Sullivan: Dem race will turn on demand for unity (or lack thereof)

[BeyondGeography]

From tomorrow's London Times:

<...In a polarised climate, where Rudy Giuliani is already lambasting Hillary and itching for a fight, Obama is sticking to a disciplined message of reconciliation, unity, responsibility.

Is this a mistake? Whoever won a Democratic primary by insisting on being open to Republicans? That is the risk Obama is taking. But when you observe and listen closely, you see this is what he actually means.

He detects an enormous weariness among Americans about their internal divisions in a time of war, overlaid by the anger and divisions that have deepened and widened under the Bush presidency. He suspects that if he can get past Clinton’s aura of inevitability, Democrats will realise he has a much better chance of winning a real national majority in the general election than Clinton does. Clinton polarises the way Bush polarises. She can hope for a Karl Rove-style 51% majority in a deeply divided country. He’s aiming for 55%.

Clinton, in other words, represents payback for the Democrats and liberals after the Bush era, just as Giuliani is emerging as the inheritor of the Bush legacy of divide and rule. Right now, Obama remains to the side, offering Americans something else: not payback, but a new page.

Neither black nor white, neither atheist nor born-again, a candidate who favours withdrawal from Iraq but an offensive against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, a progressive offering the working poor a tax cut, his bet is that, in the end, America wants to come together again. The unanswerable question is whether America really does.>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article2510760.ece?openComment=true

[fenriswolf]

1. what about kucinich?

his campaign is formed on the bases of brotherhood, of peace, of peacefull cohabitation? point being although I can respect obama's statment on uniting I cannot respect someone who falls into the war rhetoric so easily and is prone to corruption like every other representative. A person who is running on uniting should make it their campaign basis, not a talking point.

[gateley]

9. And what about Biden? He's consistently co-authored bills with Republicans. nt

[illinoisprogressive]

2. will democrats wipe the mist from their eyes and see for real.

[paulk]

3. interesting POV from a self professed conservative -

that Clinton represents payback.

It's not a notion I've come across here at DU, that's for sure, but maybe he has a point.

[iamjoy]

7. Well, She Would Be Payback

but perhaps not for the reasons professed in the article. She wouldn't be payback because she is such a Liberal (hah!), but, she would be payback because

* Conservatives hate her. It is visceral and illogical (she's closer to them than they realize) - but they hate here. And yet, if she can win it would be such an "in your face" to them.

* All the trash of the 1990's. They kept trying to drag the Clintons down and came very close to succeeding. If she gets elected President, it will be another game and set they lost.

So, see, a Hillary victory would be such a triumph over the Republicans - more so than any of the other candidates winning. But, not necessarily for the right reasons.

[cascadiance]

12. And meanwhile the corporatists behinds the scenes grin at our igoring of them getting MORE power!

... at the expense of the rest of us when we get distracted yet again by the Conservative/Republican battle against the Liberal/Democrats, which ignores that they have controlling power on both sides (as long as money continues to talk through the DLC to control the Democratic Party against the wishes of a majority of its constituency).

They distract us with issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. (which may really be important to many of us, but NOT to them!). They continue to keep censored out of their controlled media the core issues that keep them in power (perpetuating our corrupt "K-Street" campaign financing system instead of public financing, "free trade" BS instead of a newer look at "fair trade" policies instead, getting us out of Iraq, impeaching the bastards in power so that we can expose all of the true corruption that's going on behind the scenes, etc.).

As for Obama, I'm still waiting for him to be the "bipartisan" candidate on issues that count, but coming out and being strong and forceful and uncompromising on certain issues that demand such treatment (like campaign financing). He's cosponsor of the public campaign financing resolution in the Senate, but do we hear much about that all from him or any of the other "backers" of that bill? HELL NO! It is all just a "lip service" gesture to give them an excuse with us that means NOTHING, unless someone drives it and makes it the NUMBER ONE issue that it should be!

[OHdem10]

4. The Beltway Media are the ones all hung up over

doing CUM BA Ya and holding hands around the campfire.

Their idea of unity is for the Democrats to salute and bow
on bended knee to GOP Whims.

Sure i believe in working together. I would love to see
the country better unified.

We will come together when the GOP can learn to be cooperative.
For our party to give into a bunch of obstructionists who
slime and cannot take it when our side fights back.

We will not appease.

[AX10]

5. I agree. Sullivan wants us to nominate someone who...

will play nice with his party and failed ideology. We cannot allow that to happen.

[Joe Bacon]

6. No Tory has the right to tell us who to nominate

Tory Twit Andy has been wrong on everything. Why give that liar any publicity?

[tblue37]

11. I beleive he is a naturalized American citizen. n/t

[HughMoran]

8. "in a time of war" - that phrase fucking infuriates me

You mean "in a time of our VOLUNTARY occupation of a formerly SOVEREIGN country based on lies about that former sovereign nation.

War my fucking ass hole - it's a voluntary slaughter of innocents and nothing more.

[unkachuck]

10. our quisling....

....candidates and leadership seem to believe they have a huge margin for victory and can willfully ignore their base while playing kissy-face with republicans....

....no, no, no, '08 will be a very close election....the republican, corporate, media, money machine hasn't gone anywhere and will manufacture whatever it needs to win, whatever it needs to grind up Democrats....

....both of their startegies stink because they're both ingnoring us, the base....

"She can hope for a Karl Rove-style 51% majority in a deeply divided country. He’s aiming for 55%"....wow

....and what if an independent Al Gore should appear?....you got it, one third of this Party will disappear over night....