We Win! (Barack Obama Edition)

Comment by Monty

Monty — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:37:19 +0000

Don't take anything I say about politics too seriously. I am more John Stewart than John Carville (or whoever is supposed to be serious about politics).

And I am not saying all followers are cultists. It is just that he got the cultists ... and they kept campaigning at my place ... and they scared the bejessus out of me. :)

I do find that a lot of people have the same enthusiasm for Obama that Bush supporters had for him prior to his first election. Everyone gets excited about change, and then discover that it was not as hot as promised, as the country discovered after eight years of Clinton Ver. 1.0. I just don't think there is that much difference between any of the candidates.

I like boring politicians...and provokoing Obama supporters :).... throwing mindless, non-rational reasons why people are not going to vote for him, just to get them worked up (I told one campaigner that I was identity voting -- so I would have to vote for the shorter candidate)

I mean, now that the Ron Paul zealots have gone back into the woodwork, who else am I supposed to harass:)

Plus, I read Digg. Anything popular on Digg I automatically hate. :)

Comment by Ken

Ken — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:25:13 +0000

First of all, I don't buy that 35-40% thing at all. There's no evidence of that. And while some 25% of Clinton supporters might say in polls now that they won't support Obama in the general election, that number will surely decline as the sour-grapes effect wears off. Again, you only have to look to the Republican party for the precedent. A few months ago, Republican blogs were full of people fuming over McCain's nomination, with die-hard conservatives swearing to vote Democratic or skip the election before voting for a guy they considered to be a traitor to the party. But now? Those people have largely come back around to support their party's nominee.

As far as the choice between Obama and McCain, you can look at it in one of two ways. If you're an issues-oriented person, you want the guy whose ideology best matches your own... and if you're an issues-oriented Democrat, that means you clearly cannot choose McCain.

On the other hand, you're judging the man by his personal credentials instead of his ideology, then you're justified in choosing McCain if experience is the top character trait you're using as a measurement. (And I guess that means, if given the chance, you'd choose Bush to be president again, since he clearly has the most experience at it.) But those who choose Obama for his charisma and intelligence are no less justified in their choice. To dismiss all Obama followers as mindless cultists is unfair and, frankly, insulting.

Comment by Monty

Monty — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:53:48 +0000

And the biggest problem, I think, is that Obama supporters actually believe in politics. People who actually who believe in politics are not to be trusted. :)

Honestly though, I think I would have a hard time voting for Obama based on his supporters. They scare the living heck out of me.

I have never felt like I was stalked by a cult until the primaries, when they were everywhere.

I mean, I have lived in my place for eight years and have had not one visit from a Jehovah's Witness or Mormon missionary, who want to save my mortal soul. I received at least three visits in two weeks from Obama supporters.

And they all had this excited look in their eyes. They said things like, "I have taken off work for two weeks from Indiana to be here."

That guy is why I do not like Obama. I felt like I was talking to a Scientologist.

To paraphrase a bumpersticker,
Obama, save me from your followers.

Comment by Monty

Monty — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:39:34 +0000

Actually, I think the 25 percent is low. I suspect it to be closer to 35-40 percent of Clinton supporters will not support Obama. I know several Clinton supporters (lifetime Democrats, mind you, who have never voted Republican) who feel they will have to choose McCain over Obama.

I think most of those people feel that he is too inexperienced for the position, and that most people are simply caught up in his charismatic personality. (When he was drinking a PBR at Raleigh Times, I was reminded of how George Bush was chosen as the candidate most people would like to have a beer with ... That is interesting, because on that level, Obama has much more in common with Bush than McCain does -- a lack of international politics experience and a perception that people find him 'charming and down-to-earth')

A Clinton/Edwards ticket would have won easily, I think.

*Sigh* another election with a choice of between two equally bad white men (Yes, Obama is bi-racial. He is as much white as he is black. [Sidenote: I have XY chromosome, am I half female?]) :)

We Win! (Barack Obama Edition)

Ken — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:40:51 +0000

So Barack Obama has essentially clinched the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election. Combining the pledged delegates from the primaries (which FINALLY ended yesterday), and the superdelegate endorsements, Obama now has the majority of the delegates, and is finally really free to focus on the general election.

Big questions still loom.