Electability and experience

[politicasista]

With the Iraq war raging out of control, the silly talk of 2008 gets tiring (I try to avoid those threads here), but here was a post that I replied to at another blog/forum about electability.

I would love Hillary or Obama as president. But, i just don't think either one of them will get elected as president. If we truly want a democrat in the oval office, then we have to put someone who will surely win the election. And having Obama or Hillary running for president is very risky. It's kinda sad, but the democrats need someone more appealing to the general American public. Which means putting up a candidate who is appealing even to the Republicans and independants. Because let's face it, it's the Republicans who make it their duty to go out and vote every time. And it's the independents who can swing an election to the left or to the right. So, if we truly want a democrat to win, we have to think about the mass appeal of the candidate.

My 2 cents:

Excellent points.


Hillary would have support from those who want to see Bill back in the WH, but the problem is, is that she is a very polarizing figure, meaning a very easy target for the Republicans. They (and the corporate media) are salivating at a Hillary run so that they can tear her apart (aka smear/swiftboat her) by bringing up HillaryCare, Whitewater, Monica, and so on. She is a smart woman, but it's going to take more than just Bill to win a general election. She has to stand on her own two feet.

As for Obama, I think he will make a fine president (the first black one) someday. One problem is that he is too "green," meaning inexperienced. He has the charisma to inspire voters, but some wonder how would he really do in the general election since he has yet to be challenged (he won his Illinois Senate race easily).

On November 7, 2006, voters spoke up and were fed up with the corruption, incompetence, lies, and fear mongering of the Bush administration and Republican-controlled Congress. As the mess in Iraq gets worse and worse day by day (Iraq is now a Civil War, see Iraq Study Group), it is going to take years to clean up the horrible and tragic messes Bush and his cronies will leave behind.

The biggest challenge for the Democrats is to find a candidate that can walk, talk, and chew gum on both foreign and domestic affairs at the same time. Someone who understands how the media operates, strongly believes in anti-corruption, can get us out of Iraq, and rebuild the image of the U.S. abroad.

[JI7]

1. great post

i say let the people watch debates and other things. wouldn't count out anyone including Hillary or OBama. maybe Obama will prove himself.

but we need to have debates and people can see for themselves who they think understands the issues and deal with the complex task of being President.

[whometense]

2. What I really wish is that somehow

the democratic party could spend some time and $$$ trying to turn the way the public thinks about elections. Talk about what the important qualities are in a president. Seems to me after 6 years of the little prince the people might be ready to think seriously about these questions.

I still think Chris Matthews is a dope, but he respects Kerry and does seem somewhat chastened by the results of the Bush regime. He and Olbermann might be willing to talk about it.

The thing that drives me most insane about the 2008 talk I see most places (except in here, of course. :grouphug:) is that it's just as shallow. If one more person even mentions the word "electability" to me I will certainly scream.

I say, NO MORE HORSERACES. Look where that kind of thinking has gotten us. I will do everything I can do to try to change the conversation. As well as do everything I can to undermine the HRC as Frontrunner meme. She doesn't deserve it, and if she does end up bulldozing her way to the nomination, it will be a shame.

[MBS]

3. boy do I ever agree with you

. . .every single word!

[whometense]

5. I think we MA people have a unique perspective.

Just read this on Massachusetts Liberal's blog:

In the meantime, Massachusetts had a series of four governors who basically quit work on the job and walked away.

Whenever I hear someone say that Romney is a serious contender for president it just makes me want to gnash my teeth. The only (and I meanonly) qualification he has is that he looks the part. The idea of him being president makes me sick. And yet, apparently he is a contender because he's slick and knows how to raise money and deny his own past.

Six years of Bush ought to have taught us to look beneath the shiny surface.

[politicasista]

6. Thanks n/t

[blm]

10. Now that is a quality post. Well done.

.

[Inuca]

4. I watched ...

... a frustrating (and scary.... what if they are right? what do I know...) conversation yesterday, I think it was on Tucker, but with... what's her name... the pretty woman on MSNBC, often silly, big smile, annoying laughter, you know who I am talking about... she was talking I think with Wolffe and some WP guy whose name I do not recall, and the topic was of course 08. Their "conclusion" was that in the primaries the republicans will go with their "heads", on other words forget about purity of conservative principles, which is a good thing for McCain and especially Giuliani (I am still trying to quote them, mind you, NOT my own thoughts), while the democrats will go with their "hearts" which is a good thing for Clinton and Obama (I understand why they put Obama in the warm fuzzy feelings category, I am not at all sure how Hillary fits there though...), and will forget about "electability" concerns since they will have the upper hand in any case. Another Obama related comment that stuck in my mind was that you have to "seize the moment", and that many dems that thought in 92 that Bush 1 will be unbeatable and did not take the chances that a little known Arkansas governor was not afraid to take are biting their nails now.

[sandnsea]

7. That was stupid

Mostly because they think Democrats 'love' Hillary, and that women will cast a vote just because she's a woman. :crazy: I don't know anybody who actually likes Hillary and no woman who votes purely on gender; besides the point, Democrats are also the intellectuals so why in the hell would we put our heads aside in the most important electoral decision facing us. They're a bunch of idiots, the whole lot of them. I do not know how they get their jobs. ANY Kerrycrat could talk circles around them on any subject.

[whometense]

8. I really think that of all the stupid talking head shows

(except for anything on Fox), Tucker Carlson's show is the most idiotic. AND mean-spirited.

[sandnsea]

9. There's also intuitiveness and vision

A sureness about your purpose and direction. My youngest has had that since he was born practically, so it isn't necessarily something that one has to have experience to cultivate. If Obama can prove he can consume information and then project a vision and stratgy that reflects our values, then he can overcome the inexperience argument. My biggest fear is that he will decide not to run, and will then back Hillary because it's the politically smart thing to do.