So It's Come To This: Barack Obama For President 2008
Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 05:31:47 PM PDT
My intention, after John Edwards dropped out of the race, was to go into Washington's caucus on February 9 as Uncommitted. We have two fine candidates, who would both make fine presidents, and with the loss of the only candidate who really spoke passionately about the economic divisions in this country I was in no hurry to make up my mind. Since then, I've spent a bit of time thinking about the presidential race as it stands today, and though I'm under no illusions that anyone really cares what a nobody like me thinks, I've decided that the choice we face now, and the outcome thereof, is too significant to justify remaining officially undecided. One week from tomorrow, therefore, I intend to caucus as a supporter of Barack Obama.
Please, withhold your applause until the end. You may not like what I have to say.
I'm on record as believing that anyone we nominate this year will beat any Republican in a walk. Either I'm right about that, or I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, that means the Republican could win, and we need to nominate the candidate who has the best chance of preventing that from happening. Even if I'm right, I'd much rather we sweep into office with a broad mandate than slip by in a 2000-like squeaker. In both cases, I believe the clear choice needs to be Sen. Obama.
I retain a great deal of respect and affection for Hillary Clinton, who for the past sixteen years has been subject to a staggering amount of the kind of abuse I would not wish on my worst enemy, from people who by and large are not fit to kiss her feet. She is bright, competent, and a shrewd politician, and though we disagree on a number of issues, I'd be proud to support her and cast my vote for her. But the single biggest drawback of her campaign, as we've known for the last three years, is that she is guaranteed to energize a demoralized, disillusioned Republican base. And if possible, demoralized and disillusioned is how I'd like the Republican base to be.
Of course, we can't forget how successful the Republicans were at energizing sentiment against John Kerry, one of the most inoffensive creatures ever to walk God's green earth. If they could do it to Kerry, they could do it to Obama too. And, frankly, he doesn't strike me as a person who deals with criticism well, a trait that has manifested in the debates as well as in the mini-tantrums his campaign threw over attacks from the Clinton camp that--face it--were like the touch of a feather compared to what he'll be facing from the GOP this fall. Barack Obama really, really needs to learn to suck it up and play hardball in the general election. (Actually, he could do a lot worse than to hire Clinton's oppo-research and rapid response teams; those folks play for keeps.) Still, we face a choice between a candidate that the Republican base hasn't yet learned to hate and one that they absolutely loathe with red-faced, spittle-flecked fury. Nothing is worse than a Republican troglodyte who's feeling pissed off and full of beans, and I can't imagine not doing everything we can to neutralize them.
The apparent consolidation of support around John McCain as the presumptive Republican nominee also lends a certain urgency to this choice. McCain is a likable, charismatic man with a compelling personal story and a great deal of potential to attract supporters across the political spectrum. He's also 72 years old, and as anyone who's watched him on the stump or in a debate can attest, he comes across these days as tired, unenthusiastic, and even depressed, like an emergency room doctor who has terrible news for you about your spouse's condition. We have an opportunity to give the American people a choice between a worn-out-seeming elderly man and a young, energetic figure with a message of hope. The last time we saw a contest like this was in 1996, between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, and it did not end well for Bob Dole.
So now we come to the factor that, though it didn't dissuade me from making this choice, has certainly led me to dread it. Califlander, in what must surely be considered one of the best comments posted to Daily Kos last month, quoted a professor of his/hers:
Nothing will turn a man away from a good cause more than the thought of the jerks he will have to stand next to at the barricades.
Among the ranks of the Obama supporters here are some who are absolutely the worst, the worst, people I have ever encountered on the left side of the aisle in more than twenty years of being interested and involved with politics. I don't choose my words lightly, and yes, as a matter of fact I do mean to frame it in terms of morals and personal character. And no, frankly, it's not the same for every candidate. The people I'm talking about have violated just about every social norm this site has, repeatedly and maliciously. They display all the hallmarks of a cult, and not a happy-go-lucky cult like the Hare Krishnas, either. No person may criticize Barack Obama and escape their wrath. (Just ask Paul Krugman... or Joe Wilson.) The baseless, carelessly-slung insinuations of racism that were SOP for the Obama militia for a while toward the end of the year remain an open sore upon this community, which has worked so hard for so long opposing racism.
I'd rather not give names, though I can't imagine I'd need to.
If I may now address this small subset of Obama's fan base specifically: What the fuck is wrong with you people? If your goal is to get more people to support Obama, why would you go about it in the most alienating manner possible? Do you not even see the flaw in that strategy? What could possibly lead you to believe that the scorched-earth, mau-mau tactics you've employed for months accomplish anything other than to shame you, and by extension, the candidate you claim to support?
This diary is not an attempt to bury the hatchet. I don't like you and I never will. My support for Barack Obama comes not because of you, but in spite of you. The primary season will be over soon enough, and we'll all be on the same side again, working toward the same goal, but you'll never be able to erase what you've done and, indeed, what you are. I have a long memory and I hold grudges, and I doubt very much that I'm alone.
I say this not in an attempt to redeem you; it's too late for that. I hope instead to make an example out of you. In a few weeks' time, I hope, we will all be Obama supporters. And if that happens, I can't think of anything worse for our candidate than to see more people turn out like you.
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