Super Tuesday observations
February 5, 2008
Conventional wisdom and polls strongly suggest that Democrats are virtually guaranteed victory in November 2008. And as we come down from Super Tuesday, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will have to continue to compete for delegates maybe all the way to the Democratic convention. However, if Senator Clinton wins the nomination, I am all but certain that John McCain will win the general election for a number of reasons. 1) There are throngs of Democrats and progressives that will never vote for any candidate that voted for the war. 2) I have had extensive conversations with Obama and Edwards supporters that will never vote for Hillary. 3) McCain would do a better job winning over Independents even though he may not have full throttle support from social conservatives. No matter the outcome, there will be widespread motivation to either vote against Clinton by voting for McCain or sitting at home.
If Clinton wins the nomination Obama will be under tremendous pressure to open up his rolodex of donors and supporters to stomp for Clinton. This will put Obama in a difficult situation because Clinton would not pick him as her running mate and the bulk of his supporters will want to see him run again.
No matter what happens with this race, Obama won.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Research. Think. Vote.
February 5, 2008
People, if you live in a state that has a caucus or a primary today, please do two things for me:
- Research.
- Think.
- Vote.
Research
Where do candidates stand in the issues? exclude their party, gender, or race from the equation. What issues are important to you? Research the issues themselves, determine your position on those issues, and then examine each candidate’s position. If they align with yours, you are one step closer to voting for them.
Think.
What will the people running for president do to improve your day-to-day life? What are their positions. Again, exclude their party, gender, or race from the equation and focus on your personal needs and issues that you and your family face today.
Vote
Participate by taking step one in the process of civic engagement. Beyond voting, stay involved and educated on issues and policies that effect you. If you’re a teacher, at least learn about education policy. If you’re in manufacturing, at least learn about labor issues. At least one issue applies to everyone.
Please get beyond voting republican because you don’t like gay marraige. Please get beyond voting for Obama because he’s young and Black. Please get beyond voting for Clinton because she’s a woman who happens to be Bills wife. The time for this immature, non-issue, non-policy, non-concrete approach to politics is over, and I would have killed it earlier if I could have. We need to really, really understand who we’re voting for, why we’re voting for them, and what they will do for us. Political discussions must drill down from the level of broad generalities about “change” coming from Republicans and Democrats into the not-so-sexy but oh-so-important details that will alter how you live, where you work, what you eat, and how healthy you will be.
Let’s grow up and get real
One Love. One II.
