To all those folks who have been crowing about Clinton winning in a landslide:
Wake up and smell the coffee.
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This election is going to be way closer than you think.
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It is critically important that Clinton does win.
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Starry-eyed predictions may actually reduce the chance of winning.
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Hillary Clinton has plenty of warts.
When the ABC tracking poll came out a week ago with a 12% Clinton lead there were quite a few posts talking about a Clinton landslide. It was a case of confirmation bias at its worst. Even though there were plenty of other polls suggesting a significantly tighter race, the few commenters who suggested otherwise were routinely castigated as concern trolls. Guess what? The ABC Poll is down to 2% today. Back in 2006, I said much the same thing about the Lamont / Lieberman senate race and got the same reaction. So, being the nasty, snarky person that I am, I have routinely asked some of those same people over the past decade, “Ask Sen. Lamont.”
abcnews.go.com/...
I was a Bernie supporter in the primaries, but I also was critical of Sanders - especially his desire to sit on the political fence - remain an Independent, yet run for president within the Democratic Party. I was also certain that Clinton would prevail - for many of the reason that leave her open to criticism at present - but that Sanders’ campaign would push her to the left. Five things are essential that a President Hillary Clinton would provide - moderate-to-progressive Supreme Court nominees, addressing the ongoing racial divide, ensuring basic LGBTQ rights, preservation/expansion of Obamacare, and protection of reproductive rights.
I live in Wyoming. We can have a lovely 75 degree October day followed by a blizzard the next. Longtime Wyoming residents know this, but autumn visitors are often beguiled. You don’t need to prepare for the planet to be hit by a meteor to plan for a full range of weather possibilities. And you can enjoy those beautiful fall days in the mountains; yet, at the same time be able to survive if the weather turns sour. Yes, I would love to see Texas in the Democratic column this November, but the results will be far more onerous if Ohio and Florida are in the GOP column.
Finally, it goes without saying that Hillary Clinton is hardly the ideal progressive candidate. But she is way, way better than the Donald. And it is a two-person race - like it or not. The next president will be either Clinton or Trump. Not Johnson. Not Stein. In fact, the election is 51 two-person contests. In states where either Clinton or Trump has commanding leads, I can understand voting for a third-party candidate - for reasons of political belief and/or to open up the political process. But in states where the contest is close, it is essential that moderates and progressives vote for Clinton - warts and all.
Because it is not going to be a landslide.
It’s going to be close.