A FRIEND'S RESPONSE TO -
“THE MCCAIN EXPERIENCE MYTH- WEDNESDAY AUGUST 27, 2008”
AND TO
"MEMO TO HILLARY HOLDOUTS WHEN RUDY AGREES WITH YOU ITS TIME TO GET OVER IT" -MONDAY AUGUST 25, 2008
MY FRIEND WRITES
Thanks for the heads-up. Good job. I was curious and glanced at McCain's Senate website. I imagine he might say that simply being in the senate for as long as he's been, he picks up foreign policy experience. You can see lots of trips abroad he's made, speeches he's given that might suggest he has studied up on foreign affairs. But I think ultimately you're right in that his main claim to foreign policy expertise is that he fought in a war, was imprisoned and tortured. Good credentials in anyone's book. Re: Your Hillary/Rudy entry. I have to admit I had a little consciousness raising by my sister in law, who absolutely will vote for Obama with no hesitation, was one of those Hillary supporters who loved the idea of a major-party candidate who was a woman, that their time had come, that whether or not Obama did anything wrong, the fact remains that this upstart with no experience and just a lot of charisma, pushed her out of the way without paying any dues whatsoever, and anyway, it was their turn. Not to mention an absolutely unshakeable belief that Hillary got a raw deal from the media while Barak had a free ride. She was furious that anyone would question the appropriateness, for example, of Hillary supporters insisting on a roll call vote to demonstrate the wide support she had garnered. I say all of this just to say it brought home the depth of feeling that Clinton supporters brought to the convention and to this moment. Which only leads me to say that (a) my personal reaction to the H.C. supporters was the same as yours ("get over it!"), but (b) I have come to believe that the moment requires more sensitivity to their feelings. So if you send any more messages to your wide and ever-growing audience, I might suggest gentler tools of persuasion. It drives me crazy that somewhere close to 20% of H.C. supporters say they'll either vote for McCain or at least not vote for Obama (I forget which). To tell the truth, I think Hillary herself really came through at the convention, and said best what we all want to say to her supporters: Did you vote for me, or do you care about that woman without health insurance, that returned Iraq veteran needing services? O.k., that's my two cents. D
MY RESPONSE
Constructive criticism appreciated and duly noted - but I think I disagree. Although I accept the criticism that I might be too aggressive and strident and should probably calm down.
My feeling is that this election is a war to get the country back from violent fundamentalists who lost the election and responded by seizing power in a bloodless coup and have set the US on a disastrous downward spiral.
Hillary had one thing she needed to do - make sure that there is unity and no voting block of pissed off supporters for the Republicans to go after and she just did not do that. It was an obviously great speech but she talked mostly about her own achievements and was not as enthusiastic about Obama as Bill was. For Hillary to go into the convention talking about people voting their conscience instead of urging her supporters to unite around Obama to get these bastards out was unacceptable.
Instead her self centered speech convinced me more than ever that there is too much day light between the trajectory of her own career and doing the right thing - i.e. her cynical vote for the war. I even have my doubts about the strength of her support for Roe if her career plans conflicted. After her speech it was very clear that letting the Clintons near the White House would make them media magnets and a side show of implied second guessing. It would have been a disaster. Would I feel this way if the Obama and Hillary roles had been reversed - probably not.
Did you happen to catch Geraldine Ferarro on NPR today praising McCain's VP choice and refusing to say who she is voting for. Ferraro, who was forced out of the Hillary campaign leadership when she refused to back down from her comment that Obama is where he is because he is black has now morphed into a living metaphor for the politics of self centered snits. In her case it's a purely racist, self centered snit.
The fact that people who supported Hillary could now vote for McCain reveals that they were not in it because of values shared with the rest of the Democratic party.
Sorry to be so unrepentant
Love Bob
D RESPONDS
This could go on forever, but just a few responses. STOP - I started writing a whole long response and then stopped. You think she was self-centered and didn't do what she needed to do. I think we could not have hoped for much better, and I listened carefully to that speech expecting the worst and really being surprised at the effectiveness of the unity message. You're turning me into a Hillary defender - you say there's no position she wouldn't change if it would help her career, but told me I was off base when I complained that Obama was modifying virtually every decent view he had earlier espoused (in order to help his career). Last point, I actually think that her career interest was best served by making the strongest possible plea for unity. To the extent she failed to do that, and could be perceived of as a divisive force within the party, I think it would not help her career at all.
Vive la difference. D
