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Dear Senators Clinton and Obama,
Please end this now. It's been fun, but it's only going to get more ugly, dumb and embarrassing from here on out. The last week has been bad enough, but Pennsylvania is seven weeks away. You can both do immeasurable damage to the party in that time. Time and money spent fighting each other is fundamentally wasted. It doesn't make us stronger, it just makes the divides between us all that much deeper.
It is now obvious that even Pennsylvania probably won't decide the issue if neither of you is willing to back down. We can't afford to wait until August to name the nominee. That simply doesn't work in 2008, not in a campaign that started two years ago. Anyone telling you this would make the Democratic party looking anything other than weak, divided and ridiculous is either incompetent or a dangerous flatterer. The historical precedent is completely irrelevant to perception.
No matter which of you finally carves out an unsatisfactory victory, backed by superdelegates and obscures procedural votes at the convention, half the party is left feeling disenfranchised. No matter who wins, it wastes the enthusiasm we've seen so far. It turns an entire generation of Democratic voters bitter and cynical. This is not just a single election on the line, but potentially the next three or four.
We need a joint ticket. One of you needs to suck it up and be VP. I really don't care which.
Make a hard decision and impress us all. Be leaders.
Cordially,
Fish
Please end this now. It's been fun, but it's only going to get more ugly, dumb and embarrassing from here on out. The last week has been bad enough, but Pennsylvania is seven weeks away. You can both do immeasurable damage to the party in that time. Time and money spent fighting each other is fundamentally wasted. It doesn't make us stronger, it just makes the divides between us all that much deeper.
It is now obvious that even Pennsylvania probably won't decide the issue if neither of you is willing to back down. We can't afford to wait until August to name the nominee. That simply doesn't work in 2008, not in a campaign that started two years ago. Anyone telling you this would make the Democratic party looking anything other than weak, divided and ridiculous is either incompetent or a dangerous flatterer. The historical precedent is completely irrelevant to perception.
No matter which of you finally carves out an unsatisfactory victory, backed by superdelegates and obscures procedural votes at the convention, half the party is left feeling disenfranchised. No matter who wins, it wastes the enthusiasm we've seen so far. It turns an entire generation of Democratic voters bitter and cynical. This is not just a single election on the line, but potentially the next three or four.
We need a joint ticket. One of you needs to suck it up and be VP. I really don't care which.
Make a hard decision and impress us all. Be leaders.
Cordially,
Fish
no subject
Sure, minus the personalities, the politically logical thing would be for Clinton to bow out of the race now and to become Obama's VP running mate--don't see it happening given the personalities though. Last I time I heard them answer the question, Clinton categorical refused to consider Obama as a running mate, while Obama politely hedged.
Strategically, I don't think Clinton is electable in the general election. I also don't think having her as VP is going to make Obama more electable. I don't have a problem with Clinton continuing the primary races, she theoretically *could* overtake Obama, if unlikely, but she needs to clean-up her tactics or you are right, it will damage the general election prospects for whatever the final democratic ticket is. It would have been nice if yesterday's elections had finally cinched Obama's lead, and Clinton would have had an appropriate cue to bow out.
Obama is young, and doesn't have a lot of experience I don't really think that matters much myself. However, I think it matters to the political insiders in the Democratic party, who perhaps feel he hasn't paid his dues. It could also weaken him in the General Election. If the Dems were strategic about it all, they'd have maneuvered Obama to be paired with a more senior politician. But frankly, even if they'd arranged it ahead of time, I don't think Clinton would have been the right one. The Republicans want Clinton to get the nomination because they are confident they can beat her.
no subject
Yeah. That's pretty much the part that terrifies me most.