No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.
- US Supreme Court

Sunday, September 14, 2008

it's official: Obama's loss is Hillary's fault.

It has begun - just as predicted, and more or less on schedule. Obama is gonna lose and it's all Hillary's fault.

But while she may not have beaten Obama in the primaries, she may well have sown the seeds for his defeat in 52 days time.

It's not just that Clinton continued to battle for the nomination beyond the point at which her winning became impossible and the major political damage to the Illinois senator became inevitable.

The crucial point is that if it wasn't for Clinton, Sarah Palin - who now could well become America's first female president whether or not McCain wins the White House - would have remained in relative obscurity in Alaska.

The crucial point is that if it wasn't for...Clinton?

Oh, wait, I forgot - she shouldn't have dared to run. For one thing, Obama doesn't look good when there's actual competition out there. She revealed his weaknesses And, of course, since he couldn't beat her fair & square (since she wouldn't quit), that made him have to resort to dirty election tricks, ranging from vote suppression to stealing delegates. It's true, of course, that "Clinton continued to battle for the nomination beyond the point at which her winning became impossible", but by that time Obama's winning had become impossible too - the rules (for those who cared, ha ha) said the matter was to go to the superdelegates. And that was bad for Obama, because the way he tampered with the superdelegate process, crooked Chicago politics at its best, is really, more than anything, the reason I quit the Democratic party, and now actively campaign against Obama.

But mostly it's this: by running for President, she exposed the sexism and hypocrisy of the party claiming to be for equal rights. So I guess, if you're really determined, you could say that her daring to make a serious bid for the White House is why Obama lost.

But it isn't true that Hillary "caused" Obama to be all of the marvelous things that he isn't. He could have run a better campaign. He could have been a better candidate. Obama will lose because he is unethical and immoral and (18 year old males aside) "not likable enough". It doesn't help that his party was revealed as corrupt, rigging the vote. But ultimately the loss is on him - not Hillary, not his crooked party, not the voters who should have known better. He and his party betrayed the base in numerous ways - from FISA to taking universal health care off the table to stealing Hillary's votes to try to shore up the make-believe "let's pretend Obama won a clear victory" charade, followed by that lovely round of "vote for Obama you dumb broads or I'll take away the few rights you do still have!" bitch-slapping.

Did Hillary cause that too?

But I will say this: Dems, if you don't want to be winners, and do what it takes to earn our votes, there are other parties that do - and you might get one more election to shape up or become the newest in the long list of "America's abandoned and mostly forgotten political parties".

Trying to blame Hillary for Obama being such a weak, whiney loser is not going to endear you to anyone, Democratic Party. Give it up already.

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