How do we stop the "self-fulfilling prophecy"?
Here's what's really been bugging me over the last few weeks (or is it months now?).
I know Hillary is sincere in thinking she is the stronger candidate.
I'm sure Tanya Harding was sincere in thinking she was the better skater.
But when Tanya decided to "help" the world see this by planning a debilitating attack on Nancy Kerrigan, the world cried "foul"!
Can you imagine if people's reaction had been: "Wow! She's a real fighter! You've got to respect that!"?
I cannot imagine that.
Hillary has lost the race. But by not conceding--by continuing to state that she's the stronger candidate--she continues to deepen the divisions she sparked by appealing to identity politics in the first place. And the longer she does this, the more she will see "evidence" that she is right.
She really is like Tanya Harding. She takes her sledgehammer to Barack's knee and then says: "See? He's limping! How is he gonna beat McCain in November?"
How do we stop this? We need to win in November. I don't give a darn that Hillary wants to be president. She had her shot and she lost. How long will the party allow this to continue? Can anyone stop her?
I do not want to live in her world of perpetual drama, victimization and polarization. Somebody please make it stop!
The only way this is going to end is by giving the Clintons the "slient treatment". Ignore, ignore, ignore. Obama shouldn't take their phone calls for a week or two - and should freeze staff negotiations. Make her supporters afraid that the Obama train is leaving ... with or without them.
TPM could help by not regurgitating everything her surrogates spew on their conference calls under the ElectionCentral byline ... but that seems a bit much to hope for.
June 4, 2008 2:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. It takes energy to maintain a political fervor. Most of the people who voted for Hillary will not be able to keep up that energy for more than a few weeks. Most of the "loyal" donors will go to where the power lies: Obama.
Obama is now the leader of the Democratic Party.
As each second ticks by, Hillary's power evaporates more as the laws of group dynamics sinks in.
Time is the great enemy for the Clintons right now.
June 4, 2008 3:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I'm ready to throw my lot in with 'ignore' ...
Obama won.
I'll have no more to say about Hillary, her husband, or her campaign.
June 4, 2008 5:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Someone like Gore needs to publicly take her to the woodshed.
June 4, 2008 2:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Pelosi, Dean, Reid and Gore could all call her out publicly but it wouldn't stop her. She'd cry victim.
Ignoring her probably is the best method, but she makes it so damn hard. It's difficult for me to watch her damage the party without saying something.
June 4, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
It really pisses you off, doesn't it, that Obama has limped to his victory after all these months, and couldn't even win both of the final two contests. I hope Hillary is Obama's VP choice if only to hear all the screaming from all the spoiled brats out there who couldn't even manage a gracious word in victory. You are probably a member of the millennium generation born after 1985 that is used to getting everything they want handed to them. And if you are older than that, it certainly doesn't show.
June 4, 2008 2:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Otto F, I realize you're just a troll without the cajones to write your own post, but STFU. If you've got the clackers to reply to this comment, know that you're dealing with a middle-aged guy, not some young person. And what's up with your hatred of youth, anyway? You're entirely too envious of those who still have working sexual organs, despite the fact that you seem to be such an appendage.
Quit your whining. Your candidate lost. Surely you know what it's like to be a loser by now?
June 4, 2008 3:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow Otto. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! If Tanya won the silver medal and Nancy won the gold, I guess you'd think it was Tanya's night and that Nancy was ungracious for not defering? That's just so twisted!
June 4, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh! And by the way, I was born in 1964 and am a minority (but non-black) woman. And you're still twisted.
June 4, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've been thinking something similar about the "he can't really change anything in DC" comment we hear a lot, as if Obama is Jimmy Carter Jr. That, too, could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The way we counter it? WE HELP HIM CHANGE DC. If the American constituency stays on top of our representatives and senators, then things WILL change. But it's not something HE can do alone; it's something WE have to do.
Same thing with the "vote for McCain" crowd. We keep it from being a self-fulfilling prophecy by:
1) Being as gracious as we can with Clinton supporters--especially in real life.
2) Behave ourselves and be positive when wearing Obama T-shirts or buttons, or driving a car w/an Obama bumper sticker or magnet.
3) Call people on the lies IMMEDIATELY, and hopefully with as much good humor as we can muster. If someone says he's a Muslim, laugh as if they were being sarcastic and say, "Can you believe that some people still believe that? You'd think they would check out Snopes.com or FactCheck.org, huh? So what do you think is the best thing our new president can enact in January?" Etc.
4) Call the press on their lies more directly: "You are mistaken. I expect more from my media representatives."
5) Join Obama's get-out-the-vote effort.
6) Continue to donate.
June 4, 2008 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reality is pissing you off now Otto F, be sure to stay on those meds and get your resumes out there.
June 4, 2008 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink