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Finesse: An Opposite View

By SusanUnPC on August 25, 2008 at 10:56 AM in Current Affairs

It is time for Barack Obama and the media to acknowledge THEIR direct culpability in alienating all of us.

It is long past TIME for Barack Obama to admit his direct participation in why so many of Hillary’s supporters remain opposed to him.

Has he EVER courted us? No.

Has he ever apologized for the blatant sexism in the campaign? No.

Did he conduct the de rigueur vetting of Hillary Clinton to be his vice presidential running mate? No.

Has he made any serious effort to aid Hillary in retiring her debt? No.

There has been NO outreach from Obama himself OR from his campaign to any of us. The media have also failed — utterly — to report Obama’s culpability in our alienation from his candidacy.

Why did he not realize that it was vitally important that he — at the least — make a demonstration of vetting Hillary for the vice presidential nomination, no matter his intention not to select her?

1) It is the polite and considerate thing to do.

2) It is always done because the feelings of the other candidate’s supporters require it.

Susan Estrich spoke about this eloquently over the weekend on Fox News. She described the lengths that she went to, while working on a campaign, to ensure that the runners-up received the FULL “vetting” experience. They were asked for their financial records. They were flown in for a meeting and lunch. They were called and consulted.

Susan admitted that the campaign had no serious intention of selecting one runner-up, but that that was NOT the point. The point was to make sure that this candidate and all of his supporters felt that he was given fair consideration. And he was.

Why did Barack Obama not understand this basic ritual of presidential politics?

Why did Barack Obama think he could get away with being so RUDE to Hillary Clinton and to her supporters?

Lynn Forester used the word “ungracious” to describe Barack Obama’s failure to help Hillary retire her debt. That word again applies to Mr. Obama’s management of the vice presidential vetting process.

Instead of wooing us, and instead of showing us that he has the highest regard for our candidate, he continues to alienate us.

Barack, do you really think you have a chance to win without courting us?

You may think that you can wait until the general election to win us over, but it may already be too late.

You lost your chance because you failed to show simple courtesy to the candidate who received more votes than ANY primary candidate in HISTORY.

And you wonder why we complain about your arrogance?

You wonder why we remain alienated from you?

Instead of grousing about us, you should first take a long hard look in the mirror.