Thinking the almost unthinkable

To me, like most on DU, the idea that any of us would not support the nominee of our party in November seemed almost treasonous. How could any of us walk away from our party after all we’ve been through together? In the last few days I have asked myself what happens if the party walks away from me and what I believe in. I wasn’t baptized a Democrat. I registered as a Democrat when I reached voting age, in spite of having two Republican parents. It wasn’t rebellion. It was the belief that our party stood for a better America. It was the party of fairness, the party of principle and the party of the hopeful future I wanted to be part of. It wasn't the party of pragmatism and political expediency. I have stood and fought for Democratic principles and candidates even when some of our heroes proved less than worthy.

I very much want Barack Obama to be our president. At first it was an acquired taste much like his Democratic opponent has rapidly become an acquired distaste. I have studied him and I believe in him. I have great faith in what he stands for, more faith than I have in a party that would turn its back on the principles that drew me to it. Barack Obama represents the reasons why I chose this party over the party I grew up in. He represents the few remaining things I take pride in as an American.

If the power elite of the Democratic Party overrides the vote of the majority I would see that as the ultimate betrayal of my trust. I would consider it my moral obligation to find another route to restoring integrity to our government. I would never vote for John McCain or anyone professing the failed doctrine that gave us the Bush nightmare. I rather believe I would move on and look for a another way to get us back to the kind of country I once served proudly and defended without reservations. We have Hillary Clinton’s reckless political ambition to thank for life long Democrats like me asking themselves painful questions like this. Quite a legacy, Mrs. Inevitable.

yep.

What the Democrats(obama, obama campaign) did to the Clintons was worse than racism."
name withheld
BC

BenDavid

You come here and make your assertions without backup. The Obama campaign has done nothing to compare to the "kitchen sink" strategy of the Clinton campaign, and you know it.

They painted her up as a racist.

Everyone knows it, but only a few will speak up about it.

Deal with it.

They just slipped too many times publicly since then. They painted that picture themselves and you know it.

But I don't buy into Obama's bullshit....or your's for that matter.

But we don't buy into your bullshit either.

I know the grammar, I'm a professional writer-- I'm a poor typist.

:shrug:

Yes, it's my best shot. Grammar mistakes irk me. But, it wasn't an attack. I'll let you ladies and guys fight it out.

On mine the apostrophe is pretty far from R and S. If you had typed "yourds" or "youres" it would be believable. But your fingers looked for and found that apostrophe.

Not that it's that big of a deal, but it seems like you're protesting a little too much.

and typographical errors due to typing quickly are not confined to simply hitting the adjacent keys.

think of it as a super speed brainfart when your digits are clicking away at 75 words a minute.

"Your's" isn't legitimate under any circumstances, though.

I do it on lots of words that end in an "S" --even when a possesive isn't implied. My finger just goes there.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

A little bit less. You may be a writer, but you're hardly professional if that's the way you respond to criticism. These little battles get more and more ludicrous. To respond with vitriol isn't the smartest move you could make. It just escalates it. Unless you want to escalate it. If so, then more power to you.

You've been here for less than a month, and you're going to try to make a judgement on how I post?


:rofl:



yeah okay --that'll work.

longer than that

sock puppet that got dusted off.

:shrug:

This is my only screen name. I don't have a secret agenda. I just don't post everything that pops into my head. Not to mention the fact that I work long hours where I don't have access to the internet. I'm a "sock puppet" because I pointed out, in jest, that you used an apostrophe incorrectly? That's what I use this screen name for? Seriously?

Oh, and this time you forgot the apostrophe.

and any other shit she throws out there, keep lapping it up...

why they did so. They were for others, including Clinton, before they got to know him.

that she doesn't want to know. But she DOES "know" a bunch of stuff that nobody else knows. :hi:

"Obama is not a Muslim - as far as I know:
"Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in 1984 and 1988"
"White, hardworking voters."

Shall we even get into Rev. Wright?

you haven't got much

and all those things were said by Clinton people.

okay.

Lie #1 --"As far as I know" --was about the fith answer to the same question --she was badgered after having already given a categorical "No" to the question. Anyone would have done the same --thinking the interviewer had some gotcha ready for her.

Lie #2 - attributing Bill Clinton's SC remarks to racism. Even Jesse Jackson thought it was a BS.

Lie #3 - Hillary did not have anything to do with the Wright nonsense. BUT --she had every right (and OBLIGATION) to bring it up as a something that was creating a problem for Obama --and trust me --it will come back 10 times as bad in the fall if Obama is our nominee.

However between Iowa and South Carolina, her campaign's tactics included oblique and direct references to his race (no, not to be racist) but I do think to take advantage of the fact that some people were concerned about voting for a black man, either because of their own racism, or because they were concerned he couldn't win.

My mom for instance told me that one strike against him was that we have relatives that won't vote for a black man but they might vote for Hillary. She voted for Clinton (I'm in CA), I almost went along with that until the runup to the South Carolina primary which made me realize that voting against him because I thought he couldn't win (as a black man), even though I thought he was the best of the candidates remaining, was morally wrong on my part.

When I voted and gave to him despite worrying that a black man couldn't win, I actually felt better about voting than I have in my entire life.

For a couple of years I thought he was a spectacular candidate and the only thing that kept me from going full out for him was that I didn't think he could win because he was black, so I was willing to vote for Hillary. Thank God I didn't allow myself to vote based on that.

My story. Not so simple huh?

but the sum total of her campaign in January absolutely affected my vote.

now you can grow up and try to understand why people change their minds or you can just childishly caricature people like me who have changed our support to Obama as just deciding on the basis of "lies".

i have supported (money or time or both):

Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton again
Al Gore
Wesley Clark
John Kerry
Joe Biden
Barack Obama

Yes, I was a Biden supporter until that didn't go anywhere, then I was going to vote for Hillary and then January happened and I really didn't think she was up to running a winning campaign in the General Election.

Did it affect your vote or not?

You haven't got much either.

I don't take DU seriously any longer.

You can blame Obama all you want however, her discount of african americans for hard working white americans has made any charge stick.

And the polling done in the states where she's won her
recent "great victories" seems to be quite supportive of
*EXACTLY* that idea (and the idea that McCain voters are
voting for Clinton in the primary as a means of disrupting
the Democratic Party).

Tesha

And YOU know it. Deal with it, indeed.

for Hillary, Incompetence was worse than racism.

It has been the organizational skills, the oratory skills, the message of Senator Obama that has put him in the lead in the race FROM DAY ONE! The historic nature of these two strong candidates overshadows the tactical brillance of the Obama campaign in some ways but to overlook this point is to miss in a big way the signs of how Senator Obama will run the general election mode of this contest and how he will operate as Commander-in-Chief.

mike kohr

Harold Ford was fucked over in Tennessee, but Obama has shown the Clintons way more respect than they have deserved, considering the nasty shit they have thrown at him.

This is all a crock of shit. The will of the voters, my ass, if Hillary gave one shit about "the will of the voters", she would have conceded by now. Period.

That failure was all hers and had nothing to do with Senator Obama.

for bring reality into the picture.

Sometimes I think I am in Bosnia hiding out from sniper fire.


Or, in the dining room with the sink coming in my direction. :)

are you blind or just dumb. The Clintons have reaped what they have sown and they are the destructive force.

Fuck them!

Shocked he didn't say black.

Before you walk away from the Democratic party, consider what 4 more years of Republican rule will do to this country. If you live in a safe state, feel free to write in Obama's name, or vote for Cynthia McKinney. If you live in a swing state, consider your vote long and hard.

Of course, I believe the superdelegates will not over-rule the pledged delegates. To do so would spark a backlash that would make 1968 look like a walk in the park. Denver will replace Chicago as the worst convention in history, Hillary Clinton will lose, and the Democratic party will lose its majority in Congress. They are not going to commit political suicide to give Hillary Clinton a chance to run for president.

Why does this sound familiar??

Oh, yeah, Bush. 8 years of the rules not mattering.

The majority vote with the Soviet-style primary in Michigan and without the caucus states. She only gains the "popular vote" with a lot of caveats and asterisks. That dog won't hunt. I am tired of this disingenuous argument coming from Terry McAuliffe, et. al.

states the same thing, I was just agreeing.

November seems so far away sometimes, and how much of this we must wade through.

I agree its been a miserably trying primary, but if everyone must look into themselves to find what is really important, that is worth the effort. I for one don't believe anyone here will look deep within themselves and find McCain gazing back at them.

It seems like everybody has their version of what it should be. Since it is such an inconcise figure we can't use it.

I would never vote GOP, ever. However, if Hillary manages to wrestle the nod from Barack and the party lets her get away with it, I will go third party. Not a threat, just a reality, and I suspect many Democrats will feel equally betrayed. It's hard to imagine that happening, but daily I am reminded of the depth of the Clintons' ruthless ambition.

I'd vote the rest of the Dem ticket.

Will not vote for him.

Hillary.

All I have heard so far are ridiculous statements like, empty suit.

The whole spectacle of national politics becomes irrelevant to me because nothing I can do will matter in particular. I will turn all my energies toward strengthening my local community and fighting the business interests that seek to destroy it.

I will plan on voting for her, but I am moving around that time and it will be at the back of my mind. I could easily miss a registration deadline in my new precinct. I might even forget about the election on the day itself. That's how I see it. It will just be pointless for me to keep reading DU and posting and analyzing and discussing national politics. That was me until 2000 and that's me if the "unthinkable" comes to pass.

...it sounds to me like they would vote for McCain JUST TO MAKE OBAMA LOSE.

Ron Paul makes way more sense than McCain, as an alternative candidate. Voting for McCain is just plain stupid, unless you had ulterior motives.

Ron Paul is going to raise hell. :rofl:

Yes, it is the "ultimate betrayal" if the Dem party elite overrides Obama and installs Hillary.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I've put in time for Dems & fair elections since the 80's. That would end it for me too.

We would have to come together and start something new, never mind how one votes or doesn't vote in November.

It would be OVER, finito, the end. :nuke:

"We have Hillary Clinton’s reckless political ambition to thank for life long Democrats like me asking themselves painful questions like this. Quite a legacy, Mrs. Inevitable."

Quite a legacy indeed.

I don't care which one gets the nomination. I don't have a hatred of either candidate like I have seen in some DU'ers. Who gives a crap which one it is? We just need a Dem in the White House and more seats in the House and Senate. Everyone is so busy fighting over Clinton and Obama, they never even pay attention to the House seats up for grabs this fall. We really need the whole package to get anything done. I don't care who the hell is running. I don't get all mesmerized by Obama like some. I don't get too worked up over anything that Clinton says either. 99% of the accusations thrown by both sides has been a bunch of immature bull crap and rhetoric anyway. We can make either of them conform to what we want them to do regardless of which one gets in, especially if we can actually get the House and Senate to send forth some good legislation and show some spine. I remain hopeful.

:applause:

If by "looking elsewhere" you mean not voting Democratic...

it's probably wise to talk about it "elsewhere" too.

This is DU and whatever I believe, I try to respect the house I'm in.