If HRC did take the nomination, what would you HRC people do to make it up to the Rainbow majority?

[Ken Burch]

If she does win, we all know her victory would be purely a victory for the politics of ugliness and division.

We know it will not actually cause anyone to sincerely celebrate, since her campaign has no positive ideas.

We know there could be no positive way for her to take it now, since most of the country and the party despise her.

What will you do to reach out to the progressive rainbow majority of the party?

What will you say to them to heal the wounds?

You know you won't be entitled to say "she's the nominee, you HAVE to support her."

What will you do to undo the damage you've done, when your candidate introduced negativity into what was prior to that an all-positive race?

It will be entirely up to you to make things right. You won't be entitled to order us around if the scenario happens.

[tekisui]

1. In the unlikely event that she steals it, I'll vote for her, then leave the Party.

[kevinbgoode]

18. Me too.

It will be the last time this party asks me to hold my nose in hopes of future rewards, and then kick my community under the bus for the millionth time.

[Vinca]

24. Me, too - and I bet about a million and a half Obama supporters

take their credit cards and follow us out the door.

[cali]

2. I have a confession to make. not sure why I'm making it here

I'll vote for Hillus Horriblus if she's the nom, but if she loses, much as I don't want McCain, I'll take a lot of satisfaction in watching her permanently self-destruct.

[tekisui]

3. If she came out our Nominee,

McCain would be President. She has proven she cannot overcome her negatives to get above 50%.

[democrattotheend]

38. I guess that's how I feel too

If she gets the nomination I will vote for her, but I'd be lying if I said part of me wouldn't be hoping that she loses so Obama gets another chance in 4 years. If she put Obama on the ticket I'd be more enthusiastic about voting for her and might even volunteer.

[Window]

4. All valid questions IF the unthinkable happens.

:thumbsup:

[merwin]

5. Most of the country and the party despise her?

Ok, drama queen.

Right now they're pretty close to neck and neck. Last time I heard, this is still a democracy, and she is following party rules. Nothing says she has to quit before the nomination is given, and it's her right to stay in and fight to the end.

I just don't understand. Many of the people who are saying that Hillary should just drop out were angry when Gore didn't fight to the bitter end against Bush.

I'm personally an Obama supporter, but I would vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination. Regarding policy, they're very similar. It's their message and personalities that differ.

[Ken Burch]

7. I'd have no problem with her "staying in" if her campaign wasn't based solely

on attacking Obama and acting like his supporters have no right to have a say in this party.

And I'd have no problem if she was only bashing McCain while making a positive case for herself as a better person and better candidate than Obama.

It's the fact that her campaign isn't about anything but destruction that's the problem. What she does goes waaaayyyy beyond "politics as usual".

[melody]

8. For an Obama supporter, you sure attack him vociferously

There's no room for doubt -- the majority of the party despises her. Gore did fight but he also gave in for the good of the country (or so he believed). The only "good" Hillary is serving is her own.

[merwin]

17. How am I attacking Obama by saying Hillary has a right to be in the race?

I'd like a statistic saying that the majority of the party despises her, rather than the word of an anonymous DU poster :)

[melody]

39. An anonymous poster with thousands and thousands of posts? LOL!

Look at the statistics -- 64% of the party has an unfavorable view of her. In California, you can't bring up her name without getting groans. The buyers remorse in California is so thick you can feel it -- she would lose California resoundingly now.

You've made numerous anti-Obama posts. That was my point. I find that odd for an Obama supporter.

[merwin]

41. Numerous anti-Obama posts?

I have rarely participated in the fiasco that is GD-P this year. Just because I am not insanely to one side doesn't mean that I'm anti-Obama. I believe that they both have their own strengths and weaknesses.

[melody]

42. I'm an Edwards supporter ... I just hate Hillary for her behavior ...

And you do regularly post anti-Obama posts but nothing anti-Hillary. That seems to align with one of the three flavors of Hillbots: 1) fake Obama supporters, 2) fake Hillary supporters and 3) trolls. If you're not those things, then I am mistaken, however ...

[merwin]

43. Could be because I was previously a Hillary supporter, but am now

an Obama supporter. I have a different perspective from the militant Obama/Hillary supporters. I'm open to calling out the faults of both of them, in a rational way. I also like to play devil's advocate on occasion when pointing out how a poster is being unreasonable, which one might take as being for the other candidate.

In any case, I know where I stand, and don't much mind if other people believe me or not :) Feel free to think of me however you want.

[melody]

6. They don't care -- they don't even care if we win -- they just want to get their way

If Hillary is nominated, I will vote for her but I'll resign the party. The Democratic Party will have been taken over by thugs, bullies and criminals.

[Perry Logan]

9. Lower the poverty rate, like Bill did. Set up a health care system. Clean up environment. Etc.

[MADem]

12. Yep, fix the economy, get the troops out of Iraq, take care of health care, and

rebuild that bridge to the 21st Century that Asshole Bush torched back in 2001.

[Ken Burch]

13. "lower the poverty rate, like Bill did"?

Er, that means cutting millions of innocent poor people off of benefits for no reason, saying nothing while the right slanders them, and offering them nothing to help them get back on their feet after the savage attacks. The only reason the poverty "rate" went "down" is that they stopped counting the poor as poor.

Bill stopped BEING a Democrat when he signed that bill.

[Perry Logan]

14. Uh-huh. The African-American poverty rates dropped to their lowest levels EVER under Clinton.

[Nedsdag]

49. However

More AA were sent to jail because of the Clinton's drug laws.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

30. The bill that the Repubs shoved in his face over and over all the while screaming about

"Welfare Queens" and getting their good ol boy, racist, fundy base all in a dither.

"We, the people" did damn little to counteract it. He vetoed several versions, until the public pressure from the RW noise machine and the R's in Congress stirring up their vocal constituents made it political hari kari NOT to sign some version of it.

I was really disappointed, but did nothing myself to make my voice known, I'm very sorry to say. The next Dem president will need lots of vocal and continuous support from the majority of us to counteract the idiocy on the other side.

[Rockholm]

20. Undo all the crap the Bush has done.

[olkaz]

36. Not bloody likely.

More free-trade.

More promises.

More of the same.

I'll vote for Hillary in the general if she somehow finally destroys Obama, but I will work to undermine every god-awful free trade Republican business-interest initiative that she brings forward.

[GoldieAZ49]

10. They are the ones that need to do the making up

after all the vile bile they have spewed against Hillary and anyone that doesn't support Obama.

So, in other words Not a damn thing short of I TOLD YOU SO

[Ken Burch]

11. No, those of you in the conservative wing need to do it.

It's the winner that's obligated to be magnanimous and avoid gloating.

Nobody did anything to HRC supporters that compares to what you've done to Obama people in your right-wing talk radio stereotypes about "latte sippers" and "elitist". Damn you, it's only supposed to be Republicans who use words like that. Democrats are supposed to defend the right of the powerless and the dissidents to have a say in our process.

[GoldieAZ49]

16. LOL what a JOKE

Obama followers have hammered Hillary supporters with every right wing smear that was EVER used on this board and across the internet.

They have bullied, beat up and run off the majority of her supporters here and at other sites.

The arrogance continues as you expect them to 'make it up' to Obama Nation because his campaign implodes!!!!!

The O gang is a delusional bunch of thugs that can go poke sand.

[kevinbgoode]

19. Yes...but it is the Hillary supporters

who received endorsements from the Right and Hillary has never repudiated them.

[GoldieAZ49]

26. So? I thought bipartisan appeal was a good thing

Isn't that what Obama has been saying for years?

They all want to reach across the isle and get the work done instead of always having a partisan fight that the only losers are the American public.

[kevinbgoode]

34. RIght....Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are all about

reaching across the aisle. Why, the two of them have a history of reaching out to Democrats....hahahahahaha.

[Tesha]

37. If Hillary "gains" the nomination, I fully intend to follow your advice.

> The O gang is a delusional bunch of thugs that can go poke sand.

If Hillary "gains" the nomination, I fully intend to follow
your advice: I shall go pound some sand rather than cast a
vote for Hillary. And I hope you'll be happy with that since
that is what you seem to want.

Tesha

[pompano]

15. Winning it is one thing...

"getting" it the way she did is reprehensible.

My shirt tail won't hit me in the ass before I have an "I" on my voter registeration card. That "I" will stay there until this Party I have been a member of for decades quits acting like Republicans.

Then I'll grab a beer, sit back and watch history being made.
I can't wait to see how Hillary can win against a Republican controlled media, a large percent of the 14 million Obama voters that had their vote literally stolen by the Washington insiders, staying home, and a candidate that has her truthfullness poll ratings hoovering in the area of Bush's approval ratings which are tanked out at about 30% to 40%...trying to watch her pull that one off will keep me laughing for centuries. And no, I am not vinidictive enough to laff like hell when she falls in the trap Rush and the Republicans set for her. I'll leave that to someone else. Without the Republican allocated chaos voters (she won't have later) she ain't even close to 50%. She ain't that damn close now.

I guess then I'll just have to get used to McCain for 8 years. And that is a scary thought.

[Jersey Devil]

21. Make it up? You think that's what they'd try to do?

The first thing they'd do is replace Howard Dean as DNC Chair. You can figure out the rest. If she wins I want no part of what will be left of the Democratic Party.

[MyNameGoesHere]

22. Hmm so i have damaged the whole AA community?

Hey here is something i can do. Tell you to get bent. There ya go. You are not entitled to order us around either <synonym for donkey> face. I have done nothing to damage you or any other American so take your horse shit down the road and sell it, i ain't buying.

[Ken Burch]

23. Not you as an individual maybe, but the HRC campaign has become viciously

antiprogressive, anti-Rainbow and antiidealist.

Her whole pitch in the primaries has been about driving new people away from the party. She doesn't seem to want us to GAIN votes.

[graycem]

25. Honestly, if she wins

fair and square, there's no problem. If they decide to seat FL/MI and she somehow "earns" the nomination, I will be disappointed but I'll get over it. However, I won't get over it if they just hand it to her. It will wreak of impropriety if they use a flimsy excuse like Reverend Wright to just take it from Obama. I think it will be an even bigger mistake for the DNC and the DCCC. I never contributed to them financially until Obama's campaign. I think that disappointment will hurt them worse than the Presidential campaign.

I have never been this involved financially and emotionally in a political campaign, and I think that I probably never would again. I'll vote for her, and probably every other Democrat that ever comes down the line, just because I can't stomach the heartless mentality of the Republican agenda, but I will never invest again, so much of myself or my money. They would have proved that the votes actually do not count for anything, and that they know best, and the corrupt system will always rule.

[Independent-Voter]

27. If that shrew gets your nomination, the dems better be prepared to lose 40 states.

It'd be ugly, that's for damn sure. I lean left, but there's no way in hell I'm voting for either McCain or HRC. Add about a dozen folks in my immediate circle of folks who feel the same way. For this independent, it's Obama or 3rd party.

[mmonk]

28. Run people through a huge heatlamp with varying time lengths

to obtain the rainbow look on Irish skin.

[Jamastiene]

29. Do you really believe politics was all kittens and butterflies before Clinton?

"What will you do to undo the damage you've done, when your candidate introduced negativity into what was prior to that an all-positive race?"

Come on. Give me a break. There is no such thing as an all-positive race. It doesn't happen in politics. That's the nature of politics. Candidates have to be at least a little negative to get votes. They can't go around agreeing with the people they are running against, lest they get called a "chump" for it. The ones who have tried that have historically lost their bids. Politics has never been clean or pretty and it has never been positive. I'm sorry, but that's just the truth.

Also, the tone in your post is disturbing. Are you accepting defeat before it is over? That's not a good sign in any political campaign. Do you think Hillary would accept defeat before it is over? No way. Do you think ANY REPUBLICAN will accept defeat before it is over in the general election? No way. Do you think Obama is accepting defeat before it is all over? No way.

That sums up the difference between the supporters of our candidates, not the candidates themselves, because none of the candidates are giving up yet. They are fighting a good fight. It's the supporters of one side or the other who are doing the giving up too soon. We won't win if we don't stand and fight for it the hardest we ever have in our lives, because we are working to win the hearts and minds of a brainwashed electorate. That is the toughest sell we will ever make. They are scared, brainwashed, and so far to the right that they cannot even tell up from down any more. Case in point...they elected Bush...twice. We had better come out swinging if we are going to convince any of them to vote right this damn time. That's the cold, hard truth.

Instead of accepting defeat, you should toughen up and learn about the nature of politics. Stand up and fucking fight for what you believe in. You need to learn that giving up before the end is not the answer. It's called digging your heels in and being in it for the long haul. That's probably the minimum qualification it takes to be President of the US. Citizens don't want a president who will cut and run when the going gets tough. We want someone who will stand up and do what it takes to get us through whatever crisis we face as a nation.

The candidates still standing as of right now to choose from all have that qualification. Granted, we have two choices in the Democratic primaries and one in the general election (for those of us who are die hard Democrats and refuse to vote for a wretched Republican), but still, it ain't over until it's over.

Why the defeatism?

My best gift/olive branch/offer to you and your "progressive rainbow majority" is never give up. If you quit believing and trying now, you'll never get to that pot of gold at the end. That is the BEST possible thing I can say to you to heal the wounds and handle most of your other concerns are well. You have to toughen up and become more practical when dealing with politics. I appreciate and admire your hopes for Utopia. I once wanted that too (wouldn't mind it if it happened now), but as the years have gone by and I have seen how the Republicans operate, I just want a Democrat to win at this point. Now, I just want to undo the bullshit that Bush has done. I want the toughest, hardest, savviest Democratic candidate possible to do that. I want our party to toughen up and start winning elections routinely instead of always losing by being too idealistic. Idealism is fun to believe in while you still can, but life and reality both have a way of making you weigh your pros and cons and doing what you have to do instead of what you want to do.

Personally, I feel Hillary is made of nails and possibly adamant ones at that and she has the goods to win. Obama may yet show he has it in him too, but so far for me, he hasn't. He's trying to be a gentlemen. There are no gentlemen in politics. When circumstances crest in the ebb and flow of popular opinion, some politicians may act the part of the gentlemen, but you can bet that when it gets nasty, they'll get nasty to fight whatever problem comes along. They have to. That is the nature of leadership. There is nothing gentle about the process. There is nothing in politics that is gentle. The process of elections is designed to prove toughness and longevity. It is designed to choose a leader. Leadership requires them to take the damn gloves off and bloody their knuckles sometimes.

Obama may learn to do what it takes sometime in the future. In the meantime, you can bet he's not giving up. So why are you?

[Ken Burch]

46. I'm not giving up at all. Merely asking what you're side would do

to bring us together if it snuck through to the nomination at the last minute by only ten or twenty delegates, which they could only do by having the SD's say no to the people.

What has disturbed me about HRC's campaign is that it believes that it has the right to act as if HRC was 800 delegates ahead and Obama had no right to have won any of his victories. There's no excuse for that worldview.

[IndianaJones]

31. throw a concert to reach out to a bunch of bigots...cause thats unifying. nt.

[mmonk]

32. A Lee Greenwood concert comes to mind.

[Skidmore]

33. I won't vote for her and validate a candidate who has cynically used

the most reprehensible of attacks, racism, within this party. Either, as Democrats, we support civil rights and stand against bigotry or we don't, and if we can't deal with this in the party, then the party loses my support.

[greguganus]

48. I won't vote for her either. I'd leave it blank. n/t

[Evergreen Emerald]

35. You are wrong.

You are ignoring the fact that she is nearly tied with Obama. Her campaign has been no more divisive than Obama's, indeed she is not the one using shouts of "Racist!" to win.

She is ahead in the popular vote so the "will of the people" argument does not favor Obama.

"Progressive rainbow majority." Progressives of all races and genders support Clinton. There is divisiviness within the democratic party--started in SC when Obama needed to turn the tide--and used race to divide.

Obama divided this party.

[jmowreader]

40. We'd work our asses off to make sure McSame never darkened the door of the White House

You?

[VotesForWomen]

44. another delusionary kool aid drinker. clue: O is not the messiah. nt

[Ken Burch]

45. Never said he was the messiah.

It's enough that he's the only candidate for the nomination now who deserves progressive support.

And HRC stopped being feminist or proworker when she joined the WalMart board. Sell your soul to them and you can never get it back.

[NashVegas]

47. Vote For a Democratic President