Reply #16: The hate factor is overrated in a sense.

[Efilroft Sul]

Republicans who already hate Hillary Clinton made up their minds long ago to hate her before most of DU did. Whether Clinton is #1 or #2 on the ticket doesn't really matter because the Republican hate for her has always been there. It's built in, like the reflex to breathe.

For what it's worth, Obama could pick Jesus Christ as his running mate and the Republicans would spray both guys with the vilest bile ever. If Obama isn't hated by the Republican Noise Machine now, he soon will be.

What the Obama crowd should concern itself with is not worrying about who hates Hillary Clinton, but focus on how their candidate can win the states she carried. There are lots of people in plenty of states for Obama to still win over. These states pose a challenge for Obama, but at the same time, they represent an opportunity for him to hammer home the specifics about what positive change can be done in his administration.

Again, positive change. Because most of the change I've seen (at least online) is how a large number of liberals have transformed themselves into creatures, not unlike talk radio listeners, who froth at the mouth every time Hillary Clinton's name is mentioned. Many good people have stared into the abyss, and the abyss has stared back into them. Sure, you might consider Hillary Clinton a bad candidate or bad for the Democratic Party, but she's a far cry from the jackals running the show for the last eight years. This demonization of Clinton is wrong, it's absurd, and it's beneath what is progressive.

When the time comes in November, I'm pulling the lever for the person with the (D) after his or her name. The stakes are just too high not to.