I think I have discovered a pattern.

[Occam Bandage]

There has been a lot of vitriol here on DU. Because I'm completely biased, I'm going to blame it all on a small minority of angry Clinton supporters. However, I couldn't quite figure out why. To uncover the source of their fury, I decided to look at their complaints against Barack Obama, and see if I could detect any sort of pattern. Now, I'm not going to link to the threads in which these charges are made, because I've learned that's a one-way ticket to locksville, but let's take a quick look-see.

:bluebox: Obama isn't anti-NAFTA enough.
:bluebox: Obama is the darling of Rupert Murdoch and the right-wing media.
:bluebox: The Republicans want Obama to be nominated.
:bluebox: Obama is too DLC.
:bluebox: Obama has taken money from banking firms.
:bluebox: Obama isn't anti-war enough.
:bluebox: Obama is using nasty campaign tactics against Hillary.
:bluebox: Obama lifted a couple lines from a supporter's speech.

So, yeah. I think I might have discovered a pattern here. So, in my minds, the source of their fury is that they are simply confused as to which candidate is named "Barack Obama" and which one is named "Hillary Clinton."

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Ha! Good catch!

I do believe you're onto something there. :o

:rofl:

[Henny Penny]

2. Sharp as a razor! n/t

[Occam Bandage]

3. Kick

[RC]

4. It looks as if Hillary is using Uncle Karl's campaign book.

[Occam Bandage]

5. Find your weaknesses, attribute them to your opponent.

[grantcart]

12. that's what they caught Romney on too

[Forkboy]

6. And there's their trouble in a nutshell. All their arguments can be turned back on her.

It's like Tellurian is their campaign manager or something.

[Egnever]

29. Haha!

"Tellurian is their campaign manager"

:bounce:

[yardwork]

7. I notice that "Hillary flip flops" is the headline of the very first one.

Now where I have heard that word before? Flip flop. Flip flop. I know I've heard it somewhere before....

[Occam Bandage]

8. Just like "swiftboating," it entered the popular lexicon after '04. If this were in '97,

that video would be entitled "Hillary waffles on NAFTA."

[yardwork]

10. Isn't it interesting that there's always a coordinated campaign against a Democrat?

[Occam Bandage]

13. That would be something of the point of this OP, yes. The attacks on Barack Obama

are all calculated attempts to obscure Hillary Clinton's weaknesses.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. why should they give Obama their money when their lobbyists are top advisers on his campaign team?

[Occam Bandage]

11. You know, I really have to wonder when HRC's supporters will realize that

it does not work very well to launch attacks that their candidate is more guilty of. Mark Penn--her top advisor--is not only a lobbyist, he heads an entire firm of lobbyists, and counts Blackwater (you know, the crazy Rambo fuckers in Iraq) as a client.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. Hillary is running an anti-lobbyist money campaign....Obama is and this makes him a hypocrite

[DUyellow]

15. best post of the day

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. What's Funny Is Those Charges Can Fairly Be Made Against Both Of Them

What irks this Hillary Clinton supporter is that most of us acknowledge her flaws while Obama's supporters refuse to acknowledge any of his... They are both pols...

[RuleOfNah]

20. Good point.

While reading the list of headlines I thought the left were going to be blamed.

[mckeown1128]

17. kick and rec and lol....

They do seem to sling the wrong criticisms the wrong way.

[Enrique]

18. I think that pattern is in your imagination

I don't think Hillary supporters are dependent on proving Obama is bad.

[Occam Bandage]

19. "small minority of"

[ErnestoG]

21. Astute!

not surprising, but astute!

[Scurrilous]

22. K & R

:thumbsup:

[JVS]

23. LOL!

[jlake]

24. Sharp as a bowl of jello.

The point is that his "movement" is a PR Sham.

You are getting an inexperienced, untested version of Hillary Clinton who won't stand up to the Republicans, and who is willing to sacrifice core Democratic values.
And it is *No* Mystery, and you don't need to "search for a pattern".

[Occam Bandage]

32. "who is willing to sacrifice core Democratic values."

We tried that game once under the Clintons. Forgive us if we'd rather not give it a second go. Too bad the editing period's expired, I'd add that up there.

[jlake]

34. Obama will make the Clintons look like far left wing nutcases.... he will be at parity

or to the right of GWB on many issues.

[Occam Bandage]

35. Still engaging in the same game.

Obama presents a justifiable (not claiming true/untrue here) attack of Clinton. The best camp Clinton can do is, without justification, level the same attack at Obama. That really isn't convincing in an election.

[jlake]

36. Wow u sound like one of them librul intelexuls. I cant vote for sumeone lik that!!!1!!!1!1!1

[Occam Bandage]

37. I changed it for you. No big words.

[FlyingSquirrel]

25. How many minds do you have?

Just curious.

;)

[Jamastiene]

28. Damn, you beat me to it.

:spray:

[Occam Bandage]

33. I saw it, and considered editing. Then I thought, nah, nobody is likely to notice that...

[FlyingSquirrel]

40. Ha! This is DU

[PurityOfEssence]

26. Pattern explained: many people have many problems with him for many reasons

Got it?

If he DOES get the nomination or get the votes to have it in the bag and be nominee-apparent, hopefully the more zealous of his supporters will listen to ALL the criticism and act accordingly. There's an EXTREMELY dangerous tendency of late to shout down all dissent and there's an even more dangerous one of reveling in flying in the face of this criticism. He will still have to stand for an election, and those who're on a religious crusade have probably converted all the true believer types out there; the rest will have to be won over with reason, policy and sense.

There's a dangerous irrationality in this exuberance that completely dismisses all of this. Look at your list: he's pissed off many people on many different issues. That's not a "small" thing. It's also not proof of some uniformity of calumny among the non-believers; it's proof of a whole passel of problems that need to be addressed. If you think his campaign has been high-tone and consistently positive, you're living in fantasy land.

Yes, there's a pattern: faddish enthusiasm has stripped many of any perspective.

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. Didn't look at the links, did you. nt

[cliffordu]

30. LOL N/T

[Occam Bandage]

31. Try clicking one or two of the links. This is one of the reasons why Clinton is losing.

Every attack she makes on Obama can be fairly turned on her; she has yet to draw any good, favorable distinctions between them. Even her best argument--experience--is shoddy; she has only a few more years in the Senate than he does, and her time as First-Lady-cum-legislator is marked predominantly by a failed health-care reform plan.

She's resorted to tu quoque, which pleases the base but hardly inspires the undecideds.

[Tatiana]

38. I think you are on to something here.

When a typical response is "but Obama does it too!"

Or "Obama supports the ideas of the DLC!"

Or "Hillary voted against it too!"

Or "They both sponsored legislation against it that went nowhere!"

Then you have to wonder...

[Chasing Dreams]

39. Nice. Deserves another kick.