I am getting really, really sick of Ed Rendell. Check out what he said to young voters in Pennsylvania today...Ben Smith has posted the video at Politico. To view it at RedLasso, click here.
I'm not sure if this helps or hurts our chances tomorrow--in actuality, it will likely have little effect. But I guess Rendell's statements might work to make insecure voters feel unsure or, more likely, older pro-Hillary people to indulge in smug attitudes toward Obama's base, a problem we're already going to have to remedy going into the general election. Thanks Ed, you schmuck.
I'm going to see if I can get the RedLasso link embedded here. Also, I've posted my email response to Rendell after the jump.
Hopefully the embed will work:
Whatever the outcome, I, as a youth voter, am mad as hell at Ed Rendell. So I headed over to his website to give him a piece of my mind.
Dear Governor Rendell,
I am a 27-year-old Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin. I have lived on my own labor and my own merits in Germany, Chicago, and elsewhere in the U.S., and I am greatly offended by your suggestion that I might support Senator Obama simply because I have "drunk the Kool-Aid of a great speech." With all due respect, sir, I am not an idealist; I grew up in a family of hardened Democrats left over from the old days of the Texas Democratic establishment. Sir, what you just said was beyond condescending or patronizing--it was willfully ignorant. There are plenty of young people who CAN name things that Senator Obama has done, and in addition to that, many, many "adults" who can name them as well. I have been following Senator Obama since his days in the Illiois State Legislature. Until now, I have found your remarks on the Sunday TV shows pleasantly amusing, well-painted half-truths with the comic delivery the former Iraqi Information Minister. Today, however, your patronizing attitude deeply offended me to the point that I took the time to write you this email. Governor Rendell, stop appealing to divisive politics that pit generation against generation and make people feel less capable simply because they are young. In one soundbyte, you disrespected the intellect and, yes, the life experiences of a segment of the voting public that the Democrats were just beginning to invigorate. Your arrogance is astonishing, and while I sincerely hope you will throw your support behind Senator Obama during the general election, I hope even more that you will find the decency to apologize for your callous remarks.
Thank you for your time.
It was highly cathartic, and if you're a pissed-off youth voter, I suggest you do the same. Give him a dose of what we gave ABC after last week's pseudodebate.