(Photo Credit: Getty Images; Hillary Clinton speaks in Indianapolis after primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, 5/6/08)Oh, children. I feel you out there. I know you are waiting -- feverishly, breathlessly -- for Roxie's World to weigh in on the crucial question of what Hillary Clinton should do now. Despite the best efforts of Moosians in both states, Clinton barely eked out a victory in Indiana and lost substantially in North Carolina as you know all too well by now. We realize, though the Obamaniacs think we Clintonistas are mathematically challenged (being girls and all), that it is at this point impossible for Clinton to overcome Obama's lead in either the popular vote or the pledged delegates. We would like to point out, however, that an insurmountable lead is not the same thing as a large lead. The latest RCP popular vote spread between Obama and Clinton, even without Florida and Michigan (which Obamaniacs have apparently decided are in another country) is just 2.3%. Bring those two densely populated swing states back into the mix, and the spread is just 0.25%. Even if Hillary were to drop out tomorrow, which we don't expect her to do, the Precious wouldn't exactly take this thing in a landslide, unless you define "landslide" in the terms of Bush/Rove 2000: We won, narrowly and dubiously, by disenfranchising voters who weren't on our side, but, hey, a win's a win.
Note to Obamaniacs: Comments filled with long-winded, condescending explanations of party rules and Obama(th) will be deleted. We are sick and bloody tired of hearing you recite your little talking points about how the state parties violated the rules and the candidates had agreed not to compete in Florida and Michigan. Moose sits in her red chair and mutters that she doesn't give a rat's ass about a bunch of party apparatchiks trapped in a pissing contest over rules and dates and the sacred place of Iowa and New Hampshire on the political calendar. The bottom line is that 2.3 million Democratic votes have been discarded in this process, and we can't figure out why the "Count Every Vote" party is suddenly sounding so much like the party that denies elderly nuns the right to vote because they don't bring identification to the polls. Nuns, people -- Is that where we're headed?
Believe us, darlings, we want to rise with you to the highest levels of high dudgeon and political frustration, but the truth is we need some time to rest up, sort it all out, catch our breaths. The dirty little secret is that at the moment we are a house divided. Goose went downtown this afternoon for an estrogen-fueled Clinton chick trifecta event featuring Hillary, Chelsea, and Clinton mom Dorothy Rodham and still feels there's a fight left to wage. Moose was at the office, feeling surly about an overdue Learning Outcomes Assessment assignment she will have to take care of tomorrow and worrying that the whole gas-tax pander was a major miscalculation on Clinton's part. I'm feeling better, thanks for asking, because three days of antibiotics have taken the edge off my eye infection, but I'm beginning to think it may be time for Clinton and Obama to sit down and broker some kind of deal that will make it possible for everyone to get up on their unity ponies and ride, ride, ride happily toward a Dem victory in November.
2nd Note to Obamaniancs: That whole unity pony thing? It ain't happening unless you all step back from the Hillary hatred and the whole crock of crap about how your guy is the second coming of Che Guevara. Here me again, people: Barack Obama is a centrist Democrat. His health-care proposal will never get us to universal coverage. His opposition to the Iraq war when he was an Illinois state senator was just about as courageous as Moose and Goose heading downtown with their sweet little hand-painted signs declaring, "No blood for oil!" Once he was in the U. S. Senate, he voted to fund the Iraq war and was AWOL on the Kyl-Leiberman vote regarding Iran. Your super-hero guy cannot win in November without the voters (women, workers, Latinos) our evil, pandering, ambitious bitch has been winning throughout the primary season. Cannot. Win. Do you get that, or are you so caught up in the fever of your Obamania that you genuinely believe you can knock off the war hero with more than 20 years in the senate without the broadest possible coalition of left-of-center voters? Do you not get how close a lot of us are to saying, "Good luck with that, kids. You got this far without us, and your contempt for us is palpable. Let's see how much further you can go all by your politically perfect, arrogant selves."
Flame us if you dare. Our pride is wounded, and this race is as close as two ticks on a Texas prairie dog. If we want to win this thing, we have to figure out a way to win it together. That's your homework assignment, class. Comments are due by noon on Friday.
Peace out.
Well done, Roxie. On the gas tax issue, you might be interested in this post, which argues that the late deciders broke decisively for Clinton, suggesting that the gas tax hiatus was in fact a winning argument:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/7/164935/7400
Reading some of the comments on the so-called "liberal" blogs since Tuesday's results came in is pretty interesting. Obama supporters seem angrier than ever with Clinton and her supporters. Instead of savoring their moment of triumph, they're acting like sore winners. You just can't please some people, I guess.
There's a lot of nasty comments on a variety of blogs. It's unfortunate. Obsidian Wings is a good example of a blog where they're maintaining an extremely civil tone. Those who have violated the rules have been called to account--politely but firmly--by the blog owner.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem may be that many Obama supporters feel they *have* won, but of course they can't actually claim that until Clinton bows out. So they're not sore winners--yet, anyway. They're just sore. And on the other side, well, Roxie has aptly expressed the perspective of Clinton supporters.
It's been interesting to note that many of the blogs that are really focused professionally on politics have simply maintained an attitude of academic detachment. Sic Semper Tyrannis supports Clinton but it has been a while since anyone has commented on the primaries. The participants see it as something that's going to happen, one way or another, and they'll analyze it when it does.
For our part, we're trying to avoid the ones where people get really angry and focus on the ones where they have some analysis to offer.
The gas tax holiday was McCain's idea, wasn't it? I never understood why Clinton thought it was a good idea to support it.
ReplyDeleteDearest Roxie,
ReplyDeleteI don't give a damn whether your mother decides to post this comment. I am a proud Obama supporter, but I also know what it is like to have one's back up against a wall that one did not build. In other words, I want nothing more than unity, peace and love to flow from the hearts and minds of ALL Democrats so that the evil, shifty, old-as-dirt, lying-sack-of-crap McCain is not the next U.S. president. On Saturday I am attending a "Register to Vote Rally" believing as I do that the more folks who turn out to vote the harder it will be for the GOP to steal yet another election. That's my commitment to a brighter future for everybody. And BTB, I have never claimed that Barack was the second coming of Jesus or JFK or MLK, and truth be told, I have only minor complaints with Hillary's campaign and NO problems with her as a potential president (as I've said before, I just know too many people who vow to never vote for HRC even if she were the last candidate in the universe). To a better world, Roxie. I'm glad your eyes are feeling better :D
Cheers,
Auntie Faye
On your fatigue -- see Gail Collins, another mention I know, but she's a great writer -- and not entirely pro-Hillary, okay, but she does some very clever shape-shifting in her most recent editorial, transforming the ever-wandering, Olympic Torch into "still carrying a torch" for a marathon-endurance-tested Hillary, which ends like this:
ReplyDelete"[Hillary] seems prepared, if necessary, to pay with her own money for the privilege of making 10 speeches a day, sleeping four hours a night and answering the same questions over and over again. Barack looks so tired that he seems ready to topple, but if you want to be the most powerful elected official on the planet, you ought to be able to outlast a 60-year-old woman.
"Grab that torch and head for Rapid City."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/opinion/08collins.html
RA
Very clever blog. I pop in here now and again to read some dog common sense that humans could benefit from taking to heart. And don't let those Obama freaks get to you -- I'm convinced that all of the Obama maniacs on the Internets are too young to vote.
ReplyDeletePercy's (Irish setter) mom
Welcome to Roxie's World, Percy's mom. Irish setters are an under-represented breed in these parts, so it's good to have you in the pack. Come back anytime! Wish we could believe that the Obamaniacs of the internets were too young to vote, but most of those lefty blogger boyz look well over 18, even if they write, think, and relate like a bunch of poorly socialized 7 year olds (no offense to 7 year olds intended).
ReplyDeleteAnd it's good to see Dudley, RA, and my Auntie Faye back in comments. You'll never get zapped for registering voters and encouraging Dem unity, Auntie Faye. We're all about enfranchisement and peace among progressives. To get there, we're suggesting that those who HAVE participated in the canonization of Obama and the demonization of Clinton need to find another way to do politics. Clinton has gotten very nearly as many votes as Obama has through the primaries. She has to be allowed to exit the race on her own terms and in a manner that assures her supporters that she and they have been treated fairly and with respect. Anything else risks disaster in the fall, and we all want to avoid that.
To get there, we're suggesting that those who HAVE participated in the canonization of Obama and the demonization of Clinton and vice versa need to find another way to do politics.
ReplyDeleteFixed, and with that fix, amen!
Point taken, Master Dudley -- and with that I see you have also resumed your role of providing adult supervision in Roxie's World. ;-) Thank dog for that!
ReplyDeleteHow do you spell "mature, calm, thoughtful adult supervision"? B-E-A-G-L-E!
ReplyDelete