The Stupidity Of Some Obama Supporters

Note: I am an Obama supporter.

What the superdelegates are doing by holding off their decisions until most everyone has voted is not stupid. What Dean, Pelosi and Reid are doing by staying neutral in the nomination battle is not stupid. What IS stupid is what some Obama supporters are doing by urging the "party poobahs" to "finish it".

Here is the message you are sending to voters who have not yet voted (including myself) and people who support Clinton: "You are stupid for wanting your vote to count. Just roll over and shut up. We don't care about your opinion. We just want our guy to be declared the winner because EVERYONE (everyone who isn't stupid (like you) that is) knows that he is the winner."

It doesn't matter if you are intending to insult them. It doesn't matter if you think you are insulting them. You ARE insulting them.

Here's a clue for the stupid: Obama is going to need the very people you are insulting if he is going to win in the Fall. Pissing them off is not helping anything.

And remember those polls that talk about 20+% of supporters of each candidate considering voting for McCain if their person doesn't win? We all know that the percentage of Obama supporters who say that are feeling bitter because of the hard crap coming from the Clinton campaign. But what is the reason for this feeling coming from the Clinton supporters? It's right here. Stupid Obama supporters who arrogantly tell "stupid" Clinton supporters to just shut up.

Honestly, nothing has pissed me off this election season more than Obama supporters who act like everyone else's concerns are simply secondary to their own.

I support Obama. I know that Obama is not as stupid as some of his supporters. But I can't blame Clinton supporters for being pissed off right now. I would be too.

(Aside: If you think there is no downside to this stupidity, consider this diary from TocqueDeville. If you continue to insult people who haven't yet voted you just increase the chances that Clinton will win the popular vote. Then where will all your arguments about inevitability go?)

Chinatown

I have to shake my head. Not just at what Hillary Clinton is doing (latest here) but at the way supporters of both candidates react to this kind of garbage.

First of all, Clinton is not trying to destroy Democratic chances in 2008 so she will be able to win in 2012. She's to smart not to know that if either Obama or Clinton loses in November the 2nd place finisher will come in for a lion-share of the blame for the loss. 2008 is the only chance Hillary has of EVER becoming president and she knows it.

But, even then, I don't think its simply personal ambition that drives Hillary's campaign (it's a major part of it, but not the overriding factor). I wade through the bile coming from both Obama and Clinton supporters and the impression I get from the latter is that Clinton and her supporters honestly think that Obama will be a disaster for the party in the Fall and that, therefore, anything they can do to stop that from happening is a good thing.

And they aren't entirely irrational in believing that.

I am an Obama supporter because I believe he has the potential to take this party higher than Clinton ever could. But along with that potential for greater reward comes a potential for greater loss. I like Obama. I want him to win. I think he can win big. But I'm not so enamored of him that I refuse to act like he isn't a big risk. Anyone who strives for something bigger inevitably opens themselves up to a much greater fall. But I can live with that.

A lot of other Dems cannot and that is why so many of them continue to support Clinton.

Again, I'm an Obama supporter, but I really wish other Obama supporters would respect Clinton supporters enough to understand that a lot of them REALLY like her and REALLY think she would be the better candidate in the Fall.

Let me put it this way: if Clinton were using these exact same tactics against McCain in the Fall a lot of her present critics would be cheering her on. We'd be praising her for not giving up. We'd be posting admiration for her fight-with-everything-you've-got style.

"Forget it Jake. It's Politics."

Ah well.

I agree

Jeff Fecke:

Hillary Clinton is not stupid. She knows at this point that we've gone too far down the path of this primary for both Obama and Clinton not to have their careers staked on November. If the Democrats lose in the fall, the losing candidate will be the most reviled figure in Democratic politics. But the second-place finisher in this rancorous primary will be a close second. It won't take long for finger-pointing to land on Clinton and/or Obama if the Democrats fail to take advantage of a clearly advantageous cycle. John Edwards or Bill Richardson could maybe come back in 2012 and run again. But Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton? This is it -- there won't be any coming back from a loss in November.

People who think that Hillary Clinton would want the Democrats to lose the White House in the Fall simply aren't thinking rationally and are allowing their (not entirely unfounded) dislike for her get in the way of an honest assessment of why she campaigning the way she is. Put simply, she just thinks she would be a better president and would have a better chance to win in the Fall. A lot of Democrats agree with her. I don't. You're free to disagree with her as well. But, please, leave the conspiracy theories to the nuts.