White Women Take the Gloves Off [rquoter] By Froma Harrop The woman who shouted "McCain in '08" at the Democratic rules committee was speaking for a multitude. After mounting for months, female anger over the choreographed dumping on Hillary Clinton and her supporters has exploded -- and party loyalty be damned. That the women are beginning to have a good time is an especially bad sign for Barack Obama's campaign. "Obama will NOT get my vote, and one step more," Ellen Thorp, a 59-year-old flight attendant from Houston told me. "I have been a Democrat for 38 years. As of today, I am registering as an independent. Yee Haw!" A new Pew Research Center poll points to a surging tide of fury, especially among white women. As recently as April, this group preferred Obama over the presumptive Republican John McCain by three percentage points. By May, McCain enjoyed an eight-point lead among white women. What's dangerous for the Democratic Party is that, for many women, the eye of the storm has moved beyond Hillary or anything she does at this point. The offense has turned personal. They are now in their own orbit, having abandoned popular Democratic Websites that reveled in crude anti-Hillary outpourings -- and established new ones on which they trade stories of the Obama people's nastiness. But worse than the online malice has been the affronts to their faces. Tara Wooters, a 39-year-old mother from Portland, Ore., told me that wearing a Hillary sticker around town has become an act of defiance. She recalls one young man telling her, "I'd rather vote for a black man than a menopausal woman." "We don't hurl insulting, berating remarks at Obama supporters, or at Obama himself or his family," Debbie Head, a 40-year-old from Austin, Texas, complained to me. Remember Peggy Agar? The women do. They can't stop talking about the Detroit TV reporter who asked Obama a serious question at a Chrysler factory -- "How are you going to help American autoworkers?" -- to which he answered, "Hold on a second, sweetie." The women are angry at the ludicrous charges of racism leveled against Clinton by the Obama camp -- amplified in the supposedly respectable media -- and projected onto themselves. Jean B. Grillo, an "over 50" writer in lower Manhattan, was pretty straightforward: "I am so tired as a white, ultra-liberal, McGovern-voting, civil-rights marching, anti-war fighting highly educated professional woman who totally supports Hillary Clinton to be attacked and vilified as racist and or dumb." Shauna Morris, a 44-year-old lawyer from Largo, Fla., told me, "I am upper-middle class, and I still can't stand him -- and it has nothing to do with race, believe me." The women talk of being taken for granted by a party leadership that never spoke out on some of the outrageous Hillary bashing -- and despite the close race, joined the early rush to crown Obama. "Many of us feel slighted," said Lynn Eyrich Harvey, 76, from Los Gatos, Calif. "We feel that years of supporting the party is unimportant, that we are to sit down and shut up -- but be sure to vote Democratic in November." Passions can change, one supposes, but the women I hear from do not see the rampant sexism, particularly toward older women, as isolated gaffes but as a systemic dismissal of them -- an enormous voting bloc that has been reliably Democratic. "How Obama's campaign has treated Hillary will not be forgotten," Janet Rogers, 55, who runs a Bed and Breakfast in Medina, Ohio, wrote me. "I will vote for McCain if Hillary is not the nominee. My husband and friends all feel the same way." Indeed. McCain in '08 has suddenly become a more likely prospect.[/rquoter]
She was a plant from the Clinton campaign. And McCain sucking up to Clinton supporters in his speech last night was, like the entire speech, pathetic.
Surging tide of fury ...or a predictable flare up immediately following a hard fought defeat? In a month from now, business as usual.
Maybe a little But in one aspect, basso (or rather the author of the article, we don't really know what basso thinks) is right. Obama does have his work cut out for himself to unite the party. Hillary could have helped in that regard, but it looks like she isn't interested in that. But there is 5 months until the general and once people start to see and comprehend the enormous differences in policy between McCain and Barack, hopefully they will come to their senses and make the right decision.
nothing is attractive to women like a right wing republican who divorced his injured wife to marry a rich heiress.
Or a candidate who throws his grandmother under the bus in a sad attempt to save his own ass just because he didn't have the balls to admit he believed the racist and hate filled sermons his pastor delivered from the pulpit.
See, the difference between what you cited and and what I cited is that the thing I am talking about actually happened. The "throw grandmother under the bus" by contrast, did not happen. I guess she is "thrown under the bus" because he has not dragged an 80 year old lady out of retirement in Hawaii and made her work 18 hour days canvassing campaign stops? That's just stupid, even by the standard of your mediocre posting history, for reasons I don't need to explain. It's as stupid as thinking feminists will flock to McCain. Furthermore, even more stupid is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the Wright controversy whatsoever - rather it seems you are just throwing rocks out of despair. A word of advice, my 'priviledged' friend, it's going to be a long campaign, if you are down to the Hail Mary passes at this point you're going to be tapped out by September. Anyway is it your position that left-leaning feminists will rally around McCain? Yes or no? That's what this thread is about. That's the implication that the threadstarter is pushing. Answer the question. I say no, in fact I find it absurd. What is your answer to the question?
Clinton really took loads and loads of hateful venom from the left-wing blogosphere and some of the most partisan talking heads (I'm looking at you, Keith Olbermann), and that angered a lot of her supporters. And not just women. I have neighbors that are union workers and strong Clinton supporters that might have been okay with Obama before the many visible Obama supporters made it their objective to personally attack her every day, and attack those who would dare mention flaws in their candidate. Obama will be able to lure some of them back, but some will vote Republican (especially for a liberal Republican Presidential candidate), and some will sit this one out.
what flaws do people attack clinton supporters for pointing out? his preacher? lack of experience was a serious issue discussed in the campaign. differences in policies on health care and nafta were seriously discussed. when a candidate talked about her mission impossible episode in bosinia, well things tend to sort of becoming a joke.
Actually the "thread starter" posted this on the forum without comment. It is the equivalent of forwarding email spam with a forward list 17 pages long at the top that ends with "Send this to 19 of your friends or you will have 5 years of bad luck." This forum was supposed to be about Debate and Discuss, not Post and Gloat. [From this point forward] I am treating these types of threads the same way I treat those emails. IGNORE, MOVE TO SPAM, DELETE.
This is exactly what I'm talking about, but from a random poster instead of a blogger or talking head. I don't judge Obama based on his pastor, but many, many people across the country do. It is a real flaw in his candidacy. As are his elitist-sounding comments about clinging to guns and religion, his verbal gaffes that he often makes when he's speaking off the cuff, and his perceived distance when he tries to connect to people personally. And the Obama Nation (I just like that term) dismiss these out-of-hand, and some attack those that dare bring them up.
so the guy who was all defensive about ron paul's racist news letters thinks obama should be judged on his pastor.
This is the default tactic of the AbomiNation, deny, attack, excuse. at some point, there may be something that's beyond excuse, but it won't change their minds- they're too heavily invested at this point. I predict many of hillary's female supporters will move to Obama. the question is how many, and where? depending on the state, it may not take many defections to McCain, or just a decision born out of disgust to sit this one out, to be determinative. but go head and dismiss the thought out of hand- i'm sure you have nothing to worry about.
My feelings do not matter in this. Obama is judged on his pastor regardless of what I think. Some people care. And some people whose vote the Democrats will need care. And to pretend differently is burying your head in the sand about your candidate.
so do you think these issues are important or not, were you burying your head in the sand about the racist literature going out under paul's name? lets just clarify that.
