McCain Gains from Clinton-Obama Feud

[bjorkfan]

....Polls now show words from both camps are causing serious damage. An increasing number of Clinton supporters say they would not vote for Obama in November and vice versa.

According to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll of Pennsylvania voters, only 53 percent of Clinton backers say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll vote for McCain and 13 percent say they won't vote, the poll found.

The poll said that 60 percent of Obama backers said they would go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20 percent opting for McCain, and 3 percent saying they wouldn't vote at all....

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4502061&page=1

[villager]

1. Polls show significant chunks of Dems to be short-sighted, ego-driven partisans

incapable of seeing "the big picture!"

[PSPS]

2. Both Clinton and Obama are morons for allowing this to continue.

The longer this goes on, the less my opinion of both Obama and Clinton goes. While I would never vote for McSame, it will be hard for me to gather much enthusiasm to go out and vote for anyone.

Sometimes I think this is their plan -- both of them.

[Nitrogenica]

3. There are freepers on both sides name calling to get us to fight with each other.

Enough.

[bjorkfan]

4. The Republicans avoided a civil war early on ....

When McCain came out as the winner in the first series of primaries, that was it. Almost everyone else quietly bowed out.

[Mojambo]

5. He needs all the help he can get.

McCain is a really weak candidate.

Still sucks that this is happening.

[dader]

6. This is another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into ...

The case for Senator Clinton to remain in the race for the 2008 Democratic Party Nomination has recently been likened to a basketball game. Regardless of the score, why should the trailing team quit just minutes into the fourth quarter? That makes no sense whatsoever!!!

This is not a plea for Senator Clinton to withdraw from the race for any reason, nor is it a call for Senator Obama to withdraw either. However, it is clear to me that neither candidate should continue the contest under the current line of play. The number of personal/technical fouls on both sides has been so great that the refs should have called the game and assigned a loss to each team’s record a long time ago. That being said, this contest should go on – all the way to Denver, but with a time-out for a little rules clarification as follows:

#1. The game is already in progress. It started with a previously agreed upon set of rules. Because decisions have been made based on that agreed set of rules – decisions that cannot be unmade without affecting the game, the rules cannot be changed mid-game. This means Florida and Michigan are off the table. End of discussion. As a Florida resident, I am appalled that our state could knowingly violate these rules with wink and a nod towards a hope that nobody would ever enforce them, but it happened, and is a completely separate issue from the campaign itself. If there was really a problem with this situation (and there was), it should have been addressed prior to commencing the game.

#2. Only the number of delegates for each candidate count. Yes this includes the super-delegates. No convention delegate is bound by anything other than the vote he or she actually casts at the convention. These are the rules (see #1 above). This means that the number of states won (big or little), popular vote, number of electoral college votes, who has the momentum, who is or is not more electable, etc, means nothing. Now, if the aforementioned delegates want to use any of these “indicators” as a basis for determining how they cast their vote at the convention – more power to them. It is allowed by the rules (again see #1 above), but the delegates must be able to justify their choice – a choice they make at not only their own political peril, but at our party’s. May they choose wisely. But the attempted “spin” of these factors by the campaigns … should be beneath them.

#3. There are penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. If you incessantly foul your opponents so violently and bloodily that they are unable to carry on effectively, even if they do beat you, you are unworthy of the game. You have tarnished not only your own reputation, but that of the league and the sport itself. While it is your record – your performance both on and off the field – by which your candidacy will be judged, the emphasis is on “YOUR” record, not your surrogates, hangers-on, supporting cast, staff, etc. Anything else is a distraction. If you need such distractions to differentiate yourself in hopes of coming out on top, just give it up. The level of your game just isn’t up to the big leagues. It isn’t enough to just put a Democrat in the White House – it has to be the right Democrat; selected in accordance with our rules and values; anything less, and we all become something less....

Finally, we owe ourselves an incredibly detailed critique of this election cycle. This was supposed to be our time. Come on! After eight years of President Bush, the best the Republicans can come up with is John McCain? This should have been like taking candy from a baby, but look at this mess!! The only thing worse than being laughed at by a Republican is being laughed at by a Republican when I am secure in the knowledge of the undisputable, objective fact that WE DESERVE TO BE LAUGHED AT!!!!!!!! We did this to ourselves, and we owe it to ourselves to do our best to ensure it never happens again. We need to review then entire process – how democratic are caucuses and super-delegates and is the proportional assignment of delegates really a good thing or not? If not, what do we change those things to? If they are a good thing, what kind of controls need to be imposed to prevent this from happening again. In case there is any doubt, I’m more than a little torqued over this situation. We really need to examine the root causes of what led us to this point – but keep in mind (with an open mind) that the answer may be that the current way of doing things really is the right way, and that one of the drawbacks is that every once in a while it does blow up - after all, it hasn’t been this bad since Kennedy/Carter, and that’s quite a while ago.