Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Clinton and Obama Politicking for the Potomac Primary
Share:
by s.mcc | February 12, 2008 at 07:34 am
531 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments
Photos
oops.
Dashing out of the metro yesterday in northern VA I nearly ran into a man covered in Obama stickers calling to all and sundry "Vote Obama!" I was similarly accosted walking through Georgetown on my way to a job interview. In both cases the campaign workers were white 60-somethings. Given Obama's niche-- young and african american-- something which in the richer quarters of Georgetown and Northern Virginia may unfortunatley be viewed with suspicion, the campaign obviously sought to allay their fears with old white guys proclaiming "Obama-- Yeah!"
sorry guys but not sure they bought it.
For the democrats, the fight for the nomination is no longer about policy-- the two candidates are incredibly similar. Rather it is about personality and whether as a democrat one would like to vote for the first woman or the first african american.
This reuters article says it all:
Clinton strategist Mark Penn said in a memo the former U.S. first lady would be better able to withstand Republican attacks in a general election, having faced them for years. Clinton echoed the theme in an interview with a local Washington television station.
"I have been vetted, I have been through this. There isn't any new information," Clinton said. "I don't think you can say that about my opponent."
Obama, in a later interview with the same station, said he did not buy the argument. "What we have shown is that we can take a punch," he said. "We have shown we can take a loss."
So leading up to an incredibly important primary, all the two candidates can say to a local DC station is that they can play the political game better than the other?
Please!
Now don't get me wrong. On the one hand I am very excited to see the results of the nomination. Whether we like to admit it or not, African americans and women still have an uphill battle in many workplaces. The nomination of either candidate to the highest position in the country will help that battle.
On the other hand, this IS the highest position in the country-- some would say in the world. Shouldn't the nominating process be more than one's physical appearance and politicking abilities?
Many would ( and do) call me an idealist. Some day perhaps, the concept of what it MEANS internationally and domestically NOT SYMBOLICALLY to be the next president of the United States will be the focus of the campaign.
Alas, that day is not today.
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Crowd Power
Bill Adler
Washington, District Of Columbia, United States
fwinstead
Washington, District Of Columbia, United States
shawnduffy
Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 07:42 on February 12th, 2008
s.mcc, great report. thank you for telling us about the event.
at 13:15 on February 12th, 2008
I agree with your last paragraph, about the fact that today is not the day that the next president of the United States will be chosen based on what it would mean domestically and internationally to actually be chosen as president. When this race first started, many people were saying that the country wasn't ready for either a woman or an African American president, but now it has become a question of which one the country is more ready for - not if they're ready at all.