If many of you are like me, You know a person or two that claim to be life long Democrats that are now voting republican.  Most of them use the claim of “I don’t like the way that Hillary was treated” or “We don’t know enough about Obama” or “Rev. Wright, blah, blah, blah.”

Working for a group that raises money for the DNC I hear these things on the phone a few times during the day and have developed a few strategies and talking points to combat them.  You can use them too.

Here is the Cliff’s Notes of a conversation I had with a Woman from New York

Woman: “I’ve been waiting for someone from the democrats to call.  Me and my husband and a bunch of our friend are democrats and we be voting for McCain because the way the media treated Hillary and the DNC never said anything about it.”

Me: “Are you guys lifetime democrats or was it this exciting primary that brought you into the fold”

Woman: “Life time democrats.  We just hated the way the media did Hillary.  And we won’t support the DNC because they didn’t do anything about it.  I don’t have a problem with Obama, I just don’t think he’s as good as Hillary and they beat up on her so.”

Me: “I hear you, on that.  The media was brutally unfair to Hillary.  Don’t you think it might have looked like Howard Dean and the DNC was taking sides for one candidate or the other if he went and stuck up for Hillary.  Kind of like a refferee in a game saying that he had a favorite player on the team.”

Woman:  “It might have but something needed to be done.  The media was so sexist.

Me: “They were sexist and mean.  Talking about her neckline and her laugh.  But Let me ask you if Howard Dean came in and told them to stop being mean to Hillary who is running for the highest office in the land, don’t you think that would have looked like he was ‘sticking up for the girl that can’t stick up for her self’” The republicans would have had a field day with that!”

Woman:  “Well, I don’t know.  It might of but you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”  

Me: (smelling blood) “You say you’re a life long democrat.  Why?”

Woman:  “The first vote I ever cast was for George McGovern”

Me: “G. Mac!”

Woman:  (Woman Laughs) “Yeah, I even campaigned for him.  I don’t see myself campaigning for anybody this year. (Sighs, growing resolved) Hillary should have been the Democratic nominee she earned it.”

Me:  “Again, why are you a democrat.  What are the principles that the party holds that you find true to your heart.”

Woman:  “I never really thought about it, I don’t know”

Me: “Well do you want to end the war in Iraq, that’s costing 10 billion dollars a month”

Woman: “Yeah”

Me: “Do you want to have affordable healthcare for all citizens of this country.”

Woman:  “Yeah”

Me: “Do you want to an economic system that reward it’s citizens who work hard, and ask those citizens who make a great deal of money because of the opportunities of this country to give their fair share back to those who helped them build it.”

Woman: Yeah!

Me: “Are you for a woman’s right to choose and be in control of her reproductive body”

Woman: “Of course”

Me:  “Then, why in the world would you vote for John McCain?

Woman:  (wavering) I don’t know, I mean, I’m just a little hurt… and I guess, You know who knows what I’ll do when I’m in the voting booth.  A lot of my friends are voting for him. Plus the democratic congress will keep McCain from getting his judges.

Me: Alito was approved during a Democratic Congress, Plus, Judges are not obligated to answer questions about their policies or beliefs during the hearings, only their rulings.

Woman: Oh, I, wow, I didn’t know that.

Me: (set up)You said you’re for ending the war and bringing the troops back home right?

Woman:  “Well, Yeah.”

Me: (Going for the Kill) “You know what, I’m not going to tell you who to vote for and who not to vote for, that’s your own decision as an adult.  But If you’re for ending the war and you vote for John McCain, Every single soldier that dies in Iraq after he’s inaugurated will be on you and all the other Democrats that voted for McCain because they were angry or hurt or spiteful.  Any life long democrat who is against this war that votes for john McCain should look in the newspaper ever time they report the name of a US troop dying needlessly in Iraq, should look in the mirror and say ‘I could have prevented that’ Isn’t that what Hillary wanted?”

Woman (silent for about 30 seconds)  I guess, you know, I don’t know what my friends or my husband will do but, yeah, wow I guess I have to, I won’t like it, but I’ll vote for Obama.

We continued talking and she ended up giving a quite sizable donation to the DNC.