The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, assured that Obama would widen his lead in pledged delegates over Clinton, providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign. He also increased his lead in the popular vote in winning North Carolina by more than 200,000 votes.
1735 vs 1602 in pledged delegates. Check out those calculators.
The most important aspect, more than numbers and calculators, is how this struggle is dividing the Democratic voters. Look at the vehemence and unkindness of the comments in my previous post. This race has been important for America but it is now over. Vastly more people support one candidate. The discussion of the candidacy has become divisive. We're squabbling while our political opposites are consolidating their support. We need unity in order to clarify and promote our ideals to the greater voting public and win in the fall.
12 comments:
And we'll have a Unity Pony and EEEEVERYONE will be happy and there will be peace and love and joy and sparklies.
I'm pretty sure it'll be a unity unicorn, not a pony. That may just be WRN clouding my thinking though.
Chuckles, while I entirely agree with you, I think the rallying cry of unity needs to come from Hillary supporters. Otherwise it vaguely smells of gloating. Best for the party would be Hillary calling it quits, but that could also have the adverse affect of disenfranchising some of her more conservative supporters, who still want to jump on a sinking ship, and might not connect with Obama.
No, the problem with Obama's campaign is that it's an extremely narrow one with a campaign engine that is entirely optimized for running against Hillary's campaign. That was very clever, but it's not optimized to run through the general.
Donna Brazile implying that blue-collar workers are no longer required for the Democratic coalition rankles in this nonalcohol-drinking old-fashioned champaign socialist mind.
It's things like that that have driven me into the Anyone But Obama (And McCain) camp. Hillary schmillary, at least she didn't poison the discourse like that.
Enjoy the sparkles on your Unity Pony as it gets trampled by the McCain stampede.
AG doesn't see venom, or whatever you coined it, below. What I saw was you not waiting to see what happened yesterday in IN and NC. I would have been happy to discuss that Obama is going to win the nomination today, but the post in question was not put up then.
Then mdh attacked me and you failed to respond to my second question. Oh and BP wanted to bet. BP always wants to bet. No venom from him.
I love how a Hillary supporter uses venom, but when it's an Obama supporter -- it's a righteous dude or whatever it is that you think they are, whatever it is -- it's positive. (Maybe you aren't talking about me, at which point I will retract my comments, but I can wait to be told otherwise and do any commenting then.)
I love that we don't talk about the guys who protested outside of Hillary's campaign speech in Philadelphia for Obama. Or the jerks in the flat bed outside of UPENN disrupting those of us waiting to get inside to hear her speak on 21 April. That was a lot more than venom. That is the group that really needs to be addressed, UC. I won't consider them gloaters -- I will consider them less sheep like.
The Hillary supporters are concerned about Obama and that is our right. However, most of us said that we'd vote for him if he addresses some of our concerns. And he should, given what he said and did to PA voters. I mean he didn't even stick around for the after party -- leaving before the votes on 22 April were counted for IN. That was really dis. Soccer moms and AGs are people too and we deserve to be treated with some respect. Frankly, all I saw in PA was him trying to buy my vote and when I put out the message it wasn't for sale -- he dropped his wallet, gave me the finger, and moved on. What makes me think it's not going to be an issue in the White House.
Furthermore, you were the one who got all swear word crazy below. Not AG.
In the end, all I initially asked was to wait until we saw what happened in IN and NC and to talk about why Hillary was hanging on despite some of the challenges ahead of her.
Nobody wanted to discuss that with civility. Instead I was talked at by mdh and you dismissed me.
Frankly, I have more thoughts but I won't go there. Attack away if you want. I am sure you will. You posted something without seeing what happened yesterday because if she had won NC, your tune might be slightly different. I know mine would be.
Good luck to Obama. I will go back to loving my former US Senator (and still because I own property in NY). And that cutie, Chelsea.
Again, if your comments were not against me personally, then I will retract my statements.
You know the primaries have been going on too long when Chelsea starts to look good.
AG, did I point any fingers at you? NO. I did not single out anyone in my post. We are all being torn apart by this.
In all fairness, I agree with UC in that calls for unity that require the opposing candidate to step down ring rather false. Unfortunately, things look rather grim for one candidate and it is my opinion that the country and party would be best served if Clinton stepped down.
AG, do you think maybe we could have a discussion where you don't automatically assume that every disagreement with your opinion is a personal attack? You are not the only victim here.
Hillary's pretty low on my list of preferred Democratic candidates for a number of reasons. She's too conservative. She strikes me as a technocrat, not a leader (i.e., a Cabinet secretary, not a President). I am deeply concerned about the impact on our democracy of an 8th straight election in which a member of one of two families has been on the ticket as president or vice-president.
That's not to say Obama's a perfect candidate and I would still vote for her if she's the candidate, even if it was somewhat grudgingly. For better or worse, though, we're doing the Republican party's work for it. At some point, and I think we're there, Clinton has to acknowledge the odds are stacked against her and accept that continued primary battles are dragging us toward a McCain presidency.
Our entire views of campaigns are colored by how we view them through the media and through blogs. This is not how a vast majority of the country views the campaigns. I think none of can be objective on these issues. My worst fear is that Obama loses simply because he is black, end of story. I just can't tell how possible that is. I just can't trust anyone or anything reporting on the campaign.
I agree with both Snag and Pinko Punko.
Wait, except about the cabinet secretary thing. I honestly don't know enough about those positions and Senator Clinton to have an informed opinion about it. I do, however, think that Richardson would make a great VP because of his diplomatic experience. That experience would come in handy in Congress and in foreign relations.
There are always going to be cobags in anyone's campaign. You can't judge a whole group of supporters by the bad apples. Both candidates have made it clear that they will support the nominee 100% against McCain. We should be doing the same.
At this point, I don't see the problem with running out the last few primaries. Obama is going to win the nomination -- Clinton did a very nice job fighting back, but it's too little too late. Electability, momentum, all that shit doesn't matter. More people chose Obama, and there's very little chance that Clinton can win the last few contests so commandingly to close the gap. Obama knows it and he's already started talking as if he's the nominee. So they may as well let the process run out and say it's in the name of giving everyone a voice in the nomination.
The hatred on both sides toward the other is really perplexing to me. These candidates are probably 85% in agreement on their platforms. I am an Obama supporter, but if their positions were reversed, I'd be prepared to support Clinton. I'm with Snag in that I'd like to see someone from another family in power, which is one of the reasons I like Obama. But the bottom line is I think we have two decent, competent candidates who are much better than electing a man who sold his previously Bush-loathing soul for a chance to be the Republican nominee.
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