A letter to Hillary Clinton supporters:
At some point in the next few months, many of you will recognize that HRC will not be the 2008 Democratic nominee for president. As this occurs most of you will probably start to warm up to Barack Obama (it has taken me some time to do this myself and the more I'm learning about him the more I like).
For those of you who support Hillary Clinton I want you to do something right now. Think about your impressions of Barack Obama. Your general perception, your likes/dislikes, concerns, curiosities, etc.
Maybe even write it down. Reflect on it right now......... There is a reason for this.
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Whatever the reasons that have persuaded you that Hillary is preferable to Barack are likely to be shared by the millions of other Hillary supporters. Many of them will be reluctant to support Obama for various reasons and we will need YOU to help them develop an appreciation of him.
There are a number of inaccurate impressions that many people currently have about Barack Obama:
Elitism: bitterness, god, guns, V. his actual policies/beliefs/background
Toughness: beating Hillary's campaign, McCain,
Electability: racism, sexism, extremism, readiness/judgment, trustworthiness,
Foreign policy: Iraq, Iran, WMDs/nuclear proliferation, Al Qaeda/terrorism, “enemy” dialogue,
Domestic policy: minimum wage, tuition for teaching/service, transparency, health care,
The reason many of Hillary's supporters and undecideds have bought into the vilification of Obama is because SHE has been working very hard to cultivate those mischaracterizations (w/ mainstream media collaboration). As a partisan, you probably wouldn't even notice it, but when she attacks him on something it is likely in order to protect herself from that very same criticism. ie: he's being dishonest and divisive, he doesn't want everyone's vote to count, he's being racist/sexist, he doesn't have enough experience, he's elitist/out of touch, he's unelectable, he has relationships with shady characters, he accepts money from lobbyists/PACs, he supported the war, etc.
Treat these issues with objectivity and they are revealed as a charade; which undermines the intelligence of the populace. Barack Hussein Obama's platform of courtesy, hope and change has defeated Hillary's old-school campaign style, which should tell us two things: He will be able to beat John McCain who will be employing the same means. AND it also highlights the necessity for Obama not to put Hillary on the ticket as VP. He does not want to be associated with that method of politics.
We have known since the March 6th Ohio/Texas primary that the chances of Hillary winning the nomination were slim to none. In a virtual tie after the February 4th Super Tuesday primaries, Obama went on to win the next dozen or so consecutive primaries during the month, building a 100 point lead in pledged delegates. Hillary chose her most effective option at that point, which was to go as dirty as she could get away with. The shaming of Barack for HIS dirty tactics and then the 3am fear-mongering commercial kicked off her last three months of desperation. In the mean time, the right-wing has been loving it! Rush Limbaugh and Operation Chaos were responsible for giving Hillary a narrow win in Indiana. Yes, it appears that hundreds of thousands of Republicans have voted for Hillary in order to help her split the Democratic party. http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Now, on the pretense of having won the popular vote (talk about cherry-picking evidence!!!), it seems that she is determined to settle for nothing less than vice president. The question is, for how much longer will her supporters continue to support her divisiveness? If she does not concede that she has lost after June 4th and continues to drive a wedge into the party, what will YOU do? Is your priority to get a Democrat into the white house in '09 or only your candidate? Do you understand the risk involved in continued support of her?
For what it's worth, there are two reasons that I would have had for supporting Hillary. The most obvious being that having a woman as president would be awesome. (However, I personally don't think that the characteristics she has shown during this campaign reflect good role-modeling for the feminist cause.)
The other thing that has some appeal is her desire for universal healthcare coverage. While I do not support her specific solution, I appreciate her initiative.
I encourage you to engage with Obama supporters on the issues. You may find that we share common criticisms. Ideally, (in my dreams) when Hillary's supporters (eventually) come to the realization of how great of a candidate Barack Obama is, they may develop a deep understanding of how it is that they have come to their initial convictions, and inso doing be able to help others transcend the cynicism that is generated from that type of politics.