The Aftermath
John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani have dropped out of the race and I am dropping out of the Democratic Party as they don’t have any real Democrats left in the process.
Molly Ivins wrote a column back in January of 2006, I will not support Hillary Clinton for president, pretty much explaining why Clinton is a bad idea. The last time people didn’t listen to Molly, we ended up with the Shrubbery. She was a great loss to the country, as she told the truth.
Natasha wondered about the other candidate in Obama: Another Liberdem? The answer is yes. Don’t listen to his speeches, read his positions. The man has more in common with Arlen Specter than John Kennedy. He’s a moderate to conservative Republican and further to the right than Hillary Clinton.
The recession in Florida will be enhanced by all of the government employees who will be losing their jobs as a result of Amendment 1, and school taxes will rise as districts struggle to meet the classroom size amendment, the A+ program, NCLB, and the other unfunded mandates imposed by the state and federal governments. The League of Cities wasn’t fooling – they are going to have to reduce services.
The only bright note for progressives is that John McCain is quite likely to win in November, since John Edwards was the only Democratic candidate who consistently beat him in polls, so the disaster can still be partially blamed on the Republicans as we extend the Hedgemony four more years.
I’ll be writing in a Democrat’s name on my ballot in November, because I won’t vote for a Republican – no matter what line their name occupies.
26 comments
i think i’ll write in molly ivins for president.
I’ll probably write in Edwards.
It is a real tragedy in my opinion. Edwards was the first candidate in a long time that really gave me hope that things could and would change in Washington. Clinton and Obama leave me cold and I really resent having to “settle” for a candidate because that is what the media decided for me.
I am sorely tempted to violate my own personal rule of “no symbolic votes; no quixotic votes” this year in the Texas primary. I am a priori committed to vote for the Democratic nominee in November (and I take such commitments quite seriously), but the DP will have to work very, very hard to recapture my commitment after 2008. Forcibly removing Kucinich from the Texas ballot and (apparently) pressuring Edwards to end his run are gestures that do not incline me to resume participation as an actual member of the Democratic Party, no matter how frequently I will probably vote for Democratic candidates.
It’s the Party’s decision: either they can acknowledge that my vote and my voice must have some influence on their actions, or they can do without my historically solid contributions of money and sweat.
Thanks for the Molly link. You’ve probably inspired a post on the YDD, and of course I’ll credit you and link this post.
ok, i finally got the other link in your post to work.
i didn’t take that obama quote as admiring reagan’s policies necessarily, so much as it seemed to be admiring of reagan’s ability to strike a responsive chord in many people.
otoh, obama is triangulating just as much as hillary is. as you can tell by his progressive following, he’s saying all the right words that they want to hear, and with this admiring reference to reagan, he’s drawing in the middle-rightish crowd. all in search of raw numbers [of voters].
it remains to be seen, if both types vote for him and he gets elected, which group he’ll thumb his nose at — turning out to be more progressive than his words have led conservatives to believe, or turning out to be more conservative than his words have led progressives to believe.
i’m betting it’s that second one, that he’s going to turn out to be republican-lite, and that progressives will be thrown a few bones to gnaw on to keep them quiet.
if whoever of the two of them, clinton or pbama, picks edwards [or probably one of my earlier favorites] as their running mate, i will probably grit my teeth and vote for them.
Fallenmonk, John understood the problems and saw the route to the solution. The majority of the American people, not just the Democrats, are more in line with Edwards than any other candidate, but the media just refused to cover him. They wanted the Clinton vs. Obama narrative and couldn’t care less about anything else. They would admit he won a debate, and them forget about him again. The corporations hated him and his message.
Steve, I’m too old to put up with this crap any more. The party has left me behind as it shifted to the right. I tired of the losers in the DLC, who are the reason that there are more registered Democrats in Florida, yet we have no power in the state government. We have good Democrats in this state, but they run for federal office, because the state party is no help, backing DLC approved candidates every time you turn around. Bill Nelson is the kind of Democrat you get running for statewide office. Where was the outrage at what the national party did to us? Nowhere, because the DLCrats don’t do outrage.
Hipparchia, Obama gets credit for his community work. Have you checked out what he was doing? Do you know about sucking up to corporations for donations to non-profits? Do you know about his job with a New York financial information company after college? I know you’ve looked at his financial advisors and are aware that they like capital gains cuts to solve all of the world’s economic problems. He’s another DLC triangulator. From what I’ve read on his site, he’s to the right of Clinton.
heck, i’ve sucked up to corporations to garner donations for my pet non-profit causes too. that’s what compassionate conservatism is: it strokes the egos of the conservatives to dole out bits of money to those of the needy who beg the prettiest. volunteer groups and community organizations do the begging so the poor people don’t have to [although a lot of groups do turn around make the poor people beg almost as much].
it’s hugely inefficient [and inhumane] system compared to taxing the living daylights out of the filthy rich and spreading the loot equitably over all society [free health care for everyone! even illegals!] but it’s not necessarily an indictment of anybody who works for such an organization.
neither is working on wall street necessarily bad. i’m a treehugger nonpareil, but i once worked for a huge multinational polluting socially irresponsible chemical company for awhile. i plead extenuating circumstances; i had dogs to feed. 🙂
but yeah, add that to who his advisers are, which industries are donating big-time to his campaign, and the words he chooses, and it’s all rather damning.
otoh, i went with a much simpler criterion for my own decisions: corporate america isn’t going to hand huge sums of money, and press, to a woman of any color, or a black person of any sex, unless they’re suitably republican.
it would be a pleasant surprise if, once one or the other is in office, they turn on their benefactors and turn out to be a progressive in wolves’ clothing, but i won’t be holding my breath.
I voted via mail for Edwards. I will write in Edwards on my November ballot if Hillary is the candidate. I will vote for Obama. However, after our second primary (Yeah…we here in CA get two Primaries and one General this year) I will switch my party affiliation to Green.
I looked at the candidates based upon their health care proposals. Of the candidates, only Dennis Kucinich had a health care proposal that would actually work to both reduce costs and assure care for everybody. But he of course is out of the race now.
Of the candidates remaining, here’s their health care proposals:
Republicans: If you get sick and don’t have health insurance because you can’t afford it, it’s because you’re a deadbeat. Go home and die, you scumbag.
Obama: Gosh, health insurance is a good thing.
Clinton: 300 page proposal detailing every nit-picking thing about how to provide universal health care to all Americans *and* how to get it through a Congress that is completely bought-and-paid-for by spreading the pork around enough places that they’ll go for it.
Yeah, the Clinton plan is totally corrupt and way too expensive for what it does, but it’s probably the best that can be done in these corrupt times and it *does* end up covering everybody in the end.
I voted for Edwards in the California primary, but the nation can do worse than Hillary Clinton. Much worse. Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Eye-RAAAAN! worse.
Sad, but not unexpected.
As I said previously, Edwards wanted to try to fix things. Those who are in control don’t want things fixed. He never had a chance.
I think I’m pretty much on Badtux’s wavelength here, although I have to admit Obama at least once toyed with single-payer and considered advocating it. Just bowed to the K Street realities too soon for my blood. A lot depends on the running mate.
My biggest reservation about Hillary, besides disagreeing with all her triangulating nonsense, is the Hillary Hatred. It’s a real, palpable monstrous THING in this neck of the woods, and just gives Republicans another faux ‘issue’ to run against and make things too close to call.
It’s my sense that Obama could drub any Republican, and that’s important to me. I want BLOOD, dammit – Republican blood. No close-call recounts that will give the R’s a chance to steal it. Again.
So, yeah – gritting my teeth. I’ll write in Kucinich in the primary and hope he – and my 2nd & 3rd choices (Dodd & Edwards) continue to try to sway the leadership in the Good Fight.
If Obama gets the nomination, the right wing shriek machine will go into high gear. They’ve already dragged Hillary through the mud all they can (I mean, they already accused her of *murder*, you can’t get much lower than that). Nobody listens to them about Hillary anymore, they’ve already heard it all and if any minds can be changed, they’ve already been changed. Obama, though, they haven’t even started on yet. Watch this space — if Obama gets the nomination, they’ll manage to convince 51% of the American people that Obama is some Islamic jihadist in disguise come to eat their babies, and we can say hello to President McCain. The bombs will start falling on Iran shortly afterwards.
Well, there is that. Even a dependably Democratic relative of mine had to be practically tied down and whipped into disbelieving the Muslim-Obama business.
I’m just so tired of the right wing hate mongers. They will come after ANYONE, regardless. They would have attacked Edwards just as viciously. So, I guess it’s a matter of picking our poison.
i was sifting through the comments on this nyt blog post earlier today. a number of edwards supporters are threatening to vote for mccain rather than either clinton or obama.
i’m making a list of the countries that will let me bring a dozen cats with me when i move there.
hipparchia (and anyone else)… Now that we have gotten rid of our garbage… Aus is a good place to live. 😉 Not great… lot of repair work to be done, but we are doing it. 🙂
It’s sad… I know. I really do hope it works out. But I feel it will take a long time to right all the wrongs there. It’s obvious that the Election system needs a serious overhaul, and since there is little chance whoever wins the nest election will fax it, it will be up to a majority of the people.
Good luck, really.
i think you should vote the straight Democratic ticket otherwise you are enabling the election of more Republicans that have become a strictly rightist phenomenon in America.
between the wars
i’ve always wanted to go to australia.
my top five, in no particular order: canada, mexico, cuba, france, greece, australia, new zealand. rounding out the top ten: china, japan, turkey, iceland, italy, belize.
my fondest hope is still that canada will invade the u.s., bringing their health care system with them. then i could stay right here in sunny florida.
“my top five, in no particular order: canada, mexico, cuba, france, greece, australia, new zealand. rounding out the top ten: china, japan, turkey, iceland, italy, belize.” – hipparchia
The late Richard Rauch, a colleague of mine in my Amnesty International days, used to say, “There are three kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can’t.” 😈
I’m too old to emigrate… not to mention too thoroughly culturally and sociopolitically American. Need I emphasize the culture of which I partake is that of America prior to GeeDubya…
more fun with dyslexia: i first read that as culturally and sociopathically american. 😈
it took me years and years and years to get a handle on math, but i turned out to be reasonably good at it once the light bulb went on.
See, I read it as there are 10 kinds of people – those who understand binary and those that don’t.
Ghost Dansing, a lot of people put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money into getting a Democratic Congress, and having achieved it, nothing changed. The current Democratic leadership doesn’t have the guts to change things, so what is the point for voting for more of the same.
There is no time for triangulating or making nice, the situation is too dire. Things must change and change quickly. Climate change is not waiting for a consensus. The national debt is still accumulating interest. People are still dying in Iraq. The economy is going down the drain. The people in the lead act like we just need to sit around a table and talk. That time was years ago, Now we need to act,
Pelosi took impeachment off the table to get things done, not appreciating that impeachment was the only way anything could be accomplished. I’m really tired of the incredibly stupid people in charge. The place is on fire and they want to have a conference call to see what should be done.
Enough – I’m too damn old for this shit.
now that light bulb flickered on and off in rapid succession in my brain for a spell before i finally caught on. hmmm, i just noticed i have C cats, and if i throw in the dog I have D animals, and if you count everyone, there’s E of us living here.
I hear British Columbia is nice. But Australia – yeah….I could go for that. Or New Zealand. I’m too old to learn a new language, or I’d opt for Denmark.
Bryan is right – I”m too old for this shit, too. And it seems like the best I can do is spit uselessly in their faces. I’m tired of waiting for A Hero.
If he could rouse himself, Gore could do it…..but I can’t blame him for not wanting to getting himself and his family in the filthy mess again.
My primary objective is getting the Republicans out of the White House. A symbolic vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning isn’t an option. It’s too important to me that the Repubs be gone.
The momentum is swinging with Obama right now. I’m not convinced that he is the right choice. He says the right things. I’ve agreed with most of his votes in the Senate. However, at this point I think Hillary will be the better choice. Regardless, I’ll support either of them.
Change will take time. It took Bush and his gang of merry men (and women) years to mess it up. It will take years to fix it. Perhaps with control of Congress and the White House the Dems will get more agressive. To believe otherwise is to completely lose hope. I could start packing my suitcase and follow the rest of you out. 😉 Someone turn out the lights please.
I’m for Obama. Hillary voted for the war then changed her position, making her a sitting duck for McCain’s demagoguery.
Even as angry as I am with the Dem Party establishment, I don’t think we have the luxury of not voting for the Dem in November, especially if the mentally unstable, warmongering McCain is the Rep nonimee. Anyone – of either party – is preferable to McCain-Lieberman. That’s like a Cheney-Cheney combo.
i can totally relate. i have no motivation to vote for either clinton or obama. i dont’ trust clinton and i don’t believe obama (or is it the other way around?).
i personally have no problem with voting for a third party candidate, i had been doing it most of my life until the last three elections, when it looked like the right was taking over.
but america voted in the dems last election, and look what happened…nothing!
what’s the point of the two party system, when one party is greedy and corrupt and the other party just pretends not to be?
i’m still not sure whom to vote for, but i am totally put off by the whole process now.
I can’t see myself even taking the time to vote this year.