Obama supporters OK with Hillary, but not the other way around
I just saw some early exit polls in Mississippi and the number of people who voted for Hillary who are not OK with Obama is astonishing. I don't know if this has changed recently or if it has always been that way. In either case, i believe that the main reason for this is the way each candidate is running their campaign. Hillary's more aggresive stratergy has caused the party to be strongly divided among the candidates. Obama's constant respect for Hillary has caused people who are in favor of him winning the nomination to be OK with Hillary winning the nomination--or at least more so than the other way around. Among many things, i do think that this is a clear indication of what Hillary intends to do if she becomes president: maintain the divisions that are already in place in America. She has the same attitude Bush has in terms of creating and maintaining a unilateral presidency. It is about winning(.) In contrast, Obama's way of running his campaign--trying to get the party's nomination, while keeping a strong and united party--is a clear indication of what he will do as president of the United States. He will acknowledge that he is commander in chief, but will understand that a United States of America is better for everyone than a Divided States of America.
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I think we will be better able to make educated assumptions on what these numbers mean after seeing the demographic breakdown and the actual questions asked.
I also believe it would be better for us to not discuss these races as if they are homogeneous. The state politics of Mississippi are not the same as Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania or any other state.
March 11, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guess which demographic is likely Hillary, and what color they are.
March 11, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
uh actually you are totally wrong. If you think Obama has been running a clean campaign then you haven't been paying attention because the only thing I have heard out of their mouths are the same old recycled lies of the repugs - the clintons are liars, they are dishonest, they would do anything to win, they stole stuff when they left the white house, they are devisive, Hillary 's failed healthcare plan but then in the same breath saying she had no real role as first lady and Michelle Obama publicly saying she wouldn't vote for Hillary if she were the nominee. Those are all personal attacks that have nothing to do with substance.
I thought I would be able to support either candidate but it is clear that the democratic party is closely divided on these two nominees and no one is going to be perceived as the legitimate winner with all the shenanigans and popular vote vs caucus junk stuff that has happened not to mention trying to resolve this Florida /michigan stuff. And who is standing in the way of a joint ticket? Not HIllary but rather the guy that says he is going to bring the country back together. He can't even make the call to repair the democratic party. Obama certainly won't win if he tries to go it alone and Hillary will have a tougher time too if they do not join forces because someone is going to be left mad.
Nope if Obama won't make it a joint ticket then say hello to president McCain in 2008. Your call.
March 11, 2008 9:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm pretty much in agreement with you there, though I'm not sure that Obama is entirely to blame for the Clinton hatred expressed by so many of his online supporters. Still, I don't see him doing a lot to tamp it down.
When this thing first started out, I would have been happy with either candidate (I was an Edwards supporter at the outset). But as the campaign progressed, I have become unhappy with Obama to the point that I really find myself debating whether I will be able to vote for him on election day, or whether to register my complete disgust by staying home.
And it's nothing coming out of the Clinton campaign that is prompting me to feel that way. It's all from Obama: the "Harry and Louise" flyer and the misleading attacks on Sen. Clinton's health care plan; the unfair and misleading attacks on Paul Krugman on his campaign web site for daring to criticize Obama's own approach to health care; the condescending remarks and sneering looks on his face directed to Sen. Clinton in several debates, the praise of Ronald Reagan, the dissing of the Clinton presidency and the whole baby boom generation -- it's a long list. Every time I cool down and tell myself, "OK, I'm going to make an effort to try to like this guy," something comes out of his campaign that sets me off again.
That's not to say he has lost me completely, but at the moment, I am feeling that his campaign has pushed me and others like me into the ditch. If he wants my support, I am going to have to hear him saying things that make me feel he really is on my side and that he wants to be MY president. Otherwise, for the first time since I turned 18, I may end up sitting out a presidential election.
To be fair, that's not exactly what Michelle Obama said; I believe it was more along the lines that she would have to think about whether to support Hillary Clinton as the nominee. I don't know just how much different that is, or why she might think it's OK for someone seeking the party's nomination to have to consider whether to support the party's eventual nominee, but that's a moot point, because she backpedalled from even that after there was some mild flap about it.
I don't see a joint ticket working. Obama and Clinton have completely different styles, and frankly, I don't see that either one of them would be content to play second fiddle to the other.
March 12, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
bornagain wrote:
Nope if Obama won't make it a joint ticket then say hello to president McCain in 2008. Your call.
Shenanigans and the popular vote vs caucus junk?????? You are aware that Bill Clinton won caucuses in his '92 campaign, right?
I don't remember hearing any grumbling about them being unfair back then, did you? In fact, I don't remember hearing any Democratic candidate complain about the caucus system until Queen Hillary!
Obama is leading the popular vote, the delegate count, and number of states won, and Hillary is offering him the bottom of the ticket????? That's laughable!!
March 11, 2008 10:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"the clintons are liars, they are dishonest, they would do anything to win, they stole stuff when they left the white house, they are devisive, Hillary 's failed healthcare plan but then in the same breath saying she had no real role as first lady"--bornagaindem
Hey, bornagaindem, do you have any quotes? I would love to know when Obama made all of these direct personal attacks on Hillary. I'm not saying that you won't find them...well, yeah, you won't find them. You will probably find Obama talk about the way she went about implementing her healthcare plan, but to say that this has "nothing to do with substance" is ridiculous and i'll tell you why. It is actually related to your other point,
" And who is standing in the way of a joint ticket? Not HIllary but rather the guy that says he is going to bring the country back together. He can't even make the call to repair the democratic party. Obama certainly won't win if he tries to go it alone and Hillary will have a tougher time too if they do not join forces because someone is going to be left mad."
I don't even know where to start. First, He would not need to be worried about repairing the democratic party if it wasn't for Hillary breaking it up in the first place. Second, in regards to the earlier point, There is another thing from the first quote that you will find Obama talk about: How divisive Hillary is (which i've never heard her say that she is not, by the way--she acknowledges that her goal is to do Bush in Reverse, "republicans have had ideas...but they have all been bad ones." this does not sound like a president who will be willing to collaborate in order get things done), and this is an extremely substantive issue because Obama is the candidate who has based his campaign on bringing people together. How can you expect Obama to want to be on the same ticket with someone who time after time demonstrates that she represents the politics of the past? The same divisive politics that is responsible for the state in which America finds itself today?
March 11, 2008 10:05 PM | Reply | Permalink