But it won’t go away. Obama sat at his feet for 20 years, and the more that you see of Wright, the more impossible it is to believe that Obama had no idea of what Wright was about.

Wright makes himself perfectly clear, and particularly in a church setting. Most people pick up Wright’s “vibes” within 10 minutes. How did Obama sit there for 20 years and think that Wright was a kindly old man?

Obama’s throwing Wright under the bus may be too little too late. It might just label him as a political opportunist who is disloyal to his friends.

Expect to continue to see more and more Wright “sound bites” as time goes on. I’m sure that the Republicans are combing thru 30 years of Wright audiotapes, videotapes and DVD’s.

And if they run out of steam on Wright, there is Rezko and Farrakhan. And there is who-knows-what kind of dirt acquired by playing in the mud of Chicago’s South Side for 15 years as a “community organizer”.

And what exactly is a “community organizer”? A lot of Republicans probably think that that is a synonym for “commie”.

The best bet? A Hillary-Obama ticket, with Hillary on top. Then, after 8 years, a well-groomed Obama walks into the White House for another 8 years. 16 years of Democratic rule.

But Obama will probably throw it all away by stealing the nomination (by ignoring FL and MI) and then losing the election. Which, of course, dooms him to political oblivion.

This has bothered me so much that I have developed a hatred for much of the Democratic Party at the national level. Altho I am a lifelong Democrat, I would probably vote for McCain rather than Obama.

I think that Obama has shown himself to be an opportunist, a hypocrite, and a liar. His followers are a bunch of neo-fascist thugs. I would definitely NOT want to see Obama’s followers get anywhere near the White House.

On the other hand, McCain offers us the same-old-same-old non-solutions for the economy. Conservatism has failed. Big time. Conservatism has even failed at what it allegedly does best: The economy and defense.

If McCain could get a SMART running mate, rather than some muddle-headed conservative, he could easily beat Obama.

How about McCain-Clinton? THERE’S a ticket.

In the past, I was able to vote for the winning nominee, because the campaigns were not so nasty, hateful, and unfair. Although Bradley lost, the media did not really portray him in horrendous terms. Dean, I concede, received a lot of awful and unfair press. The Dean Scream was a complete media invention, and it slandered a great candidate. I was angry with the Democrats for falling for this madness. I saw a Karl Rove conspiracy; the Republicans said they preferred Dean, and the Democrats and the “liberal” media fell for it. Now, the Republicans say they want Clinton, and the media and the Democrats have fallen for it. The difference, however, is one of degree. The media and Obama’s supporters have portrayed Clinton in completely unflattering terms, but she maintains a large volume of supporters. I think this shows how strong a candidate she actually is. On some level Bradley was flat, and Dean was a little “sporadic.” But Clinton is a pretty straight shooter. The media, however, have done nothing but seek bad news about her. Even recently, they rushed a story calling her a “liar” concerning a campaign story that portrayed an uninsured woman’s plight with health care. Although Clinton never mentioned the woman’s or the hospital’s name, a particular hospital denied the story — and without even verifying anything, the headlines portrayed her as lying – “yet again.” Turns out, the woman had several hospital visits and indeed was refused care by another hospital due to lack of insurance and $100. The woman’s family and the sheriff who told Clinton the story have confirmed its validity. Rather than seeking to validate the truth, the media rushed to brand her a liar.

Things like this have happened throughout the campaign. Obama’s “lies” and “distortions” receive very little attention. This is patently unfair. The Democrats are supposed to be “fair.” Because they are not — I refuse to support them anymore (add Florida and Michigan to this analysis — and my opinion becomes even more forceful). The lack of fairness contradicts everthing the party claims to support, including the “narrative” advanced by Obama and his supporters. He is a “dignified” and “righteous” individual — getting success in large part based on the most vitriolic sexism I have seen in US political history. If Democrats do not take a stand against this, then who will? If Democrats do not take a stand against this, then why are we any better than the Republicans?

As a civil rights activist, I cannot endorse a party that embraces sexism, that portrays a black man as the “post-racial” answer to their guilt, and that dismisses poor voters and Latinos as universally racist, uneducated and therefore lacking judgment. I refuse to support a party that views lifetime involvement with the Democratic party negatively — as presenting “more of the same.” I refuse to vote for a party that devalues the wisdom of an older generation of voters who have spent their entire lives trying to make change: saying they are “stuck in the past” is childish and petty. Obama and his followers have all said these things. But these are not my values. So, denying Obama my vote is not about being a “sore loser”; instead, it is a principled decision based on a lifetime of work.

Proud Democratic Defector

i will NEVER vote for obama

I canvassed for George McGovern in West Seattle in 1972 and encountered scorched earth. McGovern had gotten the nomination during the mother of all primary campaigns against the Stop McGovern forces gathered by Jimmy Carter, Scoop Jackson and Hubert Humphrey. The reason he got the nomination is because he wrote the rules that got him his 1729 delegates.

He and the rest of the cherry picked McGovern-Fraser Comission are responsible for the original sin that resulted in this current primary mess. It was a noble experiment that resulted in a 60% loss rate over the next thirty six years. The superdelegates are a quasi-senatorial attempt at a quickie fix it but the whole system should be junked if only we could find one goddamned Democrat with enough brains to come up with the equivalent of the Powell Memo.

I spent the night before the Texas primary calling Texas Democrats on behalf of Hillary Clinton. George McGovern spent the same night calling Texas Democrat party leaders on behalf of Hillary Clinton. I doubt that the irony was lost on us.

That’s the history lesson.

McGovern and I know how this ends……..

A history lesson…

Four years ago many Democrats got angry because we felt like the national party was failing to meet our needs. We felt devastated that there seemed to be no one speaking up for the principles that Democrats had supposedly stood for. We were upset that they voted for things like the tax cuts, NCLB, the Patriot Act, and most glaringly the war in Iraq. We were in awe when a spunky candidate from Vermont had the guts to speak up and say “NO!” We gave him money, we worked for his campaign, in my case I literally shed blood in Iowa when I fell on the ice. We also watched as the party “elite” including the DLC friends of the Clintons, insulted us, and did everything it could to bring our candidate down.

He lost. It was painful and heartbreaking. Did we give up? Did we vote for the Republican and quit the party? Hell no, we got organized. We were driven by core principles that we felt that the Democratic establishment or “elite” were not delivering on – 1) The party should listen to the grassroots 2) Democrats should offer a strong voice of opposition to the Republicans 3) The Democratic party should not automatically cede one corner of this country to the Republicans without a fight and 4) The grassroots should help and encourage strong Democrats to get elected to local positions.

We founded Democratic clubs, we worked to get congresspeople elected in what had been very red districts, we got our people elected as delegates to the state party, we lobbied congress and the senate on numerous issues, and we worked like dogs to get Dean elected to be chair of the DNC. The idea that he was the choice of the “elites” is a joke. They did not want him.

I have hope that MI and FL will eventually be resolved, but if you’re angry at Dean for the way he has handled things, by all means work to change them. Having volunteered for him I am willing to bet that he would even respect you for it. Giving up on the party is easy to do, it’s working for change that is difficult. As an Obama supporter, I’m in for the long haul no matter who the candidate is. Whether we agree or disagree about the direction the party will take I hope that Hillary supporters will fight to fix the party rather than throw in the towel.

they say we’re responsible for deaths in iraq if we don’t vote obama, they say mccain will get supremes to overturn roe – highly doubtful. they say we’re just stupid, or racist, or old, or whatever….i don’t care what they say. your comment said it all – they tell us to buzz off, so we will.

even though i’m going to buzz off, i keep giving them a piece of mind – emailing the dnc, etc. they never respond, of course. i’m sure they can tell from reading my emails that they won’t be getting any money from me, and we all know that’s all they really care about.

I agree, it is time to take a stand against the DNC. I too have been a straight ticket Dem voter since 1980. I have voted for every loser the Dem’s have nominated. In essence I have disenfranchised myself since all my votes except for WJC have meant nothing but more Republicans. Now the WJC admin, the only winners for the Dems in almost 30yrs is being smeared and demonized by THE DEMS. What’s the definition of insanity…doing the same thing over and over expecting different results ?

I suggest an e-mail campaign announcing our intention to leave the Dem party and register as an independent. This not an idle threat. If Obama wins the nomination I cannot vote for him. Voting for losers is bad enough, but voting for an complete fraud is the last straw for me.