While watching the results come in from North Carolina and Indiana last night, I was struck by a sinking feeling that I had not felt since Iowa. With the polls showing a tightening race in North Carolina and a possible 5 point win by Clinton in Indiana, the actual results were disappointing. And in my gut, I realized that my candidate would probably not win the nomination. I am not ruling it out and I am not rescinding my support, but the path to victory is looking mighty dim right now. Perhaps I had gotten too used to Hillary pulling it out, winning when the chips were down and her back was against the wall. I was expecting another New Hampshire, another Ohio, another Pennsylvania. It's too bad that's not what we saw.
With this sinking feeling came a second realization, that Barack Obama would most likely be the democratic candidate come November. And here's my dark secret that I feel the need to confess to you now: I kind of hope he loses.
I know the differences between Obama and Clinton are small compared to the differences with McCain, and I know this sounds like "sour grapes," but deep down (and by 'deep down' I really mean simmering just below the surface) I hope Obama loses, to justify my support for Clinton, to legitimize Clinton's continuing her campaign when Obama supporters we calling for her to quit week after week after week. There has been an aura of smugness about the Obama campaign for some time now. But that coupled with the constant accusations of "old style politics" and the condescending dismissal of the 15 million Clinton voters by the media and Obama's supporters and surrogates has given birth to this dark secret that I am confessing now. I'm sure that my genuine belief that Obama will lose against McCain and my honest opinion that Clinton is the democrats' best chance to win the White House had something to do with it as well, but whatever the source of this deep dark desire, I can't ignore it, and unfortunately for the democrats, come November, I suspect that a big chunk of Clinton supporters won't be able to either.
6 comments:
Obama'a ties to so many nefarious individuals is quite alarming. And what about his multiple false statements just over the course of this campaign?
http://777denny.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/does-barack-obama-have-trouble-telling-the-truth-there-are-67-reasons-why-you-should-ask/
At least with John McCain, we pretty much know what he is all about, and that he will stick pretty much to what he has said (yes, like virtuously all politicians, he may shift postitions somewhat on some things) he will do. Hillary Clinton has told us what she will do. But Barack Obama has told us only SOME thing he will do, and has put the rest of his agenda coutched in "change" rhetoric shock full with vagaries and platitudes of "hope." If his associations over the past 25 years are any indication of who he really is beyond his lofty magniloquence, America could be headed for dire consequences from enemies who may surely test him (think China, Russia, Iran) militarily or othyerwise.
McCain and Hillary are friends, with the Bill stating that if Hillary and McCain were the nominees come November, there would be a civil and respectful matchup. But Obama has played what I would consider to be a myriad of cold, calculated dirty tricks and deceptive campaigning already against John McCain AND Hillary Clinton.
I would politely ask that if Clinton does not win the Democratic nomination, that you would seriously consider joining me, along with other Democrats, Independents and Republicans, in supporting John McCain this fall. You can always go with Hillary in four years from now, if that is what you want.
Thanks for listening.
777denny you sound like a raciest.
I remember when I was a youngster and the kid who had the ball would say, if you don't let me play I'll take my ball and go home.
Hillary is and elites along with being a liar. Do you really think she cares about you, the working class, Hispanics or African Americans? NO! She wants your vote at any cost. She cares about herself and not the Democratic party. Her ego/ambition only wants to be the first female president by any means necessary.
I would never vote for McCain even if Hillary were the nominee. I see you would cut off your nose to spite your face. Pitiful......
If Obma is our nominee, I will be registering as a Republican the very next day, and I will vigorously campaign against Senator Obama. I CAN NOT in good conscience vote for this man, and I will do anything I can to punish the DNC for their long list of biased actions against Senator Clinton! There is only one thing that will prevent me from doing this, and it is if Senator Clinton is on that ticket.
Seems like a great idea! Both Hillary and McCain want to go to war with Iran, so if that's what you're into (i assume you are as a rabid Hillary supporter) then McCain should be a fine choice for you.
Could it be that you really just don't want to be wrong? For so long the chief Clinton argument has been that Obama can't win. So what if he does win? What if he wins big? What if he wins bigger than Bill Clinton ever won? It means that this was always wrong. She was always wrong. And perhaps you were always wrong.
I've supported Obama pretty much from the beginning and my present feelings about Hillary could not be much worse. Hillary supporters tend to forget that most of Obama's supporters over the age of 30 were Clinton supporters first and in fact are attracted to Obama because he reminds us of the old Bill Clinton--minus the drama.
I, personally, have been guilty of saying I would vote for McCain rather than Hillary. But that just isn't true. The key person in that decision is Justice John Paul Stevens. I want him to be able to retire--if he wants--without fearing for how his seat would be filled. And if the now 72year old Scalia retires in the next 8 years, I want his replacement to be selected by a democrat--any democrat. McCain's recent remarks concerning his intent to fill the nation's highest court with more Robertses and Alitos will deter defections from the left. There is really nothing terribly "moderate" about McCain at the present. The straight talk express ran out of steam as soon as it started tasting the possibility for success.
One thing I always want to ask Hillary supporters is who they voted for in the 1992 primary. So was it Bill? I'm interested.
With the sting of defeat slowly passing, I must admit that I'm not ruling out supporting Obama--just the ball is in his court. If he's the nominee, then he must realize that he has to convince all the Hillary supporters that he's open to them, that he wants their vote. I don't think that 30% of Hillary supporters will go to McCain as the exit polls suggest. But I don't think Obama can assume that Hillary voters, like me, will flock to him.
Agathax, if Obama wins the general election handidly, then I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. I've always beleived that Hillary was the stronger candidate, but if Obama pulls it out, then I'll be proven wrong and he'll be proven to be a much stronger and more capable candidate than I assumed. I only hope that if he doesn't win, that we don't hear calls of racism, accusations that "America wasn't ready" or anything of the like. America's ready, that was never the issue, the issue has always been whether he was.
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