Clinton must speak to her McCain-loving supporters.

[AZBlue]

This should be her first step in supporting Sen. Obama. And this is a vital step to support the Democratic Party and the country. She can't just talk the talk - she needs to walk the walk. I really hope she does.

Sen. Clinton needs to - no, has to - reach out to this particular group of supporters and explain to them that the way to protest her not being the nominee is NOT to support the most misogynistic Senator in recent history, the exact twin of George W. Bush, the candidate that would increase lobbyists' presence in the government, the candidate that will give further cuts to the rich and take away more from the not-so-rich and the war-happy candidate.

Some Clintonites are so mad about Barack Obama's Tuesday victory that they've launched a web site to build support to launch a lobbying group to support Republican John McCain.

We're going to run campaign ads to defeat Obama," says Ed Hale, a 63-year-old rancher and a Clinton supporter from Wellington, Texas. "We have doctors, lawyers, CPAs, the blue bloods, and then we have rednecks like me. It's a very diversified organization."

The split illustrates the difficult task the Democratic party now faces in rallying the troops behind Obama. Open dissent within party ranks provides Republicans with openings to exploit.

Hale launched the "Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain" group last Saturday. The campaign claims to have 5,000 supporters, and its website visitor counter says that it has already attracted 37,807 visitors.

(snip)

Hale, a Vietnam veteran and a long-time Democrat, says that many of the group's supporters are Reagan Democrats, and their primary concern is foreign policy and defense. A call to the Texas Democratic Party confirmed that he was supposed to have been a delegate to the state convention this week.

(snip)

Rickie Banning, president of "Hillary Clinton Supporters Count Too," a website, says that she's received hundreds of e-mails from Clinton supporters who are angry at the Democratic National Committee, and who are registering as independent. Some of them say that they will vote for John McCain.

A sampling of the e-mails that she sent along show that many of the supporters feel cheated.

"If you ask me, I feel sad in my heart, and I think a lot of people do, but some people are really angry," Banning says. "People feel upset, and not listened to, and a lot of people feel like they're being thrown under the bus. "

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/angry-clinton-s.html

They didn't win, so they're throwing a temper tantrum? It makes no sense and, should they be successful, will only hurt every American, including themselves. Yes, I know some are Republicans posing as Democratic Clinton supporters - but I doubt they all are.

I've sent an e-mail to Sen. Clinton asking her to take this very action. I don't know if it will ever reach her, but I'm not sure what else to do, aside from LTTEs.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

1. Good job

on this post.

K&R

:kick:

[muryan]

2. She needs to make it very clear

That she doesn't want the support of those who would vote for McCain over Obama, because getting rid of the Bush policies is paramount to our country being able to rebound and rebuild.

[cliffordu]

3. KICKED

[NanceGreggs]

4. Great post, AZBlue!

I agree that Hillary needs to come on very strong in order to douse this kind of thing.

I decided to browse a few "pro-Hillary" sites earlier today, to see what was being discussed. It is obvious from the postings that there are many GOP operatives about who are preying on disgruntled Hillary supporters. The types they are attracting are the easily-manipulated, the easily-led.

I saw posts from people who claimed to have "inside information" that the SDs are planning a massive defection from Obama at the Convention. (Needless to say, no one questions the source of such information, or the reasoning behind such a move!) They are trying to fan the "she's still in this thing" flames, knowing that the higher the false hopes, the more angered these people will be when it doesn't come about - just the kind of anger that can be turned into "spite votes" for McCain.

And those who are flocking to these sites have no idea that they are being played.

On edit: Ooops! Forget to say K & R for a very insightful post!

[AZBlue]

6. That's sad to hear.

But not suprising - typical GOP tactics. Thanks for sharing that info - I'm going to have to check these sites out over the weekend to get a better feel for them. I'm torn between being angry at these people for being so silly and feeling sorry for them for playing right into the GOP's hands! Thanks for the info!! :hi:

[NanceGreggs]

12. It truly is an eye-opener ...

... and very sad. People are being told exactly what they want to hear (she's going to win this in the end!), and they are more than willing to follow the sound of that voice.

But this was a GREAT post - so thanks again! :hi:

[AZBlue]

27. And thank you for your kind words!

:D

[EFerrari]

5. Hopefully she will tomorrow.

We'll see how much influence she actually has with that group, no?

[AZBlue]

7. Yes

And that will tell us what percentage are GOP and what percentage are truly lost Democrats (who hopefully can find their way back, given a little time).

I really do hope she addresses this tomorrow and/or in the near future.

[NYC_SKP]

16. Doing nothing is tacit approval.

Some of these folks are angry, some will come around and others won't, but if all the crazy talk is going on without her intervention then it is very careless, if not deliberate, of her.
Especially when her site is used to disseminate the passions and expand the movement.

[EFerrari]

17. I agree with that. Exactly. n/t

[AZBlue]

28. In politics, no action = the wrong action.

I fully agree!

[cynatnite]

8. They have an emotional stake with Hillary and are lashing out at Obama...

It may not make sense to you, but it is understandable. I do think cooler heads will prevail and majority of them will come around. Of course, there are a few who won't no matter what. IMO, they were never real Hillary supporters to begin with.

Hillary's speech will probably make a big difference. She knows how important it is to get her supporters to rally around Obama. :)

[WillyToad]

13. Of course Obama supporters never lashed out at Hillary....

...Just to be clear

[cynatnite]

14. Humans have a tendency to be irrational at times...

I probably should have added that :)

[silverojo]

19. But if Obama had lost, I'd support Hillary

I'd have to hold my nose as I voted, but I'd do it for my country.

[AZBlue]

29. I don't remember any Obama supporter saying they'd support & vote for McCain.

Let alone actively setting up a support group and raising money for McCain.

[NYC_SKP]

9. She needs to moderate or close her forums, too

From her official website blog, http://blog.hillaryclinton.com, there are way too many disturbing posts.
Most say they are voting for McCain, others are directing them to new sites like "pumapac".
None of the messages were about unity or supporting out candidate.

This one post was very disturbing:

re: Friend's observation

Tonight one of my friends called me. Yesterday she volunteered at her Church as she does every Thursday, helping to prepare meals for the needy, or homeless.
She could not believe her ears, at what some of the AA were saying about Obama being the nominee. It got so bad that some of the women had their cell phones ready to call for help.
No, this isn't going to be pretty folks, I don't see any good coming out of this at all.
Now, my friend, does't know if she can volunteer next week because she is afraid.....it's just the beginning...........What did they say about us being "typical, bitter, uneducated, white people." I have heard it all...........Pray and light candles for Hillary, when I checked at gratefulness.org, there were only 309 for HRC. We need more, and lots of prayers for Hillary.......Good Night everyone, till tomorrow
by LillaBet at 6/7/2008 12:21:57 AM

The site is her responsibility and it needs to be closed, or at least moderated. It's negligent of her campaign to let the site be used to spread this vitriol.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leftofcool]

18. Sure, let's close free speech

I don't think so

[AZBlue]

30. By having it on her website, she's endorsing what they say.

It's not closing free speech. They can still post it anywhere else that they want.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Oleladylib]

20. wow, you must sit 'round and pat yourself on the back..

such an influential dude.

[cboy4]

21. Maybe while she does that, Obama can speak to his

Clinton-hating A-holes, and break the news that they interfere with his quest to secure votes from as many Hillary supporters as possible.

After all, he needs every last one of them to win the White House.

[AZBlue]

32. Obama has done that. He's been nothing but kind, polite and supportive of Clinton

and has asked his supporters to do the same. But you obviously weren't paying attention to that because that would get in the way of your hate. Please let it go. We all need to work together for the White House in November.

[MrSlayer]

22. I think a lot of the super sore losers are Republican plants.

Who were never going to vote for Hillary anyway. Real Democrats vote Democrat.

[Franks Wild Years]

23. Indeed.

If you vote McCain after eight years of Bush, you're doing it because you're a life-long Republican. Regardless of how you've voted in your past, you've always been a hardcore, right-wing Republican at heart. That's an incontrovertible fact.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. If HRC can convice Harriet Christian

to publicly support the Democratic ticket, then I'll be impressed with her "walking the walk".

Of course, that's a tall order, so I'll settle for a good Dem-serving speech, one that does not indicate that she's the real winner.

:hi:

[pnorman]

25. I was REALLY hoping that there would NEVER be another occasion on DU ,

when I'd see the necessity of posting this photo once again:
(Sigh!)

pnorman

[roseBudd]

26. We have to remember they don't amount to a lot of people and they are dispersed across 50 states

so their ability to effect any one state is minimal. How many are in CA or NY? Does anyone seriously think they can dilute the votes in those democratic states? Did Nader?

[hardbop]

31. She should have started in today's speech ...

I liked Hillary's speech today (6/7/2008), but I agree that she should have directly addressed this group of supporters. She made in indirect plea with her "don't look back, but forward" theme of statements. But some humor could have helped. Something like, "To those of you who have threatened to vote for McCain. Are you out of your minds? Why did I inspire you in the first place?"

[AZBlue]

33. You should be her speech writer!

And a big welcome to DU!
:hi:

[LeFleur1]

35. Why Women Might Stay Home

"They didn't win, so they're throwing a temper tantrum"

Here is the question. What is in the Democratic party for Women?

They heard Hillary being called gender names in the media, her clothes, her hair, her voice, her laugh, herself being criticized. They heard the denigrating words used to describe her. Every time they heard such a thing they took it as an insult to all women. They watched, hoping to see the Party stand for her and disparage the kind of insult talk that was being broadcast. But the Party leaders were silent (until last week when Howard Dean tumbled to how women felt about these insults and finally spoke up). Obama, too was silent about the gender insults.

This forum was a bed of insults and hate talk. I absolutely cannot stand to think I must work with women bashers such as those on this forum. People who claimed to be Democrats were bashing women and tearing Hillary down with insults. It wasn't isolated talk by the media.

The Democratic Party believes that women will vote for them no matter what. Maybe they are wrong.
It has nothing to do with tantrums. It has to do with self worth.

I believe a good number of women would never vote for McCain. But they might stay home on election day.

[AZBlue]

40. Staying home = voting for McCain.

In politics, inaction is unacceptable.

As for sexism in this campaign, yes, it occurred, but not as much as some claim. Just because a person wrote or said something negative about Clinton doesn't mean it was sexist - not everything said against her was sexism just because she's a woman. I saw many instances of false sexism claims on DU - just about every day.

Regarding their response to the sexism that did indeed exist, to try to elect a man who will move women's rights back by decades is completely insane. A better reaction would be to become more involved in the campaigns of women who are running for office in 08 and to continue that work in the election years to come. But, hey, I've gone and used that logic again.

[hardbop]

43. Now you know how black folks think

QUOTE:
==============
The Democratic Party believes that women will vote for them no matter what. Maybe they are wrong.
It has nothing to do with tantrums. It has to do with self worth.
=============

Heh. Funny. Now you know exactly how black folks think when our votes are taken for granted. And yet ... without fail, we almost always come around in the end and vote for the party. Which is what women should do if they *truly* care about the issues.

[AZBlue]

47. No, really...as I said earlier, you should write speeches

:D
Well said!!

[MethuenProgressive]

34. Obama must speak to his sexist supporters.

Calling for HRC to address a tiny, and probably fictional, sub-set?
BO should go first, I suppose?

[AZBlue]

37. See post #32

[Better Believe It]

36. Absolutely!

K&R

[JoFerret]

38. She did. Loud and clear

Too bad you did not hear it.

Too bad you don't seem to be able to understand the depth of feeling.

[OzarkDem]

39. Agree, those still hawking it

are most likely GOP disruptors.

[AZBlue]

42. I'm a GOP disruptor???

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[OzarkDem]

48. No, the sock puppets

who are saying they will vote for McCain. I don't think there are any real Clinton supporters among them, especially after today.

The GOP has worked hard and will continue to work hard to divide Dems. They're desperate.

[AZBlue]

50. Oh, I'm sorry. I misunderstood - my mistake!!

I hope you're right. I do think many are GOP'ers posing as Clinton supporters, but I'm worried that not all are.

[OzarkDem]

52. I think the GOP has been very busy online

at the forums for Hillary supporters. I visited a few, but didn't get a good feeling from some of them, too many people popping up saying "leave the Democratic Party" "vote for McCain", etc. For me it seemed pretty obvious, but some people might fall for it.

[AZBlue]

54. I'm going to visit some of them this weekend to get a better idea of them.

I have a feeling it will be a discouraging exercise.

[OzarkDem]

55. There are a couple that are good

and they've provided sanctuary for Dem women who supported Clinton. For the others, I wouldn't bother. Its great if they turn into forums for revitalized Dem women's activism, I'd really like to see that happen. Sadly, women do still need a place of their own to talk about women's issues without disruption or ridicule.

[AZBlue]

59. Oh absolutely!

And I think that Clinton's campaign has done a lot toward helping other female candidates win their positions and toward encouraging women (and men) to actively support them. She's woken us back up, and that's a really great thing. She's reminded us that we need a greater female voice in politics, both local and national and for that I thank her!

And I definitely understand her supporters being disappointed - I've been a supporter of a losing candidate more times than I care to admit, LOL. I do live in a red state after all. I just want to make sure that disappointment doesn't last and lead to bitterness, anger and doing something that will only hurt us all. That's counter-productive and not what Sen. Clinton would want either.

[JoFerret]

45. Some of them for sure

Maybe some dead enders and a few who can't seem to get with the new program. They will. Give em time. Hillary showed them the way. Set an agenda for the party.

[AZBlue]

41. When?

[JoFerret]

44. Download the transcript and read.

.

[AZBlue]

46. Which transcript?

Are you referring to her speech today?

If you are, you should check the date and time of the OP before you start pointing fingers and making accusations.

If you're not referring to today's speech, then tell me which one you are referring to and I'll be glad to read it.

[JoFerret]

49. 2.53pm today is when you posted

I was responding to that.

[AZBlue]

51. The OP was posted: Jun-06-08 10:18 PM

I've simply been responding to others' replies to the OP today.

[JoFerret]

53. When?

.

[Pathwalker]

57. Ah, you're on Arizona time. Mine reads 1:18 AM today.

Thought you posted it very early AM this morning. You did - on Eastern time, but it was still yesterday - your time. :rofl: Took me a minute to figure out the time thingy.

[AZBlue]

60. Oh, and even more fun: we don't follow daylight savings time!

So half the year I'm really on Pacific time and the other half I'm on Mountain time. I ALWAYS get confused!!!!

[Pathwalker]

62. Oh joy! Sounds like more fun than I could bear.

I would have to just throw away my clocks and settle for daylight and darkness. :rofl:

[shayes51]

58. yep

[symbolman]

56. Great thread AZ

I'd like to volunteer an idea, many if these sites besides the obvious as stated are spread thin, and I suspect these kinds of Obsessive folks are those that keep "coming back" to Check and See if anyone has answered/responded to their particular rant..

We all know that its like Christmas when you "find" like minds or create a thread or discussion that a bunch of people post to, just human nature on the web.. There's always going to be Crazies that want to Cuddle Up, and the web allows them to get in a clump and post outrage 300 times a day..

So the traffic is an illusion, static, noise. :)

But you're right, the root source needs to nip this stuff in the bud, though there are some folks that there's just NO talking to out there, even Clinton can't reach them.

[AZBlue]

61. You're very right.

And with time their disappointment and hurt will lessen and they will see the logic of not supporting McCain. There will still be a few who will continue on to November and beyond - but as you said, no one's going to reach them. I just want to make sure they are really a "few"! :D