Barack gets some good play in here at the Kos.
And I agree with 90% of the positive comments that undergird his support.
Hillary, on the other hand, generally takes a beating in here. And I agree with 90% of the venom that is spewed about her. I am a Republican after all...disdain for the Clinton's come rather easy.
But Barack has got to take some responsibility for some of his own "stuff" or Hillary will win this thing. And Barack will risk losing the support of Independents and disenfranchised Republicans like myself.
I just want to mention 2 things he could do:
Trust me, I'm really on his side!
Stop Whining
God, as Republicans, we hate that. Yes, Hillary plays unfairly. Yes, she is a monster. She can play victim and hunt you down and kill you like a lion would a wounded wildebeest at the same time. Yes, she can say people should vote for her because she is breaking the "highest and hardest" glass ceiling, essentially playing the gender card, and you can not do likewise. We must almost believe that you don't even know you're black for us to vote for you. This is all unfair.
So what?
What are you going to do about it?
How much do you want this thing?
What's your response? Hopefully better than this memo sent out by the Obama campain today:
The Clinton campaign has publicly admitted that the only way they can still win this election is by tearing Barack Obama down. They have called their attacks the "kitchen sink strategy," and Senator Clinton herself has referred to it as "the fun part" of the campaign. The result has been a constant barrage of attacks about Senator Obama’s record that they know full well aren’t true. And yet they repeat them, over and over again, day after day, in an attempt to deceive the American people just so that they can win this election.
This may be fun for the Clinton campaign, but this is exactly why people don’t trust their leaders anymore. This is exactly why so many people are so cynical about the political process. And it’s exactly what Barack Obama is running to change.
There is no more serious issue than the war in Iraq. 150,000 American troops are risking their lives every day in a conflict that this President and John McCain have no intention of ending anytime soon. It’s a conflict that’s cost us thousands of lives, billions of dollars, stretched our military and taxed their families, and has seriously undermined our national security, our moral standing, and our ability to go after Osama bin Laden and the core leadership of al Qaeda and finish the job against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose this war before it began for these exact reasons. Senator Clinton voted for this war, and yet she continues to tell the American people that her vote was for diplomacy even though the resolution was titled, "Joint Resolution to Authorize the use of Military Force Against Iraq."
When Senator Obama arrived in the Senate, he called for a phased withdrawal before Senator Clinton did. He also introduced comprehensive legislation in the Senate to begin removing combat troops at a pace of 1-2 brigades a month, with an end date for completing that drawdown – legislation that became the basis for the Senate Democrats’ plan to end the war.
Barack Obama has said, repeatedly, that when he is President, his first act will be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ask them to immediately put in place his plan for withdrawal. He’s also said, as he did recently on 60 Minutes, that as Commander-in-Chief he would retain the flexibility to implement this withdrawal in a way that ensures the safety and security of our troops. But there has never been a doubt about the purpose of his policy – ending this war and bringing our troops home on a timetable for withdrawal.
The Clinton campaign knows full well that this is Senator Obama’s position, and they know full well that this flexibility is what his former advisor was referring to. They know it because preserving flexibility for the Commander-in-Chief has also been Senator Clinton’s position – or at least it was until she made the judgment that attacking Barack Obama on this issue is more politically beneficial to her campaign.
Washington has played too much politics with the issue of war. It’s what got us into Iraq in the first place. It’s why so many brave Americans have lost their lives. And it’s why the real Commander-in-Chief test in this election isn’t about some TV ad, it’s about whether the American people will be able to trust in the judgment and the honesty of their next President.
If the Clinton campaign wants to have a serious debate about who opposed the war in Iraq and who’s more committed to ending it, we’re more than happy to have that debate. But they should stop playing politics with war, and they should stop telling the American people things that they know aren’t true. We will not let this campaign be about who can tear each other down. We owe it to the American people to try and lift this country up.
I am playing my violin music as I read it.
Do you for one minute think we don't know that Hillary would do anthing to win? I firmly believe there are millions of Americans who see this as an admirable trait. ESPECIALLY IF YOU AGREE WITH HER POLITICALLY.
I have never in my life turned my back on someone I looked up to simply because they fought hard. I want my baserunners going into second base with their cleats in the air. So what?
Instead of losing a day, and a wasted stupid memo whining that Hillary is a hell of a fighter who would be willing to cheat, use the memo to tell us what kind of a fighter you are!
Stop Connecting With ANYTHING Hollywood
If you are trying to win the hearts and minds of people in Ohio (where I am from), and Pennsylvania and Michigan, and West Virginia than by God stop letting yourself be seen as a choice of the pinky-drinkers.
I wonder if the next Will.i.am video will come out in time to cost him another 100,000 votes in the next "fly-over" state primary.
Are they beautiful? I guess.
But not if your life depends on a crappy job at the vacuum factory. Not if your days are spent underground blowing up the earth looking for black gold. These people shoot their own dogs when they get hit by a car because they can't afford a $1,000 bill from a vet to "save a pet."
These are tough people. They make decisions like this every day!
I read these kinds of statements on his website ALL the time:
March 8, 2008
Big crowd greets Obama in Laramie
in The Jackson Hole Star Tribune
Barack Obama received a rock star's welcome here Friday, with supporters lined up in the cold for hours to hear what many expected to be an inspiring speech from a charismatic candidate. "I mean, it's Barack Obama," said University of Wyoming freshman Heidi Owens, who passed the time near the front of the line by knitting. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Do you really want to keep printing and publicizing, and releasing press that mentions he is greeted routinely "like a rock star?"
Keep this up and I'll take my beaten, bent and rusted lunch bucket and pull the lever for the other candidate. The one who doesn't get greeted by swooning fans and star-stricken audiences.
Just take care of those two little things and you'll start to get back into her base.