Voting for me has always been a point of principle. I have always voted my conscience, and to date, the Democratic Party has represented that conscience.
The Dems have always represented the promise of America--the idea that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to succeed. The idea that we are all inherently good, and looking for the same thing--to put a roof over our heads, to live healthy lives, to feed and clothe our families, to enjoy our freedoms to express ourselves, to love those we love, and to share in our joys and our sorrows.
If the Superdelegates accept HRC's Rovian tactics, then I want to have nothing more to do with the party. Period.
The Party will no longer stand for what it used to stand for....
(more on my reasoning after the fold)
I saw a very disturbing poll on MSNBC tonight. Over 60% of HRC supporters would not be willing to vote for Obama if he wins the nomination, while only 40% of Obama supporters would do the same. Tim Russert suggested that HRC might use that statistic to convince Superdelegates that HRC should be put at the top of the ticket, and Obama in the VP slot.
What HRC supporters (and gullible superdelegates) fail to recognize is that Obama has PURPOSELY NOT tried to destroy his opponent, unlike HRC, who is seemingly willing to destroy both her opponent and her Party.
We see no Obama ads featuring interview footage of Bill's many women who say they were intimidated by the Clintons to stay quiet.
We see no Obama ads saying, "She won't stay in her church if her pastor says bad things, but she'll stay in a marriage when her husband repeatedly cheats on her and lies to the American public...."
We see no Obama ads saying, "Hillary was the first First Lady to be subpoenaed...and her husband was both impeached and disbarred for perjury to Congress."
We see no Obama ads insinuating that Vincent Foster's suicide wasn't a suicide.
We see no Obama ads outlining her violations of federal elections laws, or how her loaning money to her own campaign constitutes a conflict of interest when the source of that money is unnamed foreign governments.
This is because, as Obama rightfully states, NONE of these things are relevant to solving America's problems.
We have REAL problems, which require REAL solutions.
Obama has taken the high road, and the Democratic Party is "better for it," in my opinion.
However, although lots of platitudes have been made about how the Democratic Party will unify because we don't want four more years of Bush, the problem is that HRC has fully embraced Bush tactics and policies in her bid for the nomination.
In the debates the other day, she willingly jumped on the Bill Ayers thing, and she injected Louis Farrakhan into discussion of Rev Wright.
HRC jumped on bitter-gate like a duck on a June bug, purposely twisting Obama's words from his criticisms of the Republican slime machine, into criticisms of AMERICANS.
HRC has threatened to "obliterate" Iran and to extend an umbrella of deterrance across the Middle East, putting most neo-cons to shame.
HRC has refused transparency in her earmarks and in the sources of her husband's Presidential Library funding.
HRC has repeatedly lied to the American people about her stances and her experience--twelve years supporting NAFTA but secretly working against it; sniper fire in Tuzla; etc.
HRC has run her campaign into the ground, shafting the small business owners that have supported her.
HRC signed a pledge that Florida and Michigan would not count, then reneged on that pledge when her numbers started to look bad.
Finally, to top it off, seeing how there is no way of winning the pledged delegate count, HRC is selling the snake oil of "popular vote" without acknowledging that MAYBE, JUST MAYBE Obama would have allocated his resources differently if the goal of the game was to maximize popular vote.
That the superdelegates would actually smoke what she is selling does not bode well for the Democrats.
And to me, it means that the Democrats are not the party that I thought they were.
I have been very dismayed that the Superdelegates have allowed things to get as bad as they have. The Party faces the very real threat of having mass numbers of people either (1) not vote, or (2) vote for a Republican.
I will be of the former type, if the Superdelegates give the nomination to HRC.
Moreover, I pledge that I will no longer vote Democrat so long as I live.
Voting for me has always been a point of principal. I have always voted my conscience, and to date, the Democratic Party has represented that conscience.
The Dems have always represented the promise of America--the idea that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to succeed. The idea that we are all inherently good, and looking for the same thing--to put a roof over our heads, to live healthy lives, to feed and clothe our families, to enjoy our freedoms to express ourselves, to love who we love, and to share in our joys and our sorrows.
If the Superdelegates accept HRC's Rovian tactics, then I want to have nothing more to do with the party. Period.
The Dems have allowed Bush to wage an illegal war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, harmed over tens of thousands of Americans, and displaced millions of innocent people.
The Dems have allowed Bush to funnel billion of tax dollars to political supporters via no-bid and no-accountability contracts in the War on Terror.
The Dems have allowed Bush to create a full spy state outstripping anything that Stalin or Hitler had--siphoning off every email, phone call, and internet transaction of every American in violation of the Constitution.
The Dems have allowed Bush to violate the Geneva Conventions, making the U.S. guilty of war crimes against humanity.
The Dems have allowed Bush to politicize every aspect of our government, undermining the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department, the Pentagon, the Public Broadcasting System, the Civil Rights Commission, and government-sponsored research by unbiased university researchers.
The Dems have allowed Bush to bankrupt our country, making every citizen's share of the debt over $30,000.
If the Dems allow HRC's voice to carry the day, they will have nailed the final nail in the coffin.
The Dems will have allowed HRC to bankrupt out moral conscience as Progressives. And I will not stand for that.
I am already so angry at the Democratic Party for its lack of leadership against Bush's tromping on the Constitution, I simply will no longer stand by them if they allow HRC to steal this nomination from Obama.