Do some at DU think electability is a defect? That we should disdain independent support?

[Faryn Balyncd]

We won control of the Senate in 2006 by 7000 votes in Virginia.

This despite running against a party led by the most reviled administration in our nation's history. And despite an overwhelming rejection of the Republican Party by independents. Despite support for Democratic victory even by conservatives and disillusioned Republicans.

Yet some on this board seem to feel offended that one of our candidates has appeal to Republicans.

Do we have an aversion to victory?

Is some sort of "reverse survival instinct" at work here?

Will we (once again) find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?





On Saturday, one of the Republican members of the bipartisan "Bloomberg group", Susan Eisenhower, expressed support for Barack Obama.

Yet some on this board appear to believe Republican support for a Democrat to be a minus for that Democratic candidate.

Could it not be that perhaps Susan Eisenhower, and others like her, truly realizes what harm has come to our nation from Republican leadership?

Could it not be that she supports Barack Obama because she truly believes he can provide the leadership our nation needs, and that he may be the one candidate capable of avoiding another 4-8 years of Republican rule?

Can we afford to have disdain for the support of independents who have formerly voted Republican, and of such disillusioned Republicans?

Do we think 2008 is going to be easier than 2006?

Why I'm Backing Obama

By Susan Eisenhower

Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population.

I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather's did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found. . . . . .






http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102621.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Should the support of such Republicans be regarded as a badge of dishonor?

Lots of folks have a history of voting Republican . . . . even some members of DU . . . even some of our best democratic senators and presidential candidates . . . .

Is electability a vice?

[TexasObserver]

1. Obama has the potential to win by a landslide

And bring with him supermajorities in the congress.

It will take getting some Republicans and most independents to do that.

[pocoloco]

5. LOL

Just like Kerry!!

[paulk]

2. I don't think that independent support in a primary

necessarily translates into support in a GE.

People vote in primaries for lots of reasons - open primaries are especially vulnerable to crossover votes that are strategically cast for what the weakest of the opposition candidates.

I'm not buying this "Obama appeals to independents" line.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

3. Not at all, we need all the support we can get.

Take back the nation for the good of all. Peace be with you.

[ErnestoG]

4. I support Obama, but I really bristle at this word coming up again..

it was an integral part of the 2004 campaign and used to defend Kerry. Look what happened.

Bad ju ju, my friend. Let's stick with Obama and his views, and philosophy, as reasons he should be elected.

[mikekohr]

6. Democrats have lost 7 of the last 10 Presidential Elections

In nearly every contested caucus and primary Senator Clinton out polls Senator Obama among Democratic party regulars. Senator Obama's strength is among first-time voters, independents and cross-over Republicans. The Republican base will fall in line (as they are now behind Senator McCain). Our party regulars will get behind our nominee, regardless of whether that person is Senator Clinton or Senator Obama.

It will be the swath of the demographic that is Senator Obama's strength that will decide who wins the White House. This same demographic shows affinity for Senator McCain, as it has shown in the past for Ross Perot, and Ronald Reagan. It's support put RapMaster Ronnie over the top in 1980 and 1984 and it's support for Perot in 1992 and 1996 allowed Bill Clinton to slide past his Republican competition.

I live in a county that has been dominated by the Republican Party since 1832. Senator Obama is attracting support among people here, and across the nation, that have never shown desire to support any Democrat.

We will make big gains in the Senate and in the House this fall. But like it or not, to win the White House, and to lift the entire ticket even higher will require the ability to attract support among independents, moderates, and to be able to peel away that thin sliver of reasonable Republicans. Senator Obama has demonstrated that ability. Senator Clinton, not so much.

[Faryn Balyncd]

7. Straight talk.

:kick: