Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Edwards no longer wins my respect...

He folded...

He's endorsing Obama rather than listening to what voters are saying.

Obama can't win unless these voters feel as if someone is listening to them, Edwards deciding to do this after last nights WV primary means he's not willing to be the one to address those concerns. Obama merely putting a flag pin back on is not going to do it...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. But what is your beef with Obama? I've picked on you on some of your other sites about this, but I don't get it. I've been rude, no question, but now you have no respect for the guy you originally supported? I'm serious, lay out your case against Obama. Lay it all out. We're talking about a once in a generation candidate, yet you support the old guard that has destroyed our area. You support the working union man who will lose his job within the next few years without providing him another job. The bottom line is that Obama gets it. Unions are good and bad, but Obama knows how to tow the line. For you to disrespect a good man like John Edwards must be painful for you. You wouldn't support the woman or the black man. Perhaps you need to see what is necessary. I have absolutely no respect for you, and should we ever meet, I will express my conviction as such. You truly sadden me.

Unknown said...

Thanks for admitting that you have been rude, though I'd consider it to be more than that. This has been asked and answered in the past though you don't seem to recall that.

Since you also rarely come back to your late night attack comments that you leave on my blogs, there is really no point to going into huge detail except to say I'm allowed to be disappointed that a candidate I respected who stated he was not going to try to mess with the process has now broken his word.

You don't seem to grasp what the real issue is, and it's the exact same thing we went through with John Kerry, electability...For whatever reason Obama is not getting the support of the very voting block he needs to win.

I don't care if Obama is black, white or purple, but some voters do, and for them it goes beyond that, it's an issue of trust. If these issues exist now? Wait until the Republican attack machine starts.

If he can not close the deal now? What makes you think he can in November? That should be the issue because if he can not attract that base? He's not going to win, it's as simple as that.

mark skeldon said...

Lisa,

I actually think you've documented pretty well why you don't support Obama, and while I disagree with you, you have explained why on this blog before.

To say that Obama is unable to close the deal I guess is a matter of symantics. He would have lost badly in WV whenever the primary was held, and would lose badly if it were held in June. Many WV voters admitted that they couldn't vote for him because he was black or is a muslim (which isn't true). Obama will win big in Oregon and Montana, does that mean Clinton couldn't close the deal? I don't think so, the states just have different demographics.

I don't see him losing the nomination, though I think Clinton is entitled to campaign until she wants to stop, but I also think that politically there is a fine line between being tough and denying reality. At any rate the choice is hers, maybe she really feels she has a shot.

In regards to Edwards, I don't know what his motivation is. It sounds like there isn't bad blood between he and Clinton over it. It's possible that he is in contact with superdelagates and has determined that the race is over and feels that it's in the best interest of the party to move on and start campaining against McCain. Really not sure though just a thought.

Whether he will win the white blue collar vote in November is a real issue. Though from my perspective it is just as big of an issue for those voters as it is for him. Will they vote against their own interests (ending the war, health care reform, womans right to choose etc..) because they think he is an elitest or they're mad Clinton didn't get the nomination? I honestly don't know the answer to that. My hope is that the democratic party will rally around whoever gets the nomination, if this happens I think that we will win because the country is definately ready to go in a new direction. If they don't come together then John McCain will win, and appoint supreme court justices, continue the war and do little about health care.

Unknown said...

Thanks Mark,

I think it goes beyond the few who stated race alone or the muslim issue which I've posted about on my other blog are untrue.

There are a myraid of reasons why people are still voting for Clinton even though the odds are clearly against her. Obama can not reach them all but he's going to have to reach a majority of them and unless something major changes after the primary process is done? I don't see how that will happen. I hope I'm wrong but I see the same exact scenario that has happened in the past.

I'm disappointed in Edwards, he was one of the few I still had faith in that would keep his word. I should have known better, I was disappointed when he agreed to be Kerry's vice president, I was disappointed when he was kept out of the race by the media who's focus was not on who might really be best but which historic first they were going to concentrate on. I was disappointed when he dropped out of the race after promising he was not going to, so this for me was the final disappointment.

Considering what this presidential primary has become, I'm not going to apologize for feeling as if my candidate would have done a better job than both, and feeling let down that he is telling those of us who can't support Obama that we don't matter.

It gets old to get attacked for voicing an opinion, or a feeling, so I do appreciate those like you who disagree but at least aren't an asshat about it.

mark skeldon said...

Just to clarify, I think there are many reasons besides race and religion that people are voting for Clinton. My comments about those two were in regards to the WV primary. I think race and religion played a much bigger role there than in most places, and this was supported by the exit poll numbers.

I think you can make a strong argument that Clinton is more electable. Actually I could make the argument myself. That said the whole who's more electable thing bothers me a little. I strongly believe that Obama would be the better president. A lot of it has to do with the way that he looks at issues and works with people, and not because of a policy issue (they agree on most issues). I think we're past the point of debating it, but my point is, am I supposed to not support the candidate that I believe would be better, because Clinton is doing a better job with a demographic that Obama may need to get elected? If electability is to be that important then why not lay out the ideal candidate on paper before hand and then go find someone like that. The fact the the last two candidates are a black man and a woman shows me that democrats don't operate that way. We go with the candidate we believe in first, and then worry about getting them elected.

I'm willing to take the chance that Obama may lose because he can't carry certain blocks of voters because I believe he is the best person for the job.

Unknown said...

Mark, if you didn't see this, it might interest you since some of the questions related to electability are covered.