« The Principled Pragmatism of Barack Obama, and Why It Matters | akbarjenkins's Blog | The Right plans to bludgeon Obama with the "Global Poverty Act" »
On the ground in NC, post-primary
My wife and I recently returned to Gastonia, NC, due to a medical emergency. We hadn't been back since Christmas, and in the meantime we had implored every single soul we knew through countless emails and phone calls to register to vote, change parties, and vote for Barack Obama. For our trouble, we got a wonderful victory from what is in my opinion the finest state in the Union.
Since coming back, we have been struck by the unanimous view that Obama must pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Everyone seems to consider this the only way that he can win, putting his supporters with hers and reassuring workaday white voters. It seems to be taken for granted that this is the best strategy. Now, my family is made up of real salt of the earth, Harley-driving, factory-working type people, and many of them supported Obama in large part because they despise Bill and Hillary. So to hear such resounding support for an Obama-Clinton ticket coming from them was a real shock.
My stepsister, for instance, lists her political views as "Democratic Party" on Facebook. That was a grand surprise for me, because I had always figured her politics were straight Christian conservative and had never really tried to pry into the issue to find out. I guess being a working-class single mom of two in Gastonia teaches you not to put too much stock in the status quo. She hates Bush, likes Obama, and thinks Clinton as veep would be the best way to go. It makes me wonder how all these rank-and-file Democrats will feel if Obama passes over Clinton to pick some truly unknown quantity, like Zinni, Clark, Webb, Sebelius and so on. Maybe they will go along with the media narrative and forget about Hillary. In any case, I have not understood until now what a strong pull the Clinton brand name has on folks, just because of the built-in strength of its familiarity.
After talking to friends and family in Gastonia, I find myself wishing that Bill and Hillary wouldn't bring so much destructive baggage to the ticket. I wish she hadn't said all those things about Obama. I wish more than ever that Bill wasn't an uncontrollable lech, and that he didn't have all these shady business dealings on the side. I honestly can't see Obama picking her as VP, unless he really feels like he's in trouble and needs to shore up the base. And that's a shame, because there is a segment of voters out there who view Obama-Clinton as an unstoppable force.
Since coming back, we have been struck by the unanimous view that Obama must pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Everyone seems to consider this the only way that he can win, putting his supporters with hers and reassuring workaday white voters. It seems to be taken for granted that this is the best strategy. Now, my family is made up of real salt of the earth, Harley-driving, factory-working type people, and many of them supported Obama in large part because they despise Bill and Hillary. So to hear such resounding support for an Obama-Clinton ticket coming from them was a real shock.
My stepsister, for instance, lists her political views as "Democratic Party" on Facebook. That was a grand surprise for me, because I had always figured her politics were straight Christian conservative and had never really tried to pry into the issue to find out. I guess being a working-class single mom of two in Gastonia teaches you not to put too much stock in the status quo. She hates Bush, likes Obama, and thinks Clinton as veep would be the best way to go. It makes me wonder how all these rank-and-file Democrats will feel if Obama passes over Clinton to pick some truly unknown quantity, like Zinni, Clark, Webb, Sebelius and so on. Maybe they will go along with the media narrative and forget about Hillary. In any case, I have not understood until now what a strong pull the Clinton brand name has on folks, just because of the built-in strength of its familiarity.
After talking to friends and family in Gastonia, I find myself wishing that Bill and Hillary wouldn't bring so much destructive baggage to the ticket. I wish she hadn't said all those things about Obama. I wish more than ever that Bill wasn't an uncontrollable lech, and that he didn't have all these shady business dealings on the side. I honestly can't see Obama picking her as VP, unless he really feels like he's in trouble and needs to shore up the base. And that's a shame, because there is a segment of voters out there who view Obama-Clinton as an unstoppable force.
Advertisement
Don't worry. Unfortunately, Hillary and Bill bring terrifying baggage to the ticket. There's a compelling reason why the right wing still so desperately wants her on the ticket in any way they can get her. My personal hunch is that in addition to the past scandals they are ready to unleash, there are new things. The Clintons have not been vetted for 8 years. So reviled by the right wing that they won't need to hold fundraisers.
And then there's everything they said about Obama on the campaign trail, all on tape. And her undisciplined, rumor-mongering, pissed off staff and entourage.
Because Democratic voters chose between two Democrats has absolutely nothing to do with choosing between the Democrat and the Republican. Absolutely nothing. Besides, Hillary won't just be fighting her trumped up sexism that allegedly cost her the nomination -- she'll be fighting the real thing against the Republican machine. And then it becomes Obama's problem, too. That would be just swell.
If HIllary were on the ticket, she would be a shadow president, unable to work within the disciplined, low drama atmosphere which has been one of the keys to Obama's success. He doesn't have time to be on distraction control. And just because the press NEVER discussed Hillary and Bill's "black problem" that they themselves created, is there a chance there are some black voters who will stay home with Hillary on the ticket?
This myth that 18M voters are Hillary's to use as a monolithic club is ridiculous. Because there are some very viral, vocal "feminists" ready to vote for McCain makes me question what kind of feminists they really are. And this is coming from a 58 year old, white female and a feminist.
The party is coalescing. Obama's doing a great job at defining McCain (which so far hasn't been hard). But he'll have enough trouble fighting the lies on Fox News, the vicious swiftboating. He doesn't need Bill on the campaign trail going off the rails, and Hillary questioned about a policy position of Barack's and defining it in her smarmy non-answer that speaks volumes of her disdain. She honed that to an art form during the primaries.
Hillary will not be the VP. And by August, Obama will have such an excellent explanation for the person he chose, Democrats will readily see the wisdom of his choice. It will be someone who will not just play like it's a team, but believe in the team. It will be a synergy and chemistry we've never seen before.
Trust me. Don't worry.
June 12, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for your comments. I'm not too worried. I have been basically dumbstruck by the coolness of Obama's political instincts so far, so I figure he will find a sure way out of this quandary. Still, to people who don't know too much about the dirty particulars of Bill and Hillary, Obama-Clinton seems like the all-too-obvious solution. We call them "low-information voters," like it's some kind of exception, but I think the "high-information" crowd makes up an extremely small portion of the overall electorate.
Certainly, the veep thing is the least of Obama's problems. He has an opportunity to show good judgment -- beyond that, all that matters is that he not pick someone who will actually cause problems. As much as I love Webb, I worry that his past would become a distraction. And the Clintons would provide one distraction after another -- their whole mutual career has been an unending series of sideshows, which obviously goes against Obama's "no drama" policy.
The allure of the Dream Ticket, in the end, is that we could lock down this election right now. If we just put Obama and Clinton together, we slay John McCain and party til November. It has always been a beautiful fantasy, and it's hard not to want that when apparently quite a few people really do want it too.
June 12, 2008 12:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Trust me, too. Don't worry.
June 12, 2008 12:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great response, 57andFemale.
I too took one look at that 22-21 and thought, yes but that's before the GOP's had a field day with her.
For me the continuing great tragedy of the primary wasn't just how she brought Obama down, but also how the right wing attack machines all concentrated their attacks on Obama, aided and abetted by Hillary, and it gave such an incredibly distorted impression of Hillary's ability to win the general.
June 12, 2008 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
If someone had told me that Hillary Clinton was super "electable" a year or two ago, I would have laughed till my sides split. This myth is undoubtedly one of those weird pieces of conventional wisdom that somehow got implanted into the national consciousness. Still, once something like this gets stuck in the public mind, it's hard to get unlodged, and it almost takes on a realness of its own -- people think Hillary is electable, thus she is.
("We are only what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be," said Kurt Vonnegut.)
June 12, 2008 12:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think this just represents the lack of imagination in the public at this point. It's not their fault, really, it's because the media has framed the issue as if it's Hillary or nothing. (Hillary or Farrakhan for veep? Vote in Lou Dobbs on-line poll!)
Once they start to realize the wonderful choices out there, I think people will broaden their minds.
June 12, 2008 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you're right... names like Schweitzer and Sebelius means less than nothing to my folks right now. Hopefully the whole idea of a "rollout" of an unfamiliar candidate will buy Obama a week or two of positive press time.
June 12, 2008 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Having just moved to North Carolina from California recently, I agree it is a fine place to live.
I would have voted for Hillary Clinton for President if she was our nominee. I do not think she is the best option for President or Vice President.
We do not have to invite the hatred that will be brought on with her on the ticket.
This state is in play. I worked for Senator Obamas' campaign in his primary contest and there was very much excitement everywhere.
With the voter registration and all the new voters and the deflation of the Republican balloon, Yes we will!
June 12, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
What part of the state have you moved to, if you don't mind my asking? I too have been really encouraged by the surprising level of support Obama enjoys here so far - even with people being fairly well aware of the Wright affair already. My friends and relatives are hurting so badly from this economy that even the good Reverend isn't enough to scare them back into the arms of the GOP.
June 12, 2008 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Akbar, Obama seems to be polling really well right now without anyone named as the VP. (Understanding, of course, that we're still far away from Election Day.) But this tells me that he doesn't need Clinton on the ticket. I think at this point, his concern should not be who on the ticket can help him, but rather who might hurt him. (See Bobby Jindal headline on the front page.) And I'm one of those who believes Clinton would only hurt him by energizing the right, and bringing new ethical questions to the campaign -- which Obama knows is a problem and has pointed out that he has a severe vetting process.
That said, I think and hope that by the time Obama does announce his VP choice, this strong desire for Clinton on the ticket will have had enough time to wane or disappear. We're still too close to her concession. As time passes, thoughts of her being involved will fade, as they already have for many.
June 12, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Akbar, maybe Gastonia which is a small city wants HRC, but I don't see that as the widespread sentiment in NC. I think that NC is in place more without HRC on the ticket. Whereas I'm not opposed to having HRC on the ticket, I believe there are other choices who would be as strong or stronger. I place Mark Warner in this category and I also thought that he had great chemistry with Tim Kaine.
Hillary is a strong candidate that ran a dysfunctional campaign. Her biggest negative is that she is a strong candidate who very much wants to be president...now.
June 12, 2008 7:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm from the coast of NC, which unfortunately went for Hillary Clinton. Lots of older, (dare I say) white folks - very conservative. Lots of "transplants", still older and...well...set in their ways.
But I also understand the rest of my fine state. While the Obama supporters were outnumbered in May in my coastal county, friends in the technological Triangle and the MANY military districts (some just a few miles from the coast) voted Obama.
We will be blue in November. And we will be proud.
June 12, 2008 10:41 PM | Reply | Permalink