Feel Hopeless? Cheer up!

[Anouka]

(I had originally written this for someone's thread, which is now locked. As I have learned tonight, it is not kosher to use people's names in threads when referring to them in new threads as it's considered a call-out, so I cannot name the person who created the thread, nor the person with whom I had originally addressed this. ):

Response #41: My pity is for the posters actions.

(you feel pity) That the OP feels hopeless? well, Cheer them up!

That's what Obama is about. Make that what Hillary is about, too. Make that what the Democratic party is about.

I'm concerned myself because (the OP) wrote, "Chris Matthews made a prescient assessment this morning stating that the establishment ultimately always wins in the long run."

I'm concerned because, was that not one of the fears within some parts of the black community that had been written about since Obama announced his run, and that the media (and the blogosphere) had joyfully declared been 'debunked' by the results of Iowa?

So to have someone actually voice that fear, after the 'inevitable' (to the black community); and to then have them dismissed and their fears unaddressed because everyone is focusing on the negative title of this thread instead of a voicing of that fear -- that bothers me.

We have to remember, some (many) members of the black community feared that:
* Whites would never really support a black man.
* Obama who gained that support would have that support
artificially removed by the political machine
through underhanded means
* Obama would be assassinated if all else failed.

We also have to remember that those fears are not exclusive to the American black community.

The polls had Obama up by 5 and 6 to over 10 percentage points. If he loses New Hampshire, which he apparently did tonight, then it doesn't matter all the hard work he put in and the number of people who voted for him. It doesn't matter that he has still performed wildly successfully all things considered.

What matters perception, and that perception is formed by the disparity between the polls and results.

If Hillary Clinton is going to be the dumping ground for blame for 'underhanded means' and 'white folks don't speak the truth and are untrustworthy'..... that's not good for Hillary. It's not good for her, white black or other. I don't think she wants that perception to attach itself to her. Does she? Because it doesn't look good, it doesn't feel good if she's the perceived beneficiary of 'the machine' and the machine's largesse to win by any means necessary, even underhandedness. Even lies to pollsters.

So how do you circumvent that, if you're a Hillary Clinton supporter, an Obama supporter or Edwards or other Supporter, or just a concerned Democrat?

I don't know. I wish I did. I do think it's better to acknowledge what (the OP) has to say, since (the OP) is not going to be the only one to feel this way after NH. Trust: the OP is not going to be the only one to feel this way after tonight in NH.

But what's done is done. I think the best thing to do is to present HOPE.

HOPE for the positives your candidate is going to do for the country.
HOPE for the fact that it isn't over until it's over.
HOPE that things are on the up and up, and nothing underhanded happened after all between polling and voting.
HOPE that white people are not liars, and there are logical reasons for what occurred that do not have anything to do with the Wilder effect.
HOPE that the machine is not racing to a pre-ordained conclusion.
HOPE that every person matters.
HOPE that the solution to perceived adversity (adversity being the machine, or a color-struck society, or a mixture of both, or something altogether different) is to stand up anyway and keep pushing towards your goals.

HOPE to carry one through, to make progress during
each battle upwards, so that we are not only positive
about our progress but we are making progress even
when things don't quite turn out the way we wanted them ...
because the battle doesn't end at the White House.

HOPE that by seeking to make that difference, one
will ensure that the process is on the up and up
and it won't matter how many people lie to polls;
or how many pollsters tweak their results to make
those paying for them happy; it won't matter what
the fickle media decides will be the frame of the day --

because you yourself are strong, and girded, and firm,
for the long haul.

To the person who set up the original, now locked, thread:

Don't pay attention to hate.
Be wary of those who seek to divide
for their own gain, yes; but be strong
in your wariness because by your own actions
you can turn their attempts at subterfuge
and distortion back upon them
for the long haul.

There is no need to continue to feel weary,
or depressed, because HOPE and supping upon HOPE
and keeping our eyes on the prize,in spite of
what setbacks and hurdles seem to be before us,
has always seen us through.

It will see you through.

Keep on keeping on.

[AX10]

1. The OP was locked because you accused the Clinton's of...

being the devil.

[LostinVA]

3. Wait -- they're not?

:sarcasm:

[Anouka]

4. No, I did not. But the OP did. It's irrelevant to the meat of the OP's post.

Second things first, when it comes to me and any claims of me calling the Clintons the devil within that thread, refer to Reply #8, and my Response #33.

The meat of the OP's post is not the OP namecalling the Clintons, it is a loss of hope in the process. Again, the OP wrote

"Those damn polls showing Barack up by 10 points and EVERY pundit claiming all Clinton could hope for was to lose by 4 or 5 points, and then tonight happens...utterly devastating for me. I can't even watch Barack's speech tonight.

Billary knew what they were doing with the terror threat and trying to skew Barack's record on Iraq yesterday, that has to be the reason for this outcome.

Chris Matthews made a prescient assessment this morning stating that the establishment ultimately always wins in the long run.

There's no hope for change in this country and tonight proves it.

Again, it doesn't matter what the OP namecalled the Clintons -- the meat is the OP's a lack of faith in the system. The OP's lack of faith is one of the reasons why blacks weren't running to Obama's campaign in the first place, and why what you saw were young white kids, a sea of young white kids, white college kids, white senior in high school kids, white late 20s and 30 year olds 'kids' fired up and ready to go.

The OP just experienced it now, instead of earlier.

The OP sees the Clintons as underhanded. The OP is not going to be the only one to do so.

Most importantly many people responding in that thread mistakenly thought that the OP's problems with the poll were merely academic, and that if the OP understood the polling margins of errors everything would be alright.

This is not an academic matter, though.

This is something at the core of American American black folk (to differentiate between American American black born of American American blacks; and immigrant American blacks and the immigrant American black culture, if that makes sense). This is something of the soul.

I saw too little addressing of the soul, within that thread.

That is not to say I did not see some positive or quasi-positive responses within the thread, like #31/#17, #20, #14. Others may see other responses that they enjoyed and thought of as positive or quasi-positive. I didn't choose those responses because they agreed with her, but because they told her to hang on to HOPE.

I do wonder why a Hillary supporter (#4) called Obama a radical, and then stated that what the OP sought could only be delivered by Edwards or Kucinich. Why would a Hillary supporter do that? particularly since today I read that Bill Clinton claims that Hillary and Obama's records are near identical.

But that's a discussion for another thread. Or this one.

[LostinVA]

2. .

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