Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I heard Obama himself say yesterday that he will need Bill Clinton's support. He said how great he was with the voters and how tireless
he worked and he wants him out there to help win the election.
Hillary Clinton will give her total support, so my question is:
if we are to come together as a unified party, will the Clinton trashing
end here or will it continue??
Are the Obama supporters ready for this?
I am going to try my best to offer an olive branch to them
do I receive one back?
I am interested in how this will be received.
Their internal polling showed that due to their anemic coalition, they will need about 70% of Hillary supporters for him to stand a chance of beating McCain, and they want to pretend as if everything is alright.
The Republican's hope that Hillary supporters will cross party lines en-mass will be as vain as those hopes that Hillary will take the battle to the convention floor. Wishfull thinking is all it is.
There will of course be some who switch and vote for McCain (8% of Democrats voted for Bush, so crossing party lines is nothing new), but most will end up with Obama.
Yes, Obama said he needs Bill Clinton to campaign. He praised Clinton for his campaigning skills and mentioned the amazing job Clinton did campaigning in areas that usually are not visited by any candidates. Obama must remember what happened to Gore when he refused Clinton's help in 2000 - a president left office with a 70% approval rating. Obama is now going to tie himself to the great economy we enjoyed during the Clinton years.
Excellent article on what Obama needs to do to win. RealClearPolitics - Articles - Print Article
Clips:
Leaving the question of Hillary's support among blue-collar workers, Hispanics, and Jews for a future discussion, we are talking about Clinton's base among mostly white, mostly college educated, mostly over-40 women, or to put it another way, the women who grew up in the women's movement, and then turned much of that energy toward electing Democrats. In a lot of communities across America, if you call a meeting of the top Democratic officials and reliable campaign workers, that's who will show up. But they will not show up to be insulted, and consciously or unconsciously, Obama supporters have been relentless in insulting this group throughout this extended campaign.
...
First, stop labeling Clinton and her supporters as the politics of the past. Obama supporters have enthusiastically cheered their candidate's inspiring calls for new approaches to old problems, but the implicit, and frequently explicit, denigration of Clinton as representing the politics of the past cuts deeper with Clinton supporters than many Obama supporters may realize. The message from the Obama campaign and supporters has been that Clinton and her supporters are sooooo last century. For all the ink that has been given to discussions of the racism and sexism that has emerged in this campaign, the ageism, while far less noticed, may pack just as much psychological and political sting.
...there is little merit in writing off any category of Democrats or independents heading into the fall election. Retooling for November will require broadening the appeal of Obama's change message to show how it includes older voters, women, and other categories that Clinton won in the primaries. The truth is Clinton and her supporters are just as much a part of the politics of the present and the future as anyone else, and Obama and his supporters need to change the change message to make this clear.
Second, Democrats need to reclaim the luster of the Clinton years. It is easy to understand why the Obama camp believed it had to counter the notion that the period from 1992 to 2000 was bathed in a golden light. Obama and his supporters, while never trying to describe the Clinton presidency as a failure, have nonetheless damned it with faint praise, or worse, reminded us of what we liked least about the Clintons' time in office. As we move from primary to general election mode, however, it in the interest of every Democrat to lay claim to all that is good about the Clinton legacy.
Obama and his supporters have helped put Bill Clinton through a pretty tough winter and spring (In truth, he did a lot of the damage to himself) but all Democrats will benefit if Bill and Hillary Clinton have a much better summer and fall. The Clinton Presidency is a very strong platform indeed, and it is a large part of the basis for voters to believe Obama's brand of change will bring the economic renewal voters are seeking.
The Clinton legacy is that he delivered on his "the economy stupid" promise to voters, and left office with a growing economy, increasing employment levels and real wages, and a budget surplus. The contrast between that record and that of the current Administration, coupled with the Republican Party's failure to articulate any alternative prescription for our economic malaise gives Obama credibility on his promise of an economic turnaround.
...
Third, embrace feminism as one of the indispensable pillars of the Democratic coalition.
...
Last edited by tigerlily; 06-05-2008 at 08:33 AM..
Reason: addition
Their internal polling showed that due to their anemic coalition, they will need about 70% of Hillary supporters for him to stand a chance of beating McCain, and they want to pretend as if everything is alright.
So what are you trying to say? Hillary's supporters are like trained dogs or something? They won't act accordingly unless they are told to do so....Okay, if you wanna place yourself in that category, that's fine with me.
On behalf of all Obama supporters, we accept your olive branch and we offer one of our own to hillary clinton's supporters.
I second that motion !
I'm sure many of us Obama supporters have friends, mothers, sisters, etc. that are Clinton supporters, we will mend hurt feelings and move forward, united !
if we are to come together as a unified party, will the Clinton trashing
end here or will it continue??
That depends on Hillary. If she falls in line, offers genuine and sincere backing, and actually concedes, then I think everything would be fine. Until then, I don't see why anyone would have to get behind her. The trashing is well deserved. She put herself above her party and her country.
GeorgiaDem
I have always expected that Hillary and Bill would continue to be Democrats and have stated this multiple times in the past on this board. I prefer Obama, but I would have voted for Clinton. I have my eye on the bigger prize, the Democratic Whitehouse and I think we all should be together in this effort. Bill and Hillary Clinton are vital to the party and no one should be discounted. My only issue was that the unity needs to begin sooner than later to defeat the Republicans.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
