I hope that all of Hillary Clinton’s supporters, John Edwards supporters such as myself, Joe Biden’s supporters, Governor Richardson’s supporters – Democrats one and all will now do the hard work necessary to defeat John McCain and bring Senator Obama into the White House as president.
That all being said, President Obama will have a worse mess to clean up after George W. Bush even than Governor Deval Patrick inherited from Governor Mitt Romney…and there will be no magic wand waiting on Capitol Hill just as there was no magic wand waiting on Beacon Hill.
To become President, Senator Obama will NEED our help; to govern well, President Obama will still need our help — just as Governor Patrick continues to need citizens who care and are informed as partners, in order to clean up the mess left behind by 16 years of anti-government by Republicans in Massachusetts.
George W. Bush has left trillions in debt facing our children, and our armed forces spread so thin that their families have to buy them body armor. The tasks facing President Obama are great – a war with no end or boundaries, an economy sinking under toxic policies and globalization, and climate change.
but no thanks. I have a tremendous regard for your work and your care and concern for so many people. But I don’t need another sermon. In fact, as a former Edwards supporter who went to Hillary…I have found the willingness of my party to ignore the rampant sexism by the media and others in this race to be a tacit endorsement of those behaviors. What’s I’ve learned from the Party – Dean, Pelosi, etc…is that they will call out certain behaviors as long as it suits their ulterior motives, and not solely because “it’s the right thing to do.” It’s a pity that I didn’t learn this thirty years ago, when I put the check next to the Democrat box on the voter registration card. Nevertheless, it is somewhat liberating. It means I feel absolutely no obligation whatsoever to do anything for the national party or its candidate. I’ve already unsubscribed to the party’s emails.
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p>At the end of the day, I’m still a Democrat. I care enough about social justice to stay a Democrat, so I will work on local races….I will support local candidates. But I will not waste my time, my money or talent on this national race. The silence of party leaders when it was important was deafening, and it served them well. Let them win this race for him.
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p>BTW, Ambah, it’s not just Hillary. It’s just how the media portray’s woman – even professional women. This video is by The Women’s Media Center and it is profound.
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p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
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p>this may sound harsh and maybe it is. Maybe. But I firmly believe and I’ve taught this to my children – that to ignore an injustice is to endorse it. I choose not to endorse this. If enough people “choose not to endorse this” – then maybe, just maybe, things will finally change.
that by removing your support from the national campaign, you are helping John McCain and essentially hurting your cause.
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p>Trying to learn the Dem party a lesson can be done in more positive, constructive and ultimately more successful ways.
Boycotts are time honored, useful ways to express displeasure. Anything else means they know we’ll just come crawling back, ’cause they think they’re the only game in town.
Publicly promoting women’s issues and organizing protests against the behaivior that we all understand is reprehensible.
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p>vs,
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p>Boycotting a presidential campaign in which the outcome directly effects the future promotion of equality in American society.
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p>A boycott would indeed display displeasure, but the cons vastly outweigh the pros.
and I don’t see how supporting anyone but Obama gets us closer to causes you believe in but…
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p>ratings of 4? Silly. You’ve got an opinion, you state it clearly, and you’re not trolling or making crap up.
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p>Here’s a 6 to hope you change your mind about the election.
These guys routinely give me 4’s…and it’s almost a badge of honor.
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p>Thanks for the 6. I hope I feel better about this…but not right now. Right now, I’m just sick about it all.
3’s and 0’s are for trolling and false information.
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p>A badge of honor it is not.
if I decide it so. You and a few others routinely give 4’s and it’s all is right with the world when you do. It means the world is spinning on its axis and the sun is still in the sky.
I grew up with sisters and no brothers. I now have daughters and no sons. I have a niece and no nephew. So while I’m not a woman, their concerns have surrounded me all my life.
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p>I don’t see how electing John McCain makes the long-term situation vis-a-vis sexism better for my daughters and my niece. You’ve called it a “boycott” below, but no one is going to remember that. They are just going to remember that McCain was elected. Repairing the crap that’s gone on for the last eight years – to the detriment of my daughters’ futures – will be delayed yet another four years.
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p>If you can’t bring yourself to do this for yourself or for the girls and young women in your life, please consider doing it for mine.
I grew up with sisters and no brothers. I now have daughters and no sons. I have a niece and no nephew. So while I’m not a woman, their concerns have surrounded me all my life.
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p>I don’t see how electing John McCain makes the long-term situation vis-a-vis sexism better for my daughters and my niece. You’ve called it a “boycott” below, but no one is going to remember that. They are just going to remember that McCain was elected. Repairing the crap that’s gone on for the last eight years – to the detriment of my daughters’ futures – will be delayed yet another four years.
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p>If you can’t bring yourself to do this for yourself or for the girls and young women in your life, please consider doing it for mine.
I do not know how this second copy of my comment was created. I clicked “post” once and they both appeared…
What exactly is in this for these young women? I’m not sure that voting for a party that stayed silent while MSNBC and the rest of nattering nabobs engaged in blatant sexism (and sometimes wading into the misogyny zone) is a good way to help young women? So what exactly does that do for them – because I would love to know. And how do you explain this to them, because evidently, it’s not just Hillary:
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p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
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p>And this video just “seals” it for me:
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p>http://hillary1000.wordpress.c…
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p>And just for the record – I have four brothers; even my twin is male. I’ve been married for 25 years and don’t have anti-male issues. What I am finding is that I am becoming more militant as I get older. After years, actually decades of this sh**, I am finally fed up. It took a long time…but it has finally happened. And when I look around, Jaisu…I see a Congress where only 16.3% are women, and I don’t see a huge pool of women able to step up into presidential races. And Hillary’s race is a good reason why they may be even less inclined. So yeah…not seeing a good reason here at all.
I suspect we both agree that sexism is embedded in our culture and that Clinton’s candidacy showed both how far we’ve come but also how far we have left to go. And as you say, it’s not just Hillary. In fact, it goes well beyond presidential politics.
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p>Here’s the bottom line for me: Obama’s election doesn’t make Chris Matthews and his ilk stop saying the crap they spewed during the election. Neither does McCain’s election. So we have a problem that needs to be solved, but the “boycott” method doesn’t solve it and IMO makes the situation worse.
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p>Justin Credible said it better than I can:
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p>
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p>But I actually do not see any pros. I’m not big on these indirect “messages” because they never seem to work. It would be much more effective to, for example, have an organized effort to get the DNC and/or Obama to publicly recognize and criticize the treatment Clinton received.
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p>I can understand how Clinton supporters might not actively campaign for Obama given their disappointment. What I can’t understand is actively campaigning for sitting out or voting for anyone else but Obama in the general election.
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p>As far as what’s in it for the young women and girls in my life, it’s a huge difference in their future as I see it because I’m not looking at just this one issue (which as I argue doesn’t get fixed by voting for McCain anyway) but a whole litany of issues that you’ve undoubtedly seen before and I won’t repeat here.
IAnd ‘ve supported candidates who have both won and lost. I’ve been “involved” in activist politics for thirty years; I’m not one of the ones who just go to the Convention – I’ve been one of the last “star fighters” in many a race, working the phones, running the signholding and yes, helping to raise money. I’ve was one of those women who brought their kids to the polls in strollers so I could hold signs. In fact, I was one of the three idiots in my town that ran the GOTV for John Kerry’s last race, held signs, drove people to the polls and grabbed the count. There were only three of us…all women mind you, because no one else thought it was important enough. I initiated a voter registration drive in my town, and then ran it for more than ten years – each and every July 4.
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p>So what exactly am I trying to tell you? I was a true-believer, and it’s killing me that in this race, when I looked around – there were no party officials speaking out against the grossly inappropriate sexism and yes, misogeny that pervaded this race. Yet, when George Bush gave his speech in Israel about terrorism, and how “some” wanted to appease the enemy – they were damned quick to find their voices and speak up for Senator Obama when Bush never even mentioned his name. To be honest, I thought Bush was referring to Jimmy Carter.
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p>So what died was the true-believer in me. I believed in this party with every fiber of my being…and I feel very, very let down. It was a waste of thirty years to find out that my party can’t even give lip service to one of the last “isms” that it’s okay to propagate.
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p>So – I’m in ef’m mode. I’ll “git-r-done” locally, but I cannot in good conscience continue to support the national party because it means that I support their silence. And I can’t do that.
in the Democratic party won’t help us get closer to eliminating the sexism within the party.
I don’t think it will be just one; but there will be a new bumper crop of kids with the enthusiasm and passion to pick up the banner. They’re going to have to, stormv – they’re inheriting this party. And two more thoughts;
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p>1. There is no dishonor in withdrawing from the battlefield when the generals have abdicated their responsibilities.
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p>2. John Kerry and/or his people never said thank you to the three idiots who helped him the last time. Memo to candidates – say thank you. It means the world to people.
…your opinion, Justice4All, and I understand what you are saying.
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p>I’m coming off Hillary’s campaign very disappointed and distressed with a lot of what I saw. For me, however, Obama is the best alternative…I can’t see how the election of another Republican President could do anything but hurt this country and the things I believe in.
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p>But I respect your opinion and I think I understand how you feel.
…I find the possibility of a President McCain so horrifying that I expect to be quite engaged in the national election, as well as local races.
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p>In many ways, it will be the local races that immediately effect my life.
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p>However, as the willingness of George Bush to mortgage my children’s futures – by trillions of dollars in deficit spending and a total sell out to plutocracy and oligarchy shows – who is the President really does affect my life – the lives of my children – and the world.
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p>The descent into fascism, torture, and military adventure is what appalls and horifies me –
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p>That being said, yes, sexism IS still rampant. So stay in there, and fight the fights that call out to your heart.
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p>And the warping of most television journalism into a kind of info-mercialism is a part of why your preferred candidate – and MINE did not get traction. So strengthening alternate media like BMG remains of importance, as well.
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p>There is so much that needs doing!
I think it’s important for me to leave the national race to people who care about it. I don’t – at least not right now; I’m unplugged and feel pretty good about it. The local races will still provide me with a opportunity to use my experience (5 city council races) to do some serious grassroots outreach on issues that I really care about like municipal finance, local aid and disability issues.
A sincere thank you for all of your local efforts.
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p>I would simply ask that you not promote this boycott agenda.
doesn’t need promoting. It’s just happening. Of the three women I saw today – all college educated and over 40, 1 is with McCain, and two are writing in the names of Democrats.
Let’s wait till we have a month or two of dueling policy addresses from Obama and McCain, see where they’re at then. Remember McCain’s campaign strategy is specifically not reaching out to these women but trying to shore up conservatives, the exact opposite of what would appeal to Hillary supporters.
After months of comparing Obama and Clinton, it’s easy to feel disappointed when your candidate doesn’t win. But then McCain starts speaking, and he digs a whole other sub-basement beneath the idea of “disappointment”.
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p>I can’t necessarily vote “for Obama,” but I’m sure eager to vote against McCain.
I see where you’re coming from…sure as the light of day. That being said,
this:
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p>
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p>is what I plan on doing at the polls on Presidential Election Day, if there’s no viable third-party on the ballot. McCain’s far too dangerous to risk, imo.
the names of Dems is what I’ve done in the past when I felt I couldn’t morally support a candidate. It’s a time-honored means of protest. đŸ™‚ It also means more work for the city clerk.
And I mean 10/10 perfect, maybe 9.5/10 for unsnappiness with the “and that’s why we should elect barack obama president” section, needed a shorter catch phrase to tie those sections together.
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p>But yeah, delivery, message, themes, she didn’t leave anyone or anything out and the whole thing was still powerful. Anyone who saw that speech has gotta feel unified, she really laid out all the reasons why democrats are democrats.