Retrospective: Switching Sides?
mccain, obama, retrospective 9:02 PM
Written Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
------
George Bush made a Democrat out of me.
Yes, it's true, I identified pretty closely with a lot of what the Republicans stood for as a teenager. I was very moderate, yes, but nonetheless I truly believed in the message that George Bush brought to voters in 2000. I wanted to hear more about compassionate conservatism. I was hungry for messages about a smaller, less intrusive federal government that respected individual freedoms and demanded individual responsibility. With the impending economic slowdown that either president would inherit, I demanded to know that I'd be behind a guy that would bring tax cuts and economic relief to those of us who needed it most.
Instead, I got a president whose agenda had been hijacked by the religious right and by neoconservatives. I got the most divisive president ever. I got a man who used gays as a wedge to get his voters to the polls. I got a the guy that pushed for the greatest government expansion in decades. The most spending ever. The worst deficit. Tax cuts only for those who needed it least of all. Spying on the American public. McCarthyism. Blatant public deception. A world that hates us more than perhaps ever in our history.
George Bush made a Democrat out of me.
Now, I fear Barack Obama could make an Independent out of me.
I've been skeptical of BHO and his message from the very beginning. I've never bought into his 'audacity of hope' or perceived domination over the term 'change'. I don't buy that he'll bring a coalition of people together. I don't believe he'll get done the things that we need done. I don't like him. I don't trust him. And just because his name will and does appear with a (D) after it, I do not believe that he necessarily stands for the things I stand for. He certainly doesn't speak for me. In fact, the people he represents - a coalition of African Americans and upper-class whites - couldn't be farther from how I identify in my heart, let alone my actual demographic.
Nothing in my life has ever been more important to me than electing Hillary Clinton president of the United States. Not just because of what BHO stands for, but because of what she does. Rolling up your sleeves and fighting to champion real change is what our girl is about, and she absolutely positively should have won this nomination based on the merits of her arguments, her stances, and her experience. Also, her coalition of voters, which runs wider and deeper than BHO's. In fact, more people have gone to the polls for Hillary than for him. Actually, more people have gone to the polls for her than for anybody in any primary, EVER.
Yet, as this primary season comes to a close and the dust begins to settle, we see an odd trend. The candidate who has won the most votes isn't our candidate. Nor the big states. Or the swing states. Not even the traditionally Democratic ones. Not the border states. Not the bellweather states. Our candidates is not the person carrying women, the majority of the party. Not the candidate winning Hispanics, Jews, Catholics, or gays. How Odd!
And so, as this process does indeed come to a close, and automatic delegates seem to rally around the other guy, my candidate must bow out gracefully. She and I both know that it should be her accepting the party nomination - not because it was in any way owed to her, but because she was right. She is our strongest candidate. She is our most experienced. She is a workhorse, not a show horse. She does represent a broad and deep coalition. She would be a better leader. She would bring home the swing states and win in November with a mandate from voters. Instead, she will probably suspend her campaign within the next 48 hours. More likely than not, she will work very hard over the next months to get Barack Obama elected as the 44th president of the USA.
It's just a shame that now I have to campaign against her. That truly breaks my heart.
------
George Bush made a Democrat out of me.
Yes, it's true, I identified pretty closely with a lot of what the Republicans stood for as a teenager. I was very moderate, yes, but nonetheless I truly believed in the message that George Bush brought to voters in 2000. I wanted to hear more about compassionate conservatism. I was hungry for messages about a smaller, less intrusive federal government that respected individual freedoms and demanded individual responsibility. With the impending economic slowdown that either president would inherit, I demanded to know that I'd be behind a guy that would bring tax cuts and economic relief to those of us who needed it most.
Instead, I got a president whose agenda had been hijacked by the religious right and by neoconservatives. I got the most divisive president ever. I got a man who used gays as a wedge to get his voters to the polls. I got a the guy that pushed for the greatest government expansion in decades. The most spending ever. The worst deficit. Tax cuts only for those who needed it least of all. Spying on the American public. McCarthyism. Blatant public deception. A world that hates us more than perhaps ever in our history.
George Bush made a Democrat out of me.
Now, I fear Barack Obama could make an Independent out of me.
I've been skeptical of BHO and his message from the very beginning. I've never bought into his 'audacity of hope' or perceived domination over the term 'change'. I don't buy that he'll bring a coalition of people together. I don't believe he'll get done the things that we need done. I don't like him. I don't trust him. And just because his name will and does appear with a (D) after it, I do not believe that he necessarily stands for the things I stand for. He certainly doesn't speak for me. In fact, the people he represents - a coalition of African Americans and upper-class whites - couldn't be farther from how I identify in my heart, let alone my actual demographic.
Nothing in my life has ever been more important to me than electing Hillary Clinton president of the United States. Not just because of what BHO stands for, but because of what she does. Rolling up your sleeves and fighting to champion real change is what our girl is about, and she absolutely positively should have won this nomination based on the merits of her arguments, her stances, and her experience. Also, her coalition of voters, which runs wider and deeper than BHO's. In fact, more people have gone to the polls for Hillary than for him. Actually, more people have gone to the polls for her than for anybody in any primary, EVER.
Yet, as this primary season comes to a close and the dust begins to settle, we see an odd trend. The candidate who has won the most votes isn't our candidate. Nor the big states. Or the swing states. Not even the traditionally Democratic ones. Not the border states. Not the bellweather states. Our candidates is not the person carrying women, the majority of the party. Not the candidate winning Hispanics, Jews, Catholics, or gays. How Odd!
And so, as this process does indeed come to a close, and automatic delegates seem to rally around the other guy, my candidate must bow out gracefully. She and I both know that it should be her accepting the party nomination - not because it was in any way owed to her, but because she was right. She is our strongest candidate. She is our most experienced. She is a workhorse, not a show horse. She does represent a broad and deep coalition. She would be a better leader. She would bring home the swing states and win in November with a mandate from voters. Instead, she will probably suspend her campaign within the next 48 hours. More likely than not, she will work very hard over the next months to get Barack Obama elected as the 44th president of the USA.
It's just a shame that now I have to campaign against her. That truly breaks my heart.
Posted by Nick Stone
on 9:02 PM.
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