I'm ready to make peace, but...
on Friday afternoon, at our local pool, a Clinton supporter mistook my "NEVERRRRR!!!!! I hold a grudge!!!!!" (imitation of seven year old son's war-like cry) a the mention of the Obama Clinton ticket for a policy statement on the Obama campaign. She didn't seem to realize that I was not acting in all seriousness as an Obama spokesperson so she admonished me with, "You should be generous in victory." At that point, I realized that we had reached a level of absurdity I could only match with more mock attitude. "I only aspire to the Roman virtues: of COURSE I am generous in victory."
At which point she turned to her friend and said, "You see, that's what I mean about those Obama supporters. If she had won and we criticized him, they would call us racist."
I lost my good humor and sputtered something about "specious arguments."
The next day, watching Clinton's concession speech, tears came to my eyes as she urged her followers to give their full support to Obama. But I'm chastened by the poolside encounter: some of them are so angry that there will be no reconciliation on their part unless "we typical Obama supporters" or Obama himself concede that both sides have played equally dirty during the past six months...and this concession would be simply untrue.
I've read many of the responses to Clinton's speech and all I can say to her supporters is, "listen to your leader," if you can...she is showing character in confronting the situation honestly and without Mark Penn's help!
At which point she turned to her friend and said, "You see, that's what I mean about those Obama supporters. If she had won and we criticized him, they would call us racist."
I lost my good humor and sputtered something about "specious arguments."
The next day, watching Clinton's concession speech, tears came to my eyes as she urged her followers to give their full support to Obama. But I'm chastened by the poolside encounter: some of them are so angry that there will be no reconciliation on their part unless "we typical Obama supporters" or Obama himself concede that both sides have played equally dirty during the past six months...and this concession would be simply untrue.
I've read many of the responses to Clinton's speech and all I can say to her supporters is, "listen to your leader," if you can...she is showing character in confronting the situation honestly and without Mark Penn's help!
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Wow. What a surprise they took your "NEVERRRRR!!!!! I hold a grudge!!!!!" so badly.
June 9, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
How darling of you to think that they wanted something more than the absence of your vitriolic sarcasm. Maybe you should have just given them a paper cut and poured lemon juice in it, and THEN lectured them on the virtues of unity.
June 9, 2008 1:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
;-)
I cringe every time I see that `Thank God, Hillary's dead` title - and it's still in the recommended column...
I think it important that no-one recommend posts that have aggressive to Hillary titles. Best if no-one write those sort of posts, but at least keep the title neutral.
I just rewatched Obama's pep talk to his staff.
It IS so crucial that we win in November. Nobody should be doing anything that could in any way undermine it.
June 9, 2008 4:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
And you should "listen to your leader" also. Or should have been for the last 4 months.
June 9, 2008 7:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I feel your pain, Catherine. I got the "your guy won, be gracious and shut up" response from a colleague on a political debate list when I repeated a point from NPR, that it would be better if Obama not seem to be strong-armed into offering Clinton the VP slot.
It's as if, with some people, ANYTHING we say is invalidated because we supported Obama from the start.
I can't tell if you were smiling or using a "hah hah" voice when you made your "NEVERRRR" comment--but I would suggest that, should you feel the need to repeat it, you be VERY clear on that point. I'm doing my darndest as well.
Thus I do agree with Fran about not recommending anti-Hillary posts. No points for "Hillary is dead" or the pottery barn piece.
June 9, 2008 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, one reason we see it differently is that you ignore and deny the role your candidate's campaign played in roiling controversy.
Perhaps you might read this article which gives a different perspective and for once don't read it saying wrong, wrong, wrong and discounting every criticism of your guy. Clinton supporters are capable of criticizing her, but that is an ability I have yet to see from the Obama camp.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/05/obama-clinton-vote-usa-media
June 9, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I thought Obama's performance at the Pennsylvania debates sucked, he is perhaps dangerously prone to compromise and his commitment to getting private contractors out of Iraq is weaker than I would like. Is that enough criticism of Obama???? Or do I have dig deeper???
"NEVERRRR!!!!!" uttered in a false pirate voice, by a woman with wet hair, a 7 year old in tow and burdened by two pool bags should not be mistaken for a policy position, but I see that the wounds are too fresh for this to be taken in.
I praised Clinton's speech, admitted to being deeply moved by it in the post and I will repeat that I thought it was a great moment in the campaign, atttributable to her show of character, but this is STILL not enough for those who "see it differently" --
I find that the differences between Axelrod and McAuliffe and company were too stark to be ignored, so I do judge the candidates by the company they keep.
Let me say this, some of my best friends are Clinton supporters. I care about their feelings. If I am bantering with a virtual stranger in a semi-public setting, I am less apt to be compassionate. How about that for self-critique. Now it's your turn. Oregon Activist!
June 9, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now it's your turn.
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I'll take that challenge and I'll just do it by linking. I don't have to start now after Hillary has lost.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/how-will-clinton-answer-this-q.php
Read my post in the midst of the controversy, not after the contest was over. And it wasn't the only time I was honest enough to admit my candidate made an error. The vast majority of the obama supporters here have never admitted the Obama campaign or their candidate did a single thing wrong.
Look Caliu, there are still people on this site calling Hillary unethical and calculating because she was the only one who left her name on the MI ballot. Even now after the contest is over. There were at least 50 threads during the contest spreading that lie and insult. I responded at least a dozen times with links proving that Dodd, Kucinich, and Gravel also left their names on the ballot. I included the statement issued by Dodd explaining why he left his name on the ballot. Not once did a single person say they were mistaken. But they sure were quick to repeat the same lie and insults in another thread.
This is just one of many times when obama supporters were unwilling to admit a single flaw in their candidate and used lies to slime mine. You think you can make jokes about this battle now? I don't see the humor.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/09/michigan.primary/index.html
While Dodd's campaign is "committed to the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire going first," Dodd will not withdraw from the ballot, said Dodd's communications director Hari Sevugan.
"It does not benefit any of us, if we are the nominee, to pull our name off the ballot and slight Michigan voters," Sevugan said.
June 9, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
And are the Clinton supporters willing to endorse the continued use of the "race card" in all ensuing discussions? Will I have to hear the Harriet Christians accuse me (an Asian-American) of a hair trigger like susceptibility to being a hysteric about this?
I never mentioned race, I only imitated pirates...
June 9, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suppose it's getting into my thick skull how deeply disappointed people are by the Clinton campaign's concession/defeat.
I'm not speaking for the Obama supporters unwilling to"admit a single flaw in their candidate," but at this point, if we are going to engage in self-criticism, we should make it constructive so that it can make progressive/dems stronger.
I do believe that the Clinton campaign was run on the razor thin edge of what is for me ethically acceptable behavior. It reminded me all too sharply of Bill's terms in office. And while I am sure that Hillary is a true progressive, why did she have to drink the DLC's and McAuliffe's Kool-Aid?
June 9, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink