Chris Bowers writes what is likely to be the first post-mortem of the Obama campaign among many.
If you don’t defend your friends and allies, who will you defend? It sends a message louder than any words when Democrats, who are supposed to stand up for an all-in-it-together public ethic, consistently send their sharpest, best aimed kicks towards their most ardent supporters. Who thinks they’ll stand up for the little guy when they repeatedly turn influential sections of their base over for ritual humiliation at the instigation of the Republicans? It’s either cowardice or hypocrisy, and who the hell wants to vote for that?
Hopefully some good will come out of this and other Democrats will take notice. The netroots and the progressives will not keep getting the backs of people who keep stabbing us in ours. Will. Not.
Obama’s McClurkin moment seems to be a last straw for many of the group of liberal and progressive Democrats that started off as Obama’s strongest coalition. He’s repeatedly insulted them without making sufficient gains anywhere else, and has been losing those voters to Clinton. As Bowers says, he was probably the only candidate that ever had a shot at defeating her, and when you’ve lost Pastor Dan, you have lost big time.
If Gore doesn’t enter the race, (ha!) it’s all over but the shouting. Considering that Obama did this to himself, I can’t say I’ll be sad.
I guess I find it sad, but not surprising.
I’ve got to say, I’ve never understood the fascination with Obama in the first place. Even with his 2004 DNC speech.
But that’s just me, I suppose.
Ever since he embraced Joe Lieberman, I’ve felt Obama was full of shit.
And now, after all the gay-bashing and dog-whistling, he’s fucked himself.
You can’t say it is all over but the shouting. Clinton can still be beat.
Dodd’s leadership of FISA is just now sinking in. Edwards has been emboldened by the response to Dodd’s move and is speaking out in a much stronger way. Even if Clinton wins NH and Iowa (by no means assured) someone not named Clinton could win SC and someone else not named Clinton could win Nevada.
And Gore could still enter the race. Depending upon what happens in Iowa and NH, Gore could enter as late as February.
If Bush starts a war with Iran in March, Clinton’s support will melt like summer snow.
omg, you mentioned Nevada! Bless your soul. Humor aside, Nevada’s been ignored so much and not just by the traditional media but also by the blogosphere. It’s just irritating. And so it was nice to see you mention it.
I did include the caveat that if Gore entered, that would be different. He’s the only one of them I’d endorse in the primary.
But Dodd, though I’m glad he’s done what he’s done, isn’t going to win. Edwards isn’t the candidate I want if he has to wait for cues from Dodd, and his campaign has a feel to it that I don’t like but also don’t want to go in to. Suffice it to say that Edwards’ inability to go toe to toe with the bigoted Bill Donohue and publicly repudiate the threats made against McEwan and Marcotte really sealed my impression of him, everything since that point is really afterthought.