I am living in the most pro-Clinton part of the most pro-Clinton district outside Arkansas. In my close circle of friends and family, there are 27 Democrats, of them, I and another friend are the only two who voted for Barack Obama on Super Tuesday...both of us had previously been Edwards supporters. The other 25, all pro-Hillary and rabid at that.
Of the 25, 20 of them vow not to vote for Obama in the GE. At one time most of them vowed to vote for McCain, now, thanks to Bush's endorsement of him, almost all will sit out the election if Obama is the nominee.
Among them is an interesting character...Elena (that not her real name, but it's close to it). She's 23 years old, she's biracial, dad is African-American, mom is Polish, she's previously apathetic in politics and is getting involved for the first time, and unlike others around her age in America (although not necessarily in New York it seems) she is excited about Hillary Rodham Clinton. She calls me last night and the first question out of her mouth was; "I don't like Barack Obama, What's wrong with me?"
No, I didn't respond with something like "you're stupid" or "you can't pick a President to save your life" or "you just don't understand anything" instead I asked her why.
Here's some bullet points based on her conversation with me;
- What is this change he talks about? What change can he bring that Clinton can't? What is he going to change that Clinton won't? What's the real difference between them?
- What was so bad about Clinton's Presidency? the economy was good, there we no wars.
- Why is it such a big deal that she supported the war? Most Americans supported the war. Even YOUR candidate (Meaning Edwards) supported the war. It was a mistake, people make mistakes. Obama clearly made mistakes (she referred to his present votes in the State Senate)
-"I don't think he's ready to be President, I think she is"
Obviously being someone who could care less which one of these two gets the nomination, prefered Richardson and Edwards and leans Obama largely on electability and freshness, I'm the wrong person for her to ask. It's not secret that I have defended Hillary here (and Obama over at MyDD), but I don't really have a preference. I'm just desperate to end this, and it looks like the best way to do that is get people behind Obama.
The truth is not many think there is really no difference between them in the eyes of many and it comes down to personality. She likes her better. It comes to down to experience. She thinks she's got more experience.
Feel free to discuss reasons I can bring back to her that I haven't already. In the meantime, my governor is resigning.