Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Brother Olbermann Redirects His Fire
Keith Olbermann is going to give one of his special comments tonight. This one is particularly notable because it will be the first time he has ever directed a comment against a Democrat. And this isn't just any Democrat either. Brother Olbermann is going turn his guns onto the Presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.
I let this blog go dormant I haven't really expressed my views on the state of the Democratic nomination here at the Workday Liberal. I am supporting Barack Obama for the nomination. When I initially decided to back Barack it was with a feeling of mutual admiration for both him and Hillary. I still defended her against what I felt were unfair attacks, just as I did many times before the nomination process got underway. For me supporting Obama did not mean denouncing Clinton... and I was absolutely convinced that I could whole heartedly support either of them as the party candidate in November. But for me, these feelings of solidarity with the Clinton's are dissipating faster than a late morning fog in summertime Arizona.
If my read on this is correct, Brother Olbermann has gone through a similar transformation. He is a long time defender of both of the Clintons, but her campaign's conduct in pulling out all of the stops in order to win the nomination is rapidly costing her support among many, like Olbermann and myself, upon whom she could once count as staunch defenders.
It looks like Brother Olbermann's comment tonight will focus upon the recent kerfluffle wrought by Geraldine Ferraro. The Ferraro business is ugly and another mark against the Clinton campaign from my perspective but I am having a serious issue with the whole kitchen sink strategy in general.
It seems to me that the only way Clinton can win the nomination is by appealing to the superdelegates to overturn the results of the primary and caucus process. How they can do that and not lead to a decisive schism in the party is beyond my understanding. I know I will find it extremely difficult to support a candidate who steals the nomination by subverting the express will of the people via back room deals and other such untoward shenanigans. If I had been asked 6 months ago to imagine a scenario in which I was questioning the possibility of my supporting the Democratic nominee in the coming election I would have laughed at the notion. Yet here we are, and if Hillary is starting to lose people like me... stalwart proud Democrats who have spent years defending the Clintons and Democrats in general, that is a bad sign.
Furthermore, it appears for all the world that her campaign is taking the approach that if she can not benefit from the nomination that they will make sure that the evident winner will not benefit from it either. It is the political equivalent of the jilted lover proclaiming that if they can not have the love of their life, no one ever will. Keep in mind that Barack Obama is the front runner for the nomination and it will take a minor miracle for that to change at this point. Yet Hillary is out there talking up her ability to step into the role as commander in chief from day one, as is John McCain, but casting aspersions on the credentials of Obama. Has she started taking her counsel from Joe Lieberman? Is Zell Miller writing her speeches now?
So yes... the party is being wrenched asunder by a losing candidate who is convinced that she should have been crowned the nominee. The right wing psychos have come to realize that supporting Hillary serves their best interests. I hope and pray that before it's too late that regular rank and file Democrats will realize what is happening and turn away from the precipice which Clinton is driving the party toward. At this stage of the game the choice is coming down to the following options as far as I'm concerned. You can stand with Rush, Coulter and the rest of that crowd in supporting Clinton, or you can stand with the growing number of people who once stood with the Clintons but can no longer tolerate what is happening to our party.
I let this blog go dormant I haven't really expressed my views on the state of the Democratic nomination here at the Workday Liberal. I am supporting Barack Obama for the nomination. When I initially decided to back Barack it was with a feeling of mutual admiration for both him and Hillary. I still defended her against what I felt were unfair attacks, just as I did many times before the nomination process got underway. For me supporting Obama did not mean denouncing Clinton... and I was absolutely convinced that I could whole heartedly support either of them as the party candidate in November. But for me, these feelings of solidarity with the Clinton's are dissipating faster than a late morning fog in summertime Arizona.
If my read on this is correct, Brother Olbermann has gone through a similar transformation. He is a long time defender of both of the Clintons, but her campaign's conduct in pulling out all of the stops in order to win the nomination is rapidly costing her support among many, like Olbermann and myself, upon whom she could once count as staunch defenders.
It looks like Brother Olbermann's comment tonight will focus upon the recent kerfluffle wrought by Geraldine Ferraro. The Ferraro business is ugly and another mark against the Clinton campaign from my perspective but I am having a serious issue with the whole kitchen sink strategy in general.
It seems to me that the only way Clinton can win the nomination is by appealing to the superdelegates to overturn the results of the primary and caucus process. How they can do that and not lead to a decisive schism in the party is beyond my understanding. I know I will find it extremely difficult to support a candidate who steals the nomination by subverting the express will of the people via back room deals and other such untoward shenanigans. If I had been asked 6 months ago to imagine a scenario in which I was questioning the possibility of my supporting the Democratic nominee in the coming election I would have laughed at the notion. Yet here we are, and if Hillary is starting to lose people like me... stalwart proud Democrats who have spent years defending the Clintons and Democrats in general, that is a bad sign.
Furthermore, it appears for all the world that her campaign is taking the approach that if she can not benefit from the nomination that they will make sure that the evident winner will not benefit from it either. It is the political equivalent of the jilted lover proclaiming that if they can not have the love of their life, no one ever will. Keep in mind that Barack Obama is the front runner for the nomination and it will take a minor miracle for that to change at this point. Yet Hillary is out there talking up her ability to step into the role as commander in chief from day one, as is John McCain, but casting aspersions on the credentials of Obama. Has she started taking her counsel from Joe Lieberman? Is Zell Miller writing her speeches now?
So yes... the party is being wrenched asunder by a losing candidate who is convinced that she should have been crowned the nominee. The right wing psychos have come to realize that supporting Hillary serves their best interests. I hope and pray that before it's too late that regular rank and file Democrats will realize what is happening and turn away from the precipice which Clinton is driving the party toward. At this stage of the game the choice is coming down to the following options as far as I'm concerned. You can stand with Rush, Coulter and the rest of that crowd in supporting Clinton, or you can stand with the growing number of people who once stood with the Clintons but can no longer tolerate what is happening to our party.
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