but i have something more to say about the same argument I've heard over and over again, repeated almost verbatim by Obama and, to a person, every one of his supporters.
it always starts with "It's not. her fault." It goes like this.
"While it's not her fault the way she is attacked and has been attacked by the media and the right wing and others who just thought it would be fun to pile. While it's not her fault, it motivates republican voters to vote against her, and it would be a big distraction if she became president."
I've heard this thousands of times, and it stinks like SHIT. It always has. Maybe it's even true but it betrays the clear moral cowardice of the person who makes that argument. That includes Obama himself.
There's a really nasty analogy I could come up with.
Here it is:
It's like some whacked out religion where they treat a rape victim, they tell her, presumably while she's being burned at the stake: "You know, we know this isn't your fault, but it is what it is and now no man will marry you and you are now considered unclean, and an eyesore for the rest of the community. we need to move on." presumably while the rapist himself is giggling in a corner.
Presumably of course.
If that offends some people, here's a more tepid analogy. You're at work and you're a manager and for some reason one of your bosses started harrassing you, giving you really crappy reviews, maybe you're black or a woman or some other minority and this boss starts being overtly racist and sexist comments and then eventually, it gets to be too much, you can either quit or go to HR. So you go to HR and they deal with the situation. Which is great. But then it turns out a year later a sr. manager position opens and you apply for it, and guess what??? the hiring manager there says: "You know I know it's not your fault what happened last year, but we don't want someone who's as polarizing as you are in sr. management. it's a distraction. we need to move on."
There are other analogies I can come up with.
And maybe Obama and his folks are just trying to be nice and they really do think Sen. Clinton has deserved every single attack she has received that has indeed made her polarizing.
I don't know.
But I have never heard, nor am I likely to ever hear a more gutless reason to vote for or against someone.
I do suspect that if (if? yeah i'll play along and pretend they might not) the Right Wing attacks Obama to the extent that he becomes polarizing, and if I were at that point to contend that while it might not have been his fault, he was not a very good president, then some might think that would be shameful cowardice on my part.
electibility arguments are always lame (kerry was electable too you know, not Dean), and this one has always struck me down to it's core as one of the most cynical, shameful and fearful one's i've ever heard.
she's a bad candidate cause idiots and republicans attacked her too much.
This one's been churning in my gut a long time.
It's not cowardice to support Obama. Did you hear that? Support Obama bravely. Just don't support Obama cowardly. It is cowardice to keep repeating that reason over and over again.
Might as well just tell republicans, "all you have to do is attack our politicians to the point where they become polarizing and we'll run away from them."
When did democrats become cowards?