go Hil, go!
I am of an age and gender than can't help it but to feel our heart's a-flutter at the thought of a woman President. and if not Hillary, then who?
I expect that in a dozen years we may have a dozen possible female candidates for the Presidency but I'm not willing to wait that long.
while I dislike the "I'm tested, I'm ready" slogan of the Clinton campaign (sounds too much like Rudy G. - shudders), I do believe Hillary to be practical and pragmatic - characteristics that will allow her to work with the Congress (which may or may not be in Democrat hands during her tenure) and reach a consensus. politics are not pretty, a sentiment spoused by Otto von Bismark over a century ago - "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made" - and the process of creating legislation requires the ability to give and take, to compromise, and to not be painted into a corner. Pragmatism is underestimated and it doesnt' appeal to the idealist in all of us, but is good to remember that the current idiot-in-chief is in his own way an idealist, unwilling to let facts and figures interfere with his vision of what is right for the middle East. lo' knows a bit of conciliation and pragmatism would have been very welcome during this administration.
I admit that I don't get Barack Obama. my first reaction to him speaking several months ago was along the lines of "I dont' trust what he's selling" - and I still dont'. hell, I don't even know what he's selling. "hope, future, hopehopehope, change, tomorrow, hopechange, changehope..." lately Barack's speeches are becoming more substantial; mainly because he is lifting them chapter and verse from the playbook of the late, lamented campaign of John Edwards.
I don't like to even think this, but it seems that this picture of Michelle Obama is reflective of the fervor that many Obama supporters have towards their man.
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I for one don't want a charismatic leader, I don't want a hero, I don't want a great person as President. I want what this country desperately needs: a competent person who can roll up her sleeves and get. to. work.
Comments
I still have negative feelings about Hil's motives, though. Crap, everyone's motives.
Yes, I am getting old and paranoid and cynical.
I am still not making up my mind who to vote for. Must...gather...more...info.
I totally dug on Barack's keynote address a few years ago but that does not qualify him to be the preznit. Didn't the people "elect" W because he was more charismatic than Al Gore? Well Al Gore's Beard! Look who's the charismatic one now!
I honestly believe that Hillary would make a better president than Barack. I also believe that Edwards or Kucinich would have been better than Hillary. But what can you do? Besides, those rabid Obama supporters must be leftover browncoats. They're cool and I'll support them too, but they're just a little too enthusiastic. They're wacky enough they might even put off the evangelicals!
Like Lauri said, I don't know who to vote for either. If the election was tomorrow, it would probably be Hillary. But every once in awhile I'm not sure she can handle the job effectively either. I'd be more impressed with her "35 years of experience" if some of that experience included being the head of some kind of state government ( like mayor, or governor, you know? ) Some of the people I talk to here at work, say she's starting to seem less credible lately --- she's starting to come slightly unraveled while Obama's seeming to appear more together.
I don't know much about politics --- all I want is a GREAT president in office who will get our country back to where it needs to be and MORE --- somebody who can clean up all the mistakes that have been made by frickin' Bush and his peaople and the people before him.
I have found reasons to not vote for all the other candidates.
I voted Clinton this time and I will again, if given the chance.
Mr. Obama is not what I call "presidential" and while I'm nothing but a Hillbilly's daughter, I do come from a pack of Hillbillies who love following politics. Along with all my arty shit at uni, I took law and Poli/Sci courses. My brother's degree is PS. I'm saying I've been paying attention, is all, and I prefer Mrs. Clinton.
Like Val, my double-X chromosomes appreciated some approbation, too.
Obama may need to spend more time in Congress, to show us what he can really DO before he is made president.
And, I, too, say, whichever, we need to swing away from the Republicans for awhile. I was all for small government, and fiscal conservativeness and responsibility, but it doesn't seem like that is what they are about anymore, not for a long time.
Until they stop representing intolerance, and can find ways to get along with much of the rest of the world, I want someone else in charge!!!
Because Hillary ain't it. EVERY poll shows her doing worse against McCain than Obama. She has literally ZERO support beyond the base of the Democratic Party.
Now, the "play-only-to-the-base" style of politics worked for Karl Rove and Bush, but it's just not going to cut it for Hillary. If the Dems want to win in November, they will need the support of the independents and new voters that Obama is attracting in droves. We will need to win those swing states like Missouri, Iowa, and Colorado-- that all went red for Bush last time-- if we want to take the presidency.
Let's look at some hard numbers. From a new Rasmussen Poll in Colorado, which, after going red in 2000 and 2004, is definitely in play in 2008:
Now, Obama's negatives will doubtless rise. But there really is no contest with Clinton. McCain's emergence as the GOP candidate makes Clinton a disastrous pick for the Democrats.
The Republicans are practically BEGGING us to nominate Hillary-- she is the one person that can unite the slowly disintegrating Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh is actually thinking about holding a fundraiser FOR Hillary-- not because he likes her, but because he wants her to be the nominee against McCain:
All those disaffected conservatives-- that dont like McCain, and might otherwise sit this one out-- will come flocking to the polls to deny Hillary the Presidency.
I dont understand how democrats dont see this. It's just a fact. Think about the big picture.
This is the thing that was scaring me about Hilary, Lenny.
However, I have heard how much Rush Limbaugh hates McCain, too. Which makes me feel better about McCain. :P
It still worries me that America has become too closeminded to elect either a woman OR a non-white president. I sure hope I'm wrong. But that little worry keeps nagging at me.
I'm just going to keep saying it. UNITY TICKET is the only winner*. Ideally a Clinton/Obama ticket, because in 2016 Obama will have the experience he lacks now to run for Prez. (Which means Bill will have to lay low and let Obama shine in the VP slot for 8 years.)
*Oh, and people in the Hillary or Obama camps who say they won't vote for the other in the general election deserve to have their teeth broken out with a tire iron. I have a tire iron.
lenny, interesting stats. again, Colorado being a red-state the last two elections, is not representative of the country at large. and I'm not sure what high negatives actaully mean. considering we are now having record-breaking numbers of voters during the primaries and still barely reaching 50% of the eligible population, I'd suspect that many potential voters are planning to stay home.
val, mad-tante, in the end is what you say: vote your conscience as (luckily) we live in a country where we dont' have to answer to noone else but ourselves.
Love and peace, or else!!!
A unity ticket faces much the same problem that Hillary alone faces-- people will be galvanized to turn out to defeat her.
Further, the base of the democratic party-- the voters that are going for Hillary-- will definitely vote for Barack Obama. There's no way that those democrats in the always blues states of NY, CA. MA, NJ, etc will go for a Republican. However, as i mentioned before, the independents, when given a choice between Hillary and McCain, break for McCain. When the match up is Obama vs. McCain, they go for Obama. And that means that a whole bunch of states that were not in play 4 or 8 years ago will this time be competitive. We need to expand the playing field beyond the west and the northeast, and that is where Obama is winning. It's simple math: If the democrats want to end Republican control of the Executive Branch, Obama is our best chance. He has the potential of winning in a landslide.
Hillary and her campaign say that Obama is "untested" because he's never faced a serious campaign or challenger-- i suppose that beating Rick Lazio and that guy in 2006 that no one remembers because he was a nobody is Hillary's definition of a serious challenger? If Obama can organize and manage a national campaign, and draw more votes, more states, more delegates, and more money than the establishment Clinton machine-- who the republicans have never beaten, i'm pretty sure he can hold his own against any Republican.
Not trying to "herd dog" you or anyone else pyrit. I was just trying to appeal to your and others' reason with some real numbers and factual analysis here.
Facts are facts. I dont think Hillary deserves the hatred of half of America, but she has it, and i think that calculation should enter into peoples' minds as they assess how best to take the White House back from the Republicans.
If the base is all you have, we. will. not. win. Do you disagree?
Also-- the progressives that talk about the hatred of Hillary do so not because they are "happy to pass along the sentiment"; they, like myself, do it to urge fellow democrats to think about what is most important: winning in November.
(And, my new-mother friend's fertility doctor said she had no chance.)
If one keeps saying, "Half the country hates Hillary", as if repeating it will make it true, sounds like biased, inappropriate data dredging.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
and by the way-- a year ago, when Giuliani numbers were up, Hillary's negative were just as high as they are now.
Do you really doubt the divisiveness of Hillary Clinton? Do you think its some sort of media creation?
I know many many people that will vote for Obama over McCain, but will vote for McCain over Obama. People in my family.
Will you vote for McCain, if Obama gets the nomination instead of Hillary? I doubt it.
I know many many people that will vote for Obama over McCain, but will vote for McCain over Clinton.
Hezbollah, Israel, Iran - it's such a twisting, tangled mess. I trust Hillary to attempt to make sense of this, more than anybody else. It's why I voted for her (I live in California).
If it comes to an Obama v. McCain election I will vote for Obama, but I won't be happy.
Incidentally, in a recent speech, Barack talked about 'the young' - there was an almost indecipherable pause - and 'the young at heart'. It made me feel like a granny with flowers in her hair.
I would love to have a woman in the White House. But I want her to be in the White House because she's the best person for the job. Not just because she's a woman. That's why this campaign bothers me. There are going to be a lot of people voting for (or against) the shape of the candidates' chromosomes or the color of their skin. And NOT for the quality of their character or their positions on the issues.
However, I also believe that, whoever is elected, be it Obama or McCain or Hillary, the country is not going to fall apart. Someone in another thread pointed out that, in the spectrum of world politics, Republican and Democrat are so close to being the same that you can't even tell them apart.
People would do well to remember that and not resort to divisive, partisan, fear-mongering.
More people have already voted for Hillary in the primaries than have voted for McCain.
And almost more than have voted for Republicans in total.
Polls, quite honestly, are garbage.
(Remember the one showing Obama taking California by double digits?)
Nor McCain, for that matter.
And that Zogby poll in CA was an outlier-- the SurveyUSA poll on Feb 1 nailed the outcome to the number.
In the case of presidential match-up polls, when there are numerous polls over many weeks (or in the case of Hillary's negative ratings, months) showing similar results, that's a trend. That cannot be dismissed as "garbage".
Clinton and her campaign knows this, and as the New York Times reports, is prepared to do whatever it takes to win-- no matter what:
Do you have any idea what will happen to the Democratic Party if she does this?
I enjoy a bit of political divination and subjective validation as much as the next guy, but I'm still voting for Hillary.
By the way, data dredging, is gathering facts, but not gathering all the facts, or more critically, leaving out important facts.
Yes, YGRS, Bush really lowered the standard. The US really does need a great president, quick.