Roadmap to Defeat - Bob Herbert, NYT

[Danascot]

The Democrats are doing everything they can to blow this presidential election. This is a skill that comes naturally to the party. There is no such thing as a can’t-miss year for the Democrats. They are truly gifted at finding ways to lose.

<snip>

Now comes 2008, a can’t-lose year if there ever was one. A united Democratic Party should be able to win this election in a walk. The economy is terrible and getting worse. The Republicans are demoralized. John McCain is no J.F.K. And the country wants to elect a Democrat.

So what are the Democrats doing? The Clintons are running around with flamethrowers, gleefully trying to incinerate the prospects of the party’s leading candidate, Barack Obama. As Bill Clinton put it last month: “If a politician doesn’t want to get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.”

Senator Obama, for his part, seems to have lost sight of the unifying message that proved so compelling early in his campaign and has stumbled into weird cultural predicaments that have caused some people to rethink his candidacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/opinion/19herbert.html?em&ex=1208836800&en=449d5f541d2d2de0&ei=5087%0A

[still_one]

1. gosh, the NYT talks about the Democrat's "readmap to defeat"

maybe they should look in the mirror at themseleves

From lying to us about things that helped propel us into the Iraq War, intentially holding off stories, propagating touched up photographs, and of course plageristic journalist, the New York times would be the last place I would go for credibility

It took a realitively short time for them to lose most sense of journalist integrity

As soon as the primaries are over mr. herbert, the Democrats will unite in a way that we haven't seen for years behind our candidate, WHOEVER it is

[zalinda]

3. I doubt it

It will seem like it, but the truth is that most who don't like the candidate will just be quiet about it and not vote. You will then wonder why we lost. If this had been an issues campaign, you would have been right. But, this campaign has been dirty and personal, with mainly Obama's supporters attacking anyone with a different view of him, as being stupid, racist or a repub.

zalinda

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. And it goes for the Clintons as well

let the first one who is pure throw the first stone... oh wait, neither is

[zalinda]

8. I'm not a Clinton supporter either. n/t

[still_one]

13. In a due respect, I don't think so. I am a guy, but if females sit this election out

it will be a nightmare for them with a mccain supreme court

When South Dakota tried to pass its anti-abortion bill, mccain endorsed it. This wasn't just a simple bill either. It refused an abortion even in cases of incest, rape, or if the life of the Mother was at stake

As far as all genders, especially those 50 million who are uninsured, it will become even more of a nightmare for them if mccain is elected

The war in Iraq has caused fuel and food to go up to record highs. Apart from the moral questions regarding that war, and the number of casulties on all sides it caused, we can't afford it

People are losing their houses, and their jobs are being off-shored

I am an Obama supporter, am not fond of Hillary, but if she is the nominee, WITHOUT HESITATION SHE WILL GET MY VOTE AND MY SUPPORT IF SHE IS THE NOMINEE

The stakes really are high, and mccain is not only a continuation of the bush policies, but an accelerated continuation of them

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Sadly Bob Herbert is right on this one

many of us have said that this was problem FOR MONTHS

So when President McCain takes the oath of office, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA BLAME FOR IT?

[still_one]

14. It won't happen, too many people have been hurt BADLY by this administration

and a continuation of its policies through mccain will NOT OCCUR

he voted against the GI bill, civil rights legislation, and much more. Look at his voting record. He WILL have to account for it. As stupid as the people have been about voting for bush because he was the person they would rather have a beer with, it isn't going to happen this time. They have been hurt too badly by the policies of bush and mccain, and people are not going to take anymore

but if those Democratic supporters of either side decide NOT to vote for the Democratic nominee in November, they deserve mccain, and they WILL BE THE ONES TO BLAME

For me, I will vote for whoever the nominee is, but I will tell you this if the Democrats DO NOT WIN BECAUSE OF THAT KIND OF EGO CRAP, those Democrats that decide not to vote, or worse, vote for mcccain, I only hope they have the opportunity to be in need of healthcare, social security, see their jobs offshored, lose the right to privacy, watch THEIR civil rights taken away, and have to go on food stamps. THEY DESERVE IT

THOSE THAT PUT THE COUNTRY AND THEIR CHILDREN AHEAD OF EGO, AND VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE DO NOT

[brentspeak]

10. Bob Herbert is one of the few things the NYT has left going for it

He, at least, is credible.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Let's get a nominee already!

I'm tired of infighting that only helps McCain.

[Clear Blue Sky]

5. Agree. Dragging this on forever is not helpful... n/t

[IntravenousDemilo]

7. Mohandas Gandhi once said:

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

He could have said much the same about the candidates and their partisan supporters. It would be well to realize that the pointy-headed behaviour of these partisans is in no way indicative of the character of the politicians they support. Obamaniacs or Clintonistas may be behaving badly as far as you're concerned, but that's no excuse for you to stay home and not support whichever Democrat wins the nomination, even if he or she is not your Democrat.

[zalinda]

9. And, what if we don't like either? n/t

[IntravenousDemilo]

12. Hold your nose if you're a Democrat. The alternative is worse. n/m

[CANDO]

11. Why is it so difficult for people to understand?

They just can't wrap their minds around Obama's bitter small town comments. It's a matter of pointing out the obvious Republican playbook for the past thirty fucking years. He wasn't making those comments as a put down. It was Hillary and her friends in the MSM who've spun them as a put down. For Christ's sake, people do cling to god, guns, and gay issues when it's all they're being fed as a political issue in an election year. And who allowed the Repubs to get away with this bullshit? The goddamn DLC corporate whore Democrats like Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as the MSM by ignoring economic issues as to their pertinence to supporting a middle class in this country. Oh sure, "it's the economy, stupid" worked just fine for Bill in '92. But we should have seen it coming.....NAFTA and an all out assault on the middle class. Beware the DLC types when they talk economic issues. They only do so for their corporate donors.