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Blogs and Open Thread: The Democratic Party |
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Lots of talk in the blogosphere about party issues (on top of the normal candidate stuff). For someone’s who’s personally growing a bit tired of the primary coverage, this is refreshing.
Jeffrey Feldman gets out in front of something I’ve been thinking for a bit:
Democratic voters are concerned about which candidate ends up on the top of the ticket, but voters can walk and chew gum and the same time. Democrats can be passionate for their candidate in the here-and-now and at the same time stay focused on keeping a Republican out of the Oval Office. Coming in second will not mean walking away from the game altogether for more than a small handful of Democrats, which will hardly be enough to trigger some catastrophic collapse in the party base.
At this stage of the game, hurt feelings are unavoidable whether the nominee is Clinton or Obama. But ‘danger’ to the party if Clinton stays in the race? Nope.
In fact, the opposite is true. The longer both candidates stay in the race, the more participation, enthusiasm, and media coverage the Democratic Party will generate. And there is no end in sight to that payoff. Whatever mud gets thrown around in the process pales in comparison to the sheer numbers of people being drawn into the election by the close contest.
I’m OK if the primaries go on. More people participating and making more news coverage is good. I’m not OK if this thing goes to the convention - then things get really messy - but if they go up to the convention, I think we’ll be alright.
The cracks in the Republican party are very evident. Jonathan Singer points out the growing gap in partisan leanings in America (Democrats have an 11 point advantage over Republicans) and its effect of Republican voter registration efforts. To pile on, Blue Texan points to a pew poll that has the Democratic brand enjoying double digit leads over Republicans on issues like Iraq, health care, taxes, and morality.
Combine these numbers with the amazing ground operations campaigns like Obama’s are building and you’ve got a machine ready to win in the general election.
I’m confident - but not overconfident. Are you?
The party has a problem in Hillary Clinton that I’m not sure can be solved relative to this election. Submariner, blogger at Soul Conviction, put it this way:
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She [Hillary] not only attacked Barack on the issues but also on his very nature. She even openly maligned his supporters such that even if she became the nominee we could never support her.
It was almost as if she didn’t think that she would need us (blacks) in the fall campaign. She not only advocates her bona fides but just yesterday in the Chicago Tribune she elevated John McCain over Obama. This can’t be undone. To openly proclaim the legitimacy of the Republican challenger over Obama has sealed her fate and maybe Barack’s. This repeats the damage caused by Bill Clinton: loss of a Democratic Congress and Al Gore’s defeat by Bush. It required about ten years to recover.
Essentially Barack has won a bike with flat tire. Barack was our JFK but HRC defecated on him. Because a white female Democrat was darkening Barack’s complexion and casting doubt about him being a Christian the Republicans are free to pursue this to the fullest without turning the country off. HRC can’t be the nominee because of the immediate exodus which would ensue. She can’t be a VP because of the nature of her attacks. She can’t really throw her support behind Barack without openly marinating in hypocrisy.
What I’m at loss to understand is why did the leadership allowed her to singlehandedly wreck the party? It was as if the owners of the manor just stood by idly as a mad woman defecated in the kitchen without thinking that eventually they would have to eat there.
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He makes a simple but clear point. Blacks, the most stalwart democrats, are going 90% plus for Obama. If Hillary manages to derail his road to the nomination with superdelegates and getting MI & FL seated, I’m just telling you, its not going to be forgotten nor forgiven. This idea of a dream ticket is MSM fairy tales. Blacks will vote for Nader or they will stay home. Count on it. Maybe not all, but if 3-5% of us do, that will likely be enough. Blacks have long been ridiculed for their loyalty to the Democratic party. Trust me on this: this is the year in which they will demand the party ante up. Obama as VP will not fly. Among blacks, the feeling, justifiably so, is that she needs him on her ticket, but he would be a fool to hitch his political star to her. Conversely, she does nothing for him if he is the nominee. The race baiting, the smear tactics, all of it, against a black man who took on the most universally recognized and beloved political couple in the last 20 years and was winning? No, this is the problem the party has. Hillary just might succeed in damaging Obama badly enough to sucker the supers to go her way. If she succeeds, it will be a suicide run. Sharpton will protest at the gates in Denver and blacks will make the party pay the price for betrayal.