The Last Straw

[filkertom]

Okay.

I have said before that I would vote for the Democratic nominee for president this November, come what may, because I truly believe that any of the Dem candidates would make a better president than any of the Republican candidates. The primary season bore this out for me.

I still had problems with a few of the candidates. Some serious. And, since John Edwards dropped out of the race, I've been keeping my thoughts on the matter open, because, hey. I couldn't vote again until November, and I figured I would not donate any money until a candidate had been pretty much settled upon.

But.

Today, Hillary Clinton said this:

I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know that Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.

Never mind her experience vs. Obama's vs. McCain's. This is what you call a Joe Lieberman moment. This is the kind of thing that makes me absolutely bugfuck insane when a Democrat says it.

Quit shooting at our fucking team, Hillary, your fucking team. You're playing the point-scoring game, trying to snipe away at Obama because Horrors! he might beat you, and this is the way you think you can prevent that? That's quick and easy, short-term profit. Look at our economy currently to see what quick and easy short-term profit does. It comes back to bite you in the ass, in a big way and over the long term.

Barack Obama is not a perfect candidate. Well, actually, he's really close to a perfect candidate; whether he'll be a good president is another matter. I have my doubts, and I have my hopes.

But, Clinton, you have just shown me, again, that you do not have the judgment to do the job. Because you are desperately trying to stay in a race you fear you will lose, by undercutting your rival. So that, if he does win, he will be weakened in a way that the opposing team can use against him. This may in fact prevent what is supposed to be your team's victory. You are grandstanding.

I didn't want to take a side yet... but I have. I'm still voting Democratic in the general... but I am not happy with one of my potential choices. I don't want John "Dubya II" McCain... but, at last, I don't want Hillary Clinton, either.

As of tonight, I'm an Obama man.

Comments

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Hillary Clinton scares me spitless.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Clinton would be a bad president.

HUCKABEE scares me spitless!

[herminia.livejournal.com]

In the last few weeks, I've really lost all respect for Mrs. Clinton as well. I don't begrudge her staying in the race despite her losses (that's up to her, I suppose), but she's desperate and flailing and it's not pretty. It not helping.

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

After a statement like that, I frankly wouldn't put it past her to sabotage Obama (if he's nominated) as much as she thinks she can get away with, on the theory that she'll be in a better position in 2012 against a Republican incumbent.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

I keep saying Hillary Clniton is a Democrat in name only....

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she's so caught up in playing politics that I will never be willing to support her. It is too bad that she can't actually think about something besides herself.

[ericcoleman]

I've been there for a few weeks now. She made the snarky comment about Obama working out of the Karl Rove playbook, when it has been her who has been doing that for months now.

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

IAWTC.

[skalja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that seals the deal for me, I think, even though I'm in the same boat voting-wise as you. (Well, obviously, since we live in the same town.)

It's sort of sad how I've basically been picking my Dems based on elimination. *sighs, waves sad little Mike Gravel flag*

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

The way I see it, they're all on equal footing when it comes to determining experience with the Presidency. See, none of them have been the President. They've all been Senators. They've seen the Presidency from the other side of the desk in the Oval Office. Hillary was First Lady, which means she still doesn't know what it truly meant to be the President. There were things she was not cleared to know, things that Bill couldn't have told her, and there were things that he could not have communicated even if he did try to explain.

Now, one thing Obama hasn't built up as much experience being is a Washington Beltline insider. Tactics like this? Oh, they show Hillary has plenty of experience being one of those.

I'm actually pleased with my choice. For once, for the first time in years, I get to vote for someone, not just against someone.

[scruffycritter.livejournal.com]

I said something along the same lines weeks ago here:

http://scruffycritter.livejournal.com/448851.html

She's playing scorched earth. Forget who's the best choice. She wants the nomination and will backtrack from anything she said to get it if it doesn't help her...and it typifies why I have been hesitant to support her. She's done this in the Senate too (see her stance on Iraq and FlagBurning).

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I was for Obama from the start; Manny knows him personally and admires him. But Clinton lost my "she's good too, just not as good" opinion when she played the turban photo for terrorist connotations.

[sethb.livejournal.com]

Do you think you could get word to someone in Obama's campaign to stop spamming? (They hired Blue State Digital to handle their web site and email, and BSD is spamming any email address they get, including ones used to complain about them spamming.)

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

For me it was the whole "plagiarism" kerfluffle last week. I know what plagiarism is. Many of my students do not. And now, thanks to Clinton, even fewer of my incoming students will have a clue.

I'll still vote for her in the general, if needed. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[underpope.livejournal.com]

I confess that I became an Obama man a few weeks ago after reading that Jonathan Coulton supported him. This whole scene is starting to remind me of the Lieberman/Dean implosion of 2004, except that Obama seems to have the decency to stay above that sort of thing. Clinton's going berzerk, but I have yet to see Obama responding in kind -- although, granted, I haven't been paying attention, because, you know, politicians.

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

I have immense respect for you. For your musical talent and your ability to say what's in my head (but I lack the eloquence to state it so clearly).

Thank you.

[aota.livejournal.com]

Things are getting very weird. I hope things get worked out soon so we can get the party united and working to win this year. I hate all this sniping.

[wingedbard.livejournal.com]

What I've noticed that no one wants to say about Clinton is that as far as first person experience in elected office, she has exactly as much as Obama. On the other hand, her experience in the White House is by virtue of sleeping with the guy who lived there. By this measure, we could just as well be voting for Monica Lewinski, who may very well have picked up a few ideas on politics while waiting in the closet for Arafat to leave.

Maybe it's just me.

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

Heh.

[mannoftalent.livejournal.com]

CNN has a delegate count slider, which I've been experimenting with, and at this point, even if every race was a dead tie, which it won't be because Obama will dominate in states like South Carolina, Mississippi and Indiana, Hillary won't be able to take the lead. I predict that Howard Dean and the DNC will start pressuring her to drop out, after the dust settles tomorrow.

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

Even if she gets to pull Michigan and Florida out of her ass at the last moment? That's comforting.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Looks like there's one Democrat left in the race for President.

(headdesk)

The amazing thing is, I am 100% convinced that, if Clinton were to succeed in ruthlessly wresting the nomination for herself by whatever means necessary, she would immediately roll over and let the Republicans and their media lickspittles destroy her in the general election without returning a blow. Just like Kerry. She has her gracious concession speech already written and would rather eat glass than break it out before November, for reasons only beltway insiders know for sure.

I hope to God my theory doesn't have to be tested. Heck, I'm half expecting the "America for Clinton" party to appear any minute.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Obama has actually laid some very heavy slams on Clinton (http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304) as well. He's considerably more subtle than Hilary Clinton, who I think can be excused for being unhappy at seeing a great dream slip through her hands.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Interesting. The site you link to seems quite consistently pro-Clinton from the titles of the other articles mentioned, so the question is, to what degree does its partisanship compromise its integrity? It seems clear that in this context no secondary source can be considered absolutely trustworthy, and all information not gained first-hand must be regarded as potentially dis.

Also, is it strange that I'm actually tempted by the advert offering a two-volume set of Debates on the Constitution for $5.95?

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of what we (at Vandy) used to say about Pete Maravich (at LSU) when I was in college: "He's the kind of guy who has a 50-point night while his team loses by 6 points."

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

She actually has less legislative experience than Obama. Shhh...

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

When winning, even against other people on one's own side, is more important than doing the right thing, then one has ceased to deserve to win. Aaron Sorkin taught us that, if we didn't know it already.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but I think in that case we might as well just throw in the towel and ask for the UK to take us back.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I have to say, Tom, you've been a lot more tolerant than I've been. I was suspicious of Clinton a lot earlier, when she dodged and ducked the question of her vote to invade Iraq. If she had presented any reasonable excuse, even a faulty one, I would have accepted her as a desireable also-ran.

She didn't learn the great lesson from her husband's failure; avoiding and obscuring a question asked of you is not a preferable substitute for an outright lie.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

As I say, I've had problems with some of the candidates, and that right there is two or three of the biggest: Sen. Clinton's original vote, her tortured justification at the time, and her equally tortured explanations later. Many Dem senators did get railroaded into it, however, and, again, I think that even she is preferable to any of the Repubs running for president. So I've let it go by for awhile.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

I don't know what makes you think Obama has the judgment. And he's been dissing progressives. I think...I think Obama just as ruthless as any pol, and may be even more destructive of party unity; he just talks pretty. But whether or not that's so, neither candidate is a progressive.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I didn't say I think he does have the judgment. I said I'm pretty sure at this point Sen. Clinton doesn't.

Sen. Obama's jabs at progressives and willingness to work with Republicans bother me immensely. Americans want some damn change, want government to actually work for them. And the policies of the Repubs have been shown, at last, conclusively, to be utter failures, top to bottom. They are wrong on pretty much everything, and they have broken the country. He shouldn't be offering to work with them; he should be telling them to come join the vast majority of us before it's too late.

(If this comment gets more than a few replies, which I suspect it might, I'll branch off into a new thread. :)

[janmagic.livejournal.com]

i first learned about obama from a sister in law who had been following him. i regret that she died before she saw obama run for president. she would have been so excited.. as i started to follow obama, after all he is my state senator, i was impressed over and over with how he made good on any mis-understanding, mis-step. I hope it will be over and decided by wednesday.

[wayward-va.livejournal.com]

I have two problems with Obama. One is his lack of experience. Hillary has a similar problem so that's a strike on both of them.

The bigger problem I have is that he seems to want to 'reach out' to Republicans. To be a 'post partisan' leader. He wants to make nice. Haven't Democrats been 'reaching out' to Republicans for the last 20 or 30 years? It has gotten this country exactly nowhere. Maybe things needed to be pulled back from the left in 1969, back from the overreach of The Great Society, but that was 30 years ago. The political debate in the US has been yanked so far to the right that _torture_ becomes a debatable issue. WTF??!

Reaching out is only a viable strategy for governing when both sides meet in the middle. At this point 'reaching out' would meet somewhere between the right and the far-right. We need elected officials who will pull the political debate back toward the center where it belongs. There will be a time for making nice, but this is not it.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Obama's lack of experience in national politics is a problem. But he does have a fair amount in local politics; I'm willing to give anybody who's actually successfully done something a shot.

"Reaching out": I just mentioned that above. Yeah, the making-nice this works great when you're not doing it with someone who's trying to shiv you in the back, bad-mouth your mother, steal the money in the mattress, and call you a wimp for letting it happen to you.

And the "center" is far too vague a concept. At this point, I am very much in favor of ditching the whole concept. There are policies which work in the public and national interest, and those which work against them. And it's not hard at all to see which are which.