Well, I don't know, I suppose I consider myself perpetually disillusioned... ;-)

What I guess I find frustrating (perhaps that's a better word to describe both sides) is how quickly each side has chosen to accuse the other of sinister "Rove-ian" behavior. Here I will grant that these things are subtle: is Hillary's "as far as I know" line about Obama's religious beliefs really calculated to allow the possibility that he is muslim to linger in people's minds? probably to some degree yes. Was David Axelrod's response to Hillary's invocation of RFKs assassination intended to draw (in my opinion legitimately) incendiary media focus on the quote? Probably to some degree yes, his disavowals after the fact notwithstanding. These people are professionals after all.

But my feeling remains that if Hillary is the victim of anything it is her own poor HR (Mark Penn) and her loose cannon of a husband, which I think were tragic for her. I say this after having been stalwart in my support of Clinton's contention that he was the victim of a smear campaign, a position I have had at this point to re-think.

Further, in the end I think that a) characterizing her as a victim was itself a campaign mistake, and b) it has riven the party with genuinely deep divisions that will take time to heal. I'm interested in trying to figure out how to heal them among my own personal acquaintances (thence my post), but I think I can say, without condescending to anyone, that they exist and are to a large extent a byproduct of her own campaign and its management.

I think she has, herself, to work hard to heal these divisions. She got off to a good start with her concession speech. Obama and his campaign also have to continue to emphasize the issues and concerns her campaign rightly used to generate as much enthusiasm as it did. In the end I'm hopeful that focusing on blending the platforms themselves will be a potent force toward unifying the voters. Time will tell.

Posted at June 11, 2008 1:48 PM in response to Disillusioned Hillary Voters

With all due respect: I wasn't really trying to tap into a "meme" here, so much as to say that these people are pissed, and they're friends of mine. What to do what to do...

What I find interesting, is that once they buy into the idea that there is sinister behavior afoot on the part of the opposing campaign, it's difficult to have a rational discussion. (This cuts both ways, of course).

I can imagine that it feels insulting to Hillary's supporters to suggest that Obama's campaign represents a "new" kind of politics, but on the other hand, social networking and grassroots (which, admittedly, began with Dean, but ran aground with the "scream") is new, and is a departure from the favor granting and old-style-big-donor fundraising practices. All starry-eyedness aside, his supporters genuinely feel like he is *their* candidate, and this is new.

Posted at June 10, 2008 11:05 PM in response to Disillusioned Hillary Voters

The only legally uncontestable outcome here is that the original sanction of Michigan and Florida by the DNC stand AS IS. Pardon the yelling but:

EVERYONE INVOLVED AGREED TO THE SANCTION AT THE TIME, INCLUDING THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN.

VOTERS WITTINGLY DECLINED TO VOTE BECAUSE OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING THAT THEIR VOTES WOULD NOT COUNT.

IT CANNOT BE LEGAL FOR THE RULES COMMITTEE TO AWARD DELEGATES ANY MORE THAN IT CAN BE LEGAL FOR CLINTON TO HAVE THE DELEGATES SHE IS CLAIMING ARE "HERS" SEATED AT THE CONVENTION EX POST FACTO.

Hillary's pretending after the fact that these primaries were legitimate when they were, in fact, illegitimate, raises serious questions about her ethics (as if they hadn't already effectively been answered) and her suitability for any profession other than that of litigator.

Posted at May 30, 2008 3:21 PM in response to Ickes: Uncommitted Delegates Must Stay Uncommitted

I have a question:

When Hillary said that she "said things that were at odds with what I knew to be case" is she not admitting that she was lying?

Obama should just come out with the whole "we have another word for that where I come from.." routine...

Posted at April 18, 2008 11:15 AM in response to Hillary: Tough Questions At Debate "Nothing Like The Pressures You Face Inside White House"

The idea that the popular vote should decide anything is idiotic. How is it reasonable to talk about the popular vote when the vote turnout in caucus states is a tenth of what it is in primary states. Obviously, since Obama has done far better in caucus states he is disadvantaged by consideration of the popular vote.

I don't get why people aren't, say, mentioning this rather obvious fact in the press.... instead we get the usual blather blather blather about how the superdelegates will be "Overturning the popular will" by voting for Obama if the delegate count (which is presumably being considered in analogy to the electoral vote) favors him and the "popular vote," whatever that is supposed to mean, favors Clinton.

Posted at April 16, 2008 3:50 PM in response to Poll: Plurality Thinks Super-Delegates Should Back Winner Of Popular Vote

This is excellent news for idiotic.

Posted at April 9, 2008 9:26 AM in response to Poll: Hillary Ahead By Five Points In Pennsylvania Primary

You're absolutely right that no hospital in America would deny someone treatment over $100. The treatment is certainly going to cost more, after all, and the lawsuit they could get slapped for for not offering treatment would certainly cost them much more.

But again, the telling thing for me here (and, I think for the American people) is the detailed precision with which the account was given, repeatedly, without any regard for whether it was factually true. Same goes for sniper-gate. This is definitely a pattern, and it's one that bothers me quite a bit (and would even if I were a Clinton supporter)... for god's sake.

Posted at April 5, 2008 8:03 PM in response to Was she duped or did she lie? Hillary Clinton and the story of the dead baby and dead mother

There probably won't be a next time for me either, so why don't they give me the nomination, and then I'll make Obama my VP. Kay?

Posted at March 30, 2008 8:48 PM in response to TPM Reader DS says...

exregis:

Indeed, and furthermore, to chide the press that they need to "lighten up" when it was she who was trying to lend the gravity of wartime to something that was little more than a cheer-up-the-troops mission strikes me as rather pathetic. It's not like she was joking -- should we all therefore just chuckle it off?

I really admired Bill's tenacity when he was fighting the Ken Starr smear machine, but now I see it as the same kind of desperate behavior that we see from Hillary now. Unfortunately, in both cases, we may see the party struggling to recover at the end of it all.

Posted at March 28, 2008 1:25 PM in response to Gallup: Obama Takes Eight-Point Lead Over Hillary

He's been known to sip the latte on occasion...

Posted at March 28, 2008 9:02 AM in response to Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) Endorsing Obama