really? no, really?

[bix02138]

as seen in the age:

just before the convention a gallup/usa today poll showed that only 47 per cent of clinton supporters would definitely vote for obama. a further 23 per cent said they supported him but may change their minds and 30 per cent say they will either vote for mccain or stay home.

really? well then i have but one question: what the fuck, people?

what about john mccain's candidacy makes him the natural choice for a supporter of hillary clinton? please, somebody tell me. i'm dying to know. is it his stance on health care? education? interventionism? 100 years in iraq? abortion? george w. bush?

i can only think of two reasons a supporter of hillary clinton would not vote for barack obama:

a fit of pique childish enough to make ralph nader smile, or

racism.

oh wait. there is another possibility:

dementia.

i know i run the risk of alienating an anyone-but-obama clinton supporter or two with my response, but i have yet to have one explain to me the rationale for jumping from clinton to mccain (or staying home, effectively the same thing). your candidate didn't win? fuck, folks, the candidate i voted for for president has won exactly twice in my history of voting for president (three times, if you count al gore's victory in'00, when florida, which he won, was stolen; four, if you believe ohio in '04 was a repeat of '00). the point is, my candidate almost never wins. but does that mean i should start voting republican to up the chances of a better batting average? how preposterous. or perhaps i should stay home so as to not have my tender feelings bruised by the mean ol' electorate. yeah, right.

so, please—please—if there's a logical, politically-defensible and rational reason for hop-scotching from hillary clinton to john mccain, please explain it to me.

Comments

Re: why don't we understand the truth about america?

[tkn1114.livejournal.com]

After these last 8 years, I'm afraid I can't be as "hopeful" as you are. I'd feel delusional. I went to work for Howard Dean full of hope and excitement in 2004, but he got laughed at.

This country is no longer owned by the America people, but by corporate America no matter who the President is. It's a sharade. Obama would be shot down in a minute if he tries to implement real change his way, whatever that is. So would McCain. They have to kowtow to the real power that be in this country to become President.

We are imprisoned. A lot of us are slaves. That's a fact. And we don't have any real desire to get out of the situation, because we're afraid. Afraid of losing what we do not have but are constantly told that we do have, or can have. The carrot is a lie that we continue to jump for.

Some data:
. The gap between the 1% ruling class in America and the working class is clearest and widest since the Depression.
. Mobility in the US is behind that of Western Europe for years. The average American owes far more than the average W. European who has more $ and vacation time than his American counterpart.
. Health care: Yeah, right!

No, I can't be optimistic about this reality. But, I'm willing to fight it tooth and nail, though :-)