Posted by
Logical Party on Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:00:00 PM
Just as one can pass laws against prejudice yet can’t control how people think, every sound bite, stage show, and gimmickry can be pursued to create an image of the Clintons supporting Obama and having party uniting; it still will not change how Hillary’s supporters will vote.
One first has to ask why Hillary seemingly walked away so easily after the primary season. Was something promised? I can’t believe Mrs. Clinton walked away quietly into the night with nothing in hand, 50% of the primary vote and resentment over a nomination that should have been hers. A mere primetime convention speaking engagement is not enough.
Thus we have phase one of “the negotiation” (in lieu of a better term) on behalf Hillary’s campaign in demanding a roll call vote. We have chants of “Hillary can still win.” Mrs. Clinton is calling for a strong role to play and respect for her supporters during the convention. Bill is damning with faint praise Obama’s readiness for the Presidency. Seeing a fractured party is not in Barack’s best interest.
He will try to hedge Hillary supporters with “trial balloons” of an Evan Bayh selection, someone Mrs. Clinton considered as her number two. He will beseech Hillary’s endorsers to campaign on his behalf, like Mayor Rendell of Pennsylvania or Senator Schumer of New York. These ploys will fall on deaf ears to Hillary’s clan. Even Hillary’s lukewarm, sporadic pleas cannot maintain her supporter’s resentment.
Obama is currently in a statistical dead heat in the polls and shrinking. If he chooses to go the “non Hillary” route, he is placing a lot of weight on his debate performance against a candidate most Americans trust more, is more experienced and feel more capable of handling foreign affairs.
He has an uphill fight trying to hold onto a group of his party that polls show a possible 35% will bolt to McCain, when a modest 10% slippage (1.8 million votes) will be a death knell. His liberal base might object, but they have nowhere else to turn; they definitely won’t vote McCain.
Barack is looking at a campaign season trying to recapture Clinton supporters when he should be claiming new voters in Red States and independents all around. Meanwhile Bill and Hillary will be out there spreading the message of “We Think He Can” while calculating strategies for 2012.
Obama might want to wish this away, but it’s best he come to terms with the fact he is not the unanimous selection. The other half of the vote, the ones he needs, lies elsewhere; the ones he needs to convince by only one method, otherwise he might see his Presidential aspirations fade like a dream. His choice couldn’t be clearer.
David DiBello