It's no secret that the Democratic presidential campaign has grown ferocious over the last few days: both the Hillary and Obama camps have griped of unfair treatment, Bill goes red-faced if someone looks at him wrong, Barack's tired of 42's haranguing, not to mention the name calling. Last weekend, the animosity between the two camps--who, it should be noted, have very similar policy positions--spilled over (way over) onto the comments section of our blogs. Below, selections from Clintonistas in the heat of argument:
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I have never seen a more unfairly reported campaign, and 51% of the nation, in a CBS/NYTimes poll thinks the media have been unfair in their reporting about Hillary. (Only 12% think the same about Obama.) It is about time for TNR and other press to report in a more neutral and disinterested fashion. They have become advocates and public relations flacks more than reporters or analysts.
People are voting for Hillary because they are enthusiastic about Hillary. Get over it.
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But there is something especially misogynistic in the vituperativeness and personal focus of the attacks on Hillary at TNR and elsewhere on the net. See the trash written above. Is it that so much of the blogosphere is dominated by 20-something males who are anxious about women?
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Another thing: stop treating American voters like imbeciles--if and when they don' t want a Bush or a Clinton, they will elect someone else. Zeesh, I could hear you folks in 1932 "We've had a Roosevelt already!"
Citizens of Obama-nation responded:
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"Why has it never occurred to any of you Obama supporters that some people might be voting for Hillary because they think she is the best candidate for the job?"
Oh, it's occurred to us. We just think that there will never be very many of you, because she has a real talent for pissing people off. And we're tired of the Democratic party shooting itself in the foot with unelectable candidates like Mondale, Dukakis, and Kerry.
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Oh well, Hillary supporters will feel all self-righteous until November, when she will be crushed in the general, and they will go around muttering "what happened, we had the issues, the Republicans just gave us the worst president ever, how did we lose another election?" UM, she has a 47% negative rating now, and has very little support of independents. But Dem women sure love her. Hooray, she will lose with a very enthusiastic 45%.
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"But Dem women sure love her. Hooray, she will lose with a very enthusiastic 45%."
Or, most likely, with a very enthusiastic 22.5%, and another 22.5% that trudges along to the polls, wearily doing their duty to keep the GOP wolves at bay.
On the other hand, maybe all her fantastic qualifications and experience will ignite a groundswell of popular support, unify the country, and provide the foundation for a lasting Democratic hegemony. Anything is possible.
What do the rest of our TNR readers think? If you haven't had your chance, this is the time to air your grievances, your fears, your biases--all in hopes of hashing out a stronger progressive consensus. Discuss.
--Barron YoungSmith