Arrgghhh ... I'm open to suggestions here

[ladym55]

Today I saw someone I have known for 25 years. She is quite poor and has struggled to make ends meet her entire adult life. She has also voted for Democrats all her adult life, but today she told me she just can't vote for Obama. "He's not a good man." She has heard that "he consorts with known criminals." And she made a big deal about him not having his hand over his heart.

This election for her is life and death ... she needs health care she can afford, gasoline she can afford, a living wage ... and she can't bring herself to vote for Obama ... only Hillary.

I'm looking for ideas. How do we reach out to voters like my friend who have been sold a pile of lies from both Hillary and the right?

I tried to tell my friend that she needed to ignore anything she was seeing on the Internet about Obama and that hand on the heart was not a real issue.

I have hated this campaign since Hillary began throwing the kitchen sink in Ohio because I saw this happening. Now I'm not sure what to do to repair the damage.

[grantcart]

1. Try and find something that is parallel to her situation for example

I was talking to a Vietnamese-American who is a Customs Guard and they are largely former military and very conservative politically.

At the end of our business discussion I asked him about the election and he said that Obama was a muslim.

Earlier in the conversation he had told me that he was a Protestant and he was very proud of it.

So I let the conversation pass into another subject and then came back and told him that I knew that he was really a Buddhist.

He was surprised and told me no and I told him that I was sure that he was really a Buddhist. He started to argue and I simply

asked him - Aren't most Nguyens buddhist? - Yes - Well then you have to be a buddhist and I must be a protestant (I had told him I

was a buddhist - and Obama must be a muslim)

Then he got it and I told him that Obama had been going to a protestant church for 15 years and had never been a muslim and asked him

if he wasn't tired of everybody having a predetermined opinion of him because he is a Vietnamese named Nguyen.


He understood and felt the point - I didn't try to convince him to vote for Obama but I did convince him to look at Obama without prejudice and an open mind.

If you can find something like that in her background and see how people look at her in an unjust way then she can see how it is happening to Obama.

[ladym55]

8. I will keep that idea in mind

I think I need to gather all the right-wing talking points and Clinton campaign talking points and then consider ways to raise questions or create some common ground to get the person thinking.

My friend just literally can't afford another 4 years of Bush-type "leadership." :(

[KSinTX]

2. Give her the facts

Print out this picture (with caption):

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1662530_1446035,00.html

and this one



then explain to her the protocol for honors during the playing of the National Anthem:
"Dependents and civilians should face in the direction where colors are being held and stand at attention (placing right hand over their heart is optional)." Tell her a 20=year career soldier and former drill sergeant vouched for this.

http://www.cdc.gov/od/occp/officership/military_protocol.htm

The rest is right here: barackobama.com
Health care
Economy
Environment

Good luck on your mission! The biggest problem for so many voters this political cycle is that with so much information overload, many of us have not done the deep research on the candidates. She seems to be a victim of this. Perhaps you can help with the issues and she can be convinced of the tangential fodder once that's done.

[ladym55]

9. I didn't realize the moment wasn't the pledge

So I really had no idea what to say. Now I know!!!

Well, duh. I'll be happy to explain that detail to anyone else who asks.

You know, it would be SO nice to have someone ask me about issues or comment about issues. Sadly that hasn't happened yet.

I remember hearing someone complain that Obama had no details, only generalizations. I heard him speak in Akron ... I sure heard all SORTS of detail. Any more detail would have bored the listeners.

[mrgorth]

3. Let her be

You don't want to lose a friend over this. Hopefully she comes around or we make the vote up somewhere else.

[ginnyinWI]

4. IMO, people who find excuses like those might be

simply not wanting to vote for a black person and using the excuses as cover. Because these reasons are just so trivial--flag pins, hand over heart or not, vague associations with people in his past, however remote!

It's pretty hard to unwind prejudice in one or two conversations. It might help to point out Obama's big popularity with all sorts of people and the diversity of people at his rallies. Somehow make the point that just as Bill Clinton or some other white person could represent the interests of black Americans, so can a black person represent the interests of whites or other colors. And that he has never portrayed himself as the "black candidate" because he just isn't. And that someone with his background is ideally suited to not seeing color distinctions, having both black and white parents. He was not raised in our typical black American culture which has its own built-in prejudices about white people to overcome.

I was struck again this morning, listening to the speech he gave to the Crow Nation yesterday, how it is so not about him, but about the community. Because right after that they played Hillary's speech and it was just so different in tone. Obama sees no distinction between himself and the rest of the people and that is a big part of his appeal. This comment is off-topic but I just wanted to say it again. He is genuinely populist and doesn't have to fake it.

[ladym55]

10. That was my first impression

My son got me interested in Obama and told me to watch his rally in Madison, WI in January. I listened and was impressed with what he had to say.

The more I heard, the more impressed I became. And I love the diversity of people who show up to see him ... all ages, races, and backgrounds. That is so good for us a nation.

[Dr Ron]

5. Known criminals?

The only difference is that Obama took the high road and Clinton took the low road in the campaign.

There are far more examples of Clinton associating with radicals over the years than Obama. These associations are not relevant to choosing a president in either case. Clinton attacked Obama on these while Obama didn't stoop to using this type of attack. It will be difficult but I would defend Obama based upon the character issue and how Clinton stooped to running a Rove-style campaign to raise these attacks. Here's a little on Clinton's back ground (and we know there's much more):

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3204

Does she realize that the pledge of allegiance was not being said at the time of that picture being spread around? More here:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=2349

[ladym55]

11. It's sad that Hillary has separated herself from that past

And I'm still trying to figure out the known criminal other than the educator from Chicago (whose name escapes me right now). And that man was a radical when Obama was still in grade school. Is there anything else I'm missing?

[sandnsea]

6. If you see her regularly

you might remind her that the outsourcing going on now was started with the Clintons opening up trade with China and that some of the Clinton's biggest contributors are Indian outsourcers. Remind her about all the deregulation in the 90's, including banking deregulation which has contributed to some of the current mortgage problems. Remind her about Y2K and the internet boom and the economy created by those factors. Remind her that Clinton said the social security surplus was a budget surplus, which is how we ended up with tax cuts that gave the money to the wealthy instead of a lock box that kept the money for our retirement.

Just give her facts she doesn't have. She'll figure out the rest.

[ladym55]

12. All good points

These changes have all had an impact on her and her family. They have struggled mightily.

[KSinTX]

7. Add this photo

Larry Craig's mug shot:

Please note wearing of the pin.

[ladym55]

13. I LOVE IT!!!!

:rofl: A picture is worth a 1,000 words!

[Citizen_Penn]

14. I've let it be with my friends who cling to Hillary

because to a woman, they said it was because she was a woman.

Knowing my friends to be reasonable souls, I was initally surprised by their sexism.

Then, as time went on, I've seen them become alienated by the HRC campaign.

Last weekend, one asked me for an Obama sticker.

Apply patience to this situation.

And keep on correcting the lies that the old guard is throwing out.

Time will bring the change.

[TBF]

15. I agree that patience and a few facts are the answer -

It is easy to be more forceful on an Internet forum where you can't see people's facial expressions and you're anonymous to boot. When you're dealing with your friends and family it's going to be easier to take the low-key route. I have a brother who is quite the bigot - against women, minorities, you name it. Much like the rural voters in Penn., only he made it through college and lives in a major city now. He started out by saying "well, I guess we're going to have to vote for Hillary", and I did tell him I thought Barack was better and explained why I liked him. I was honestly surprised he wasn't supporting McCain, but the economy and Iraq war are really on the minds of moderates. I only answer questions when he brings up the topic, and I think I've convinced him that Barack isn't Muslim and won't sic the black panthers on him. Lately he's actually been talking about voting for Barack, which of course was prefaced with "well, I guess if this is what it takes to get the country going in the right direction". Baby steps, and like the other posters said - provide facts, correct any lies, and let them come to their own conclusions.