house there have been more scandals. Hillary';s brother receiving cash to lobby his family for pardons, the donor's list to the Clinton Library, which I'm sure includes soem of the people on the Clinton pardon list.
Also Bill Clinton was the talent. he was the speaker, the manipulator, the politician. Hillary in her campaign has shown herself to be clumsy, at best.
At the same time my recommendation is that Barack pick a VP candidate now, a REALLY STRONG vp candidate that everyone ill think highly of. Jim Webb or someone else like that. A white, military tough guy democrat tbat people will really want as VP. If he does that sooner than the May 31, than it would be hard for the superdelegates to break up an already promised ticket. Otherwise there is a strong chance of Hillary on the ticket, and I would hate to see that...
Thoughts? Comments? Recommendations
This was in response to an article that assserted that it was the caucus state wins that gave Obama the nomination. Soem posters agreed with that position, and so I countered with the following
This idea that Hillary was somehow CHEATED out of winning by the CAUCUSES, is just false. First she knew the rules. Are you telling me that the woman who was running to be president of the United States couldn't handle organizing for the caucuses? Couldn't manage her supporters to get into the caucuses and win them? Well then she wasn't ready to be president. It's not like the rules changed. Furthermore, if the caucus votes had been primaries, his popular vote lead would be in the millions now. Iowa, Washington, Nevada, Maine, none of these states had a single vote counted, it was all done in delegates. the estimate from the Wharton School of Economics and Business is that Obama would have been up another 1.4 million votes, and 20 fewer delegates. overall the same result... Hillary Clinton started this campaign with 38 million in the bank, and a 30 point lead in the polls over Obama, the biggest head start any candidate has ever had, also bolstered by her name recognition, her connections and more. How do you lose when have a head start like that? You have to be pretty incompetent to go from that place, to being behind 2 to 1 in states won, in debt 25 million , behind in the popular vote and in the polls and in the delegate count. Or the other possibility is Obama had to be pretty great, and he was. He out fund raised her, he out managed her, he out organized her, and he was much more in touch with what America really feels. We don't want "Day One" we want someone who wants to make the American dream accessible, and who realizes that it's not now...Hillary was not that candidate. I'm not worried about the phone call at the white house, I'm worried about making the rent payment, keeping a job, being able someday to buy a house, and hopefully never getting really sick but if I do to know that it won't cost so much that it wrecks everything I've worked for. Hillary did not communicate to me that that was her concern. Her candidacy seemed to be more about her than it was ever about me as an American. Then you have bosnia and Bill and the whole Monica impeachment thing. the idea of the Clinton's being in the white house again is abhorrent to me, and to many Americans... stop saying "It wasn't fair" Hillary had the biggest head start in history and got beaten fair and square by Obama. NOT because he was black, or because the caucus states weren't fair, or because she is a woman, just because Obama is a better candidate, and will make a better president.
I don't know whether to be happy that he put one on now so that people will shut -up about something so ridiculous ( and they will also acuse him of being a flip - flopper/panderer/etc.) or not.
His position of not wearing one was a good one. There were all these people wearing flag pins who were for the war in Iraq, and so he didn't because he thought it ws an example of false patriotism, so now he is wearing one really just to kill the story about it. Now is that a good thing? Or Not ? What is the blog opinion?
I guess if he is selling out on the flag pin thing, I prefer that to selling out on the Ira war or some other important policy matter...
Of the 217 remaining pledged delegates, HRC plans to get at least 63% of them, which is realistic considering her expected margins in KY and WV as well as Puerto Rico. that nets her around 50 delegates.
Obama's lead then shrinks from 165 to 115.
After that on May 31, Clinton attempts to force the credentials committee to seat FLA and MI giving her another net delegate gain of 20 delegates, pulling her to within 100 of Obama
There are 255 superdelegates that remain, if she could get 70% of those that remain, than she would win
(approximately 179 of 255 that remain)
If Obama can add 80-90 superdelegates in the next weeks, or keep them coming in so that his delegate lead remains strong (still without giving the impression that the superdelegates are countering these last primaries) than she will in fact concede, provided the endorsements are iron clad.
If not than she still has a shot at the nomination
Don't forget that when Bill Clinton was accused of sexual misconduct etc. he denied it and denied it and denied it, until there was a DNA sample, but until that time there was no lie he wouldn't tell, no blame he wouldn't place. Hillary is cut from the same cloth. As long as the DNC leaves her a chance, she will (by any means necessary) try to deploy in that chance. That is what the clinton's do. Also don't forget that it was Harold Ickes, (one of the HRC lead advisors) THAT WROTE THE RULES OF THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE. So they are expecting to do well on May 31.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE CLINTON's
Our coup de gras has to be done by working with the DNC to out maneuver the Clintons in delegates and at the credentials committee and to do in such a way as to protect HRC's pride and to win or generate goodwill from the Clinton supporters......
That is a tall order...
