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To the Hillary campaign:

By CRAIG DELLA PENNA on May 24, 2008 at 7:49 PM in Current Affairs

[ADMIN NOTE: I'm not sure how the rest of us feel about this, but I am sensing that more and more of us are so fed up with the Democratic party that we have begun a mutiny. CRAIG, I ADMIRE YOUR RESOLVE! And VISIT Craig's blog, The Heraclitan Fire.]
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I don’t know if you are listening anymore but I have to try anyway:

First, some background. I have been a lifelong Democrat and as such I can say that I have never been truly represented (I came to like Bill but I disagreed with a lot of his more conservative initiatives). Yet I have held on, hoping that, someday, the time/person would be in sync so we could do some good in our country, in the world. As you can imagine, the last seven years have been painful for me (as were the Reagan years) but I have held on…

This time, however, it’s different. I have been appalled by the spinelessness of the Democrats in the 110th Congress and even more aghast at the candidacy of Senator Obama (see my journal for a more detailed look at this).

Contrary to popular opinion, I regard Senator Obama as a disaster waiting to happen.

During this campaign I have argued vigorously for Hillary, written in journals and been published in the blogosphere (No Quarter), donated to her campaign and worked the phones here in Oregon. I have felt her pain and relished her victories. I have tremendous respect for her intelligence, dedication and perseverance but my patience with the Democrats is running out.

So, here is my cri du coeur: Hillary – please do not, do not, do not have anything to do with an Obama ticket. Do not support Obama in the general election and certainly do not agree to be his VP. Frankly, as I say in my journal, I think the time is ripe for a third party and I think that you and Bill would be the perfect headliners for that effort. But Obama is another Bush-sized catastrophe for America – you know this, probably better than most, please do not be complicit in foisting this disaster on us.

That said, I realize that Hillary is a lifelong Democrat and I expect that she will work her butt off for the Democrats even if they follow their current stupidity and nominate Obama.

However, I have had it. If Obama is nominated I will not support him, even if Hillary is on the ticket with him. In addition, I will leave the Democratic Party and, if it looks like a close election in the Fall… I will hold my nose and vote for McCain.

Well, you may say, what’s one disaffected voter among millions? I urge you not to dismiss this lightly, I have come to find that there are many, many people who feel this way – we will not be coming together to get behind the party nominee, not this time.

Sincerely,
Craig Della Penna