Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Me Generation

Hillary Clinton gave a great speech at the Democratic Convention in which she not only paid homage to all the women who came before her, but gave hope to all those who are surely to follow. She also her her most compelling arguments yet to her supporters as to why the should vote for Barack Obama for President. Immediately after the speech CNN (I believe) interviewed one of Clinton's delegates on the floor of the Convention. She was effusive in her praise of Clinton (which was well deserved) and then she went on to say that while she would not vote for McCain, she was not sold on Obama. She said that he had two months to convince her. I only have one question for that delegate and for the number of Clinton supporters around the country who share her sentiment and that is, Convince you of what???

I don't pose that question to the Republicans who crossed party lines to vote for Senator Clinton. Clearly those people are not committed to a progressive agenda. Their support of Senator Clinton was clearly based on her. Once she was out of the race, they clearly had no use for her agenda. They can be forgiven for their loud and constant clamoring about voting for John McCain. I also don't pose that question to the Low Information Voters out there. LIV's are probably unaware of what exactly it is Senator Clinton stands for. They live in a soundbite world and their filter is accepting every false claim and accusation that is directed toward Barack Obama. I aim that question directly at the large group of intelligent, well informed and Democratic supporters of Senator Clinton who are are now wavering between voting for Obama and not voting at all. I have nothing to say to those in this group who are committed to voting for John McCain. There are really only a couple of reasons why a life long Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton would now vote for John McCain. Either you are seeking some sort of childish revenge or you simply won't vote for Obama because of the color of his skin, because there are simply very few positions, in domestic or foreign policy, on which John McCain and Hillary Clinton agree.

To those who are considering sitting this one out, I would ask you to reconsider. If the threat to the nation of four more years of the same policies as this administration isn't scary enough, then think about what that might mean to you. I have heard every reason for not voting for Obama from rabid Hillary supporters, from the DNC stealing the nomination (why on earth would the DNC decide to give their nomination to the one person running that would actually have a harder time beating McCain than Hillary?), to Hillary is the better candidate (actually I would hope that Hillary supporters believe this, just as I hope the Obama supporters believe it about their candidate), to Hillary should have been chosen as Vice President (I happen to agree), to Obama's supporters are disrespectful (I think there's been enough mud slung on both sides, but to make a choice based on the words/actions of people not affiliated with the Obama campaign in any way is ridiculous). None of those reasons should be enough to make an intelligent and informed person vote for someone who is diametrically opposed to what Hillary Clinton stands for. Let's take a look at what a McCain presidency would mean; More tax breaks for the rich (yep), more wars (check), trample the Constitution (you said it partner), no universal health care (absolutely), overturn Roe V. Wade (you betcha), civil rights rollback for minorities and women (without a doubt)!

This election isn't about one person and it certainly isn't about Barack Obama making a special appeal to disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters. Barack Obama is the standard bearer for the progressive agenda in this election. Period. He's far from a perfect candidate, but he is the one left standing. John McCain is not a secret moderate, he's not going to get into office and turn into the legislative equivalent of Hillary Clinton. Make no doubt about it, a vote for McCain is a vote to continue what the current administration has begun. I remember how upset I was when Bush won re-election because I was afraid of the damage that he could do. However, I never imagined, in my wildest nightmares, that he would be allowed to get away with taking an absolute wrecking ball to the Constitution (with the aid and consent of a Democratically controlled House) and that the American people would just sit back and watch it happen without demanding that he be removed from office. The American people now have a chance to turn away from those policies, but some Democrats are withholding their votes because they somehow feel slighted. When do they wake up (as Rep. Kucinich stated so well yesterday) and realize that this election isn't about them, this election is about WE, THE PEOPLE. This election is about taking back the country and defending the Constitution from the sustained attack that it has been under for eight years. This election is about what kind of tomorrow we turn over to the next generation.

But of course if you're disappointed or your feelings are hurt and Obama doesn't "convince you" before the election, then by all means dont listen to the words of Hillary Clinton ("You haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership...No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president.") and vote for McCain or don't vote at all. After all this election is all about you.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm disappointed that Hillary is not going to be the nominee.

I love this country and that was the very reason I chose not to embrace Barack Obama in the first. He certainly doesn't display the true American spirit I see in John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Barack's quick rise with no vetting is also a problem for me. Do we know for sure, he is American citizen? With all of his suspicious ties to questionable foreign backers and his ties to the entire Chicago syndicate I have concerns where his real loyalties lie.

I leave with this footnote and I haven't even discussed this issue:

http://larrysinclair-0926.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I see you have -0- comments. That is more than you deserve for once again playing the race card.

I am tired of explaining to Obama and folks like you why I don't support him. Because it is never enough.

But I will try once more. It is the issues. Like negotiating with terrosists. Universal health care. Energy policy. Radical associations. Education policy. Inexperienced and unqualified.

My vote is sacred. And no one, NO ONE, tells me how to vote. I make up my own mind. Neither the party nor any individual can tell me who I must vote for. That is the American way. Get used to it.

bert
Columbus, Ohio

Anonymous said...

Your op-ed is so convoluted it defies logical reasoning, not to mention facts. Thank you for finally giving me the impetus to write a rebuttal article for savagepolitics.com.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, my comment is being saved and needs blog owner approval. No wonder you have -0- comments. You aren't posting them. YOU OBAMABOTS CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. I know neither of my comments will see the light of day. That is another reason I don't support Obama. Too many of his supporters act like brownshirts and censor anything they don't like. And that is really what the racism charge is all about. It is desugned to censure us and shut us up. The truth will come out on election day though,sweetie!!!!!!!!!!!

Mycue23 said...

I love comments from idiots who are too afraid to leave their names. I usually don't post "anonymous" comments but I'll post these because there's funnier than exposing the simple minded for what they are. This blog was not "desugned" to censure anyone (now that's comedy!).

As far as the charge that Obama somehow displays less of the "true American spirit" than either Hillary Clinton or McCain, I would like to know how one exactly goes about proving such a non-specific quality. Unless by less "True American Spirit", you mean he's not white, because he can't change that.

And finally to Bert in Ohio,I wasn't telling anyone how to vote. I was simply stating the facts. You and everyone are free to do as they please.

Thanks for your comments. And please don't leave them anonymously if you expect to get them posted or responded to.

SJ said...

@ Anonymous 1-4,
Since none of you have any confidence in your convictions to post officially, I won't bother differentiating between you. As far as we know you might all be one person since the above comments arrived within seconds of the post's linking on RealPolitics.
It's funny that you don't mention any real issues, (which by the way we have already discussed on this blog extensively this year) on which Barack Obama has faltered, like his compromise on FISA, which I think was actually more important than the coming election. Instead you waste our time and space with nonsense like:

"He certainly doesn't display the true American spirit I see in John McCain and Hillary Clinton"
"Do we know for sure, he is American citizen?"...
"I see you have -0- comments. That is more than you deserve for once again playing the race card."...
"YOU OBAMABOTS CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. I know neither of my comments will see the light of day. That is another reason I don't support Obama. Too many of his supporters act like brownshirts and censor anything they don't like."
...

Stop kidding yourselves.

Only you know the real reasons you won't vote for him. We can't read your minds. Frankly we don't care what you say your reasons are. Typing in ALL CAPS won't make it any less so. No one escapes the truth of their own motives at the end of the day.

You can stop wasting our precious space with flimsy and groundless justifications like:
"negotiating with terrosists. Universal health care. Energy policy. Radical associations. Education policy. Inexperienced and unqualified.

Nobody's buying it.

If McCain already has you believing he's going to turn the country around using the same Bush-Cheney policies just because Hillary Clinton isn't the nominee, then you can't be putting too much serious thought into your vote.

Don't be such a sucker all your life, at least not on our blog.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain don't have anything in common that should matter to any voter. I know because she's actually my Senator. McCain has voted along with the Bush Administration 95% of the time... Let that sink in and then ask yourself if McCain's still a good alternative to Clinton? If you do, then you obviously don't know or care about her voting record, her platform and her ethics.

Obama is still far and away, -as is just about any Democrat who ran this year by the way, (Dodd -my own early favorite-, Richardson, Edwards, etc.)- a better choice for this country.

"NO ONE TELLS YOU HOW TO VOTE"?
I will.

Go ahead and vote for John McCain.

Go ahead and vote against your own economic interests again because you think a man who owns 7 homes and flies around in a jet is more American than a man who doesn't.

How many people do you know own 7 of anything?

I'm telling you what to do, and you'll do it because defying a Democrat who beat Hillary Clinton is more important than changing the course of the country to you. I'm telling you to go ahead and vote for John McCain so you'll keep on getting the America that all small-minded, short-sighted chumps deserve and have been getting for eight painful years.

Sadly, the rest of us can't escape the consequences of your idiotic capitulation.

Thanks for reading our blog.
-SJ