Obama Peeps: If Hillary runs a positive campaign from now on, would you be cool with her staying in?

[Aloha Spirit]

My feeling is, as long as she keeps her messages positive and legit, I'm cool with her staying in the race until everybody has a chance to vote.

[truebrit71]

1. No. Her campaign is no longer the issue. She cannot mathematically win.

She needs to get out.

[Aloha Spirit]

8. So to you, the only value of a campaign is determining who the winner is?

[truebrit71]

35. Well, yes..isn't that the point? It doesn't matter WHAT she does from now on..she cannot win...

...it is mathematically not possible for her to get the nomination...so why continue?

And therein lies the rub...what is she REALLY doing this for?

[Aloha Spirit]

36. That's what I'm getting at. If she were running a positive campaign, it would be doing good things

for the party. Everybody has a chance to vote in this historic primary election.

[truebrit71]

45. A Leopard can't change it's spots either...

...that's the problem with hypotheticals like this..It'll never happen...

[Aloha Spirit]

46. No argument on the leopards, but please read post #40 thanks.

[PoliticalAmazon]

86. She's shown her true colors, and shown herself to be a pathological liar...

...only a real Class A chump would trust her again.

Trusting Hillary again would be like trusting Bush Jr again. Only the most gullible will allow themselves to be played as a sucker again after being chumped so many times before.

[tokenlib]

2. You really think that's possible?? n/t

[Aloha Spirit]

10. No, not really.

[nomorewhopper]

3. no. i will never forgive her and its too late for her to change my mind

of course, she does seem to change directions very often. so who knows maybe she'll stop her "fear and gloom" campaign and become the "candidate of hope"

[madaboutharry]

4. IF my grandmother had wheels,

she'd be a bus.

"If" she runs a positive campaign? I really don't see any signs of that happening.

[Buzz Clik]

24. That would be awesome. I wish my grandma were a bus.

[PoliticalAmazon]

90. My Mom used to say, "If I had that guy's Mercedes had a feather up his butt...

"...we'd both be tickled."

I'm not interested in yet another fake Hillary. We've seen "blubbering Hillary," "compassionate Hillary," and "sentimental Hillary." Enough of the bullshit.

[anonymous171]

5. I wouldn't mind. Perhaps she could even focus on issues.

That would actually HELP the democrats.

[Cali_Democrat]

41. don't hold you breath

She can't resist descending into the gutter.

[stray cat]

6. Absolutely

[Hepburn]

7. No....

...it is ruining our chances for the GE. She has done enough damage as it is. It's time for her to go. We need to concentrate on McGranpa and she is nothing more and nothing less than a distraction from what needs to be done.

[Bensthename]

9. She is past the point of no return. It will be over for her in June.

She will finish the remaining contests and then supers will flood to Obama...

[jenmito]

11. Would that include stopping the crazy lies about leading in the popular vote? If she did nothing

but run a positive campaign, I wouldn't mind. It would just put off her political death, but I wouldn't be really against it.

[Fearless]

12. No, her presence is disrupting and destroying our chances in November.

It's like saying... well so long as Bush is a lame duck, let's let him keep the title of president after next January but with no power. Utter stupidity. We need to move on.

[bowens43]

13. NO, it's not possible for her to win.

we should be focused on beating McCain not playing these stupid games with hillary and her supporters.

[dbmk]

14. There is the question of money being burned on this.

Of course atm it might pay back in voter participation.

[gateley]

15. I don't know --

I go back and forth on this. On one hand, look at the polls -- she DOES have a lot of supporters. On the other hand, read what McGovern had to say about in-party fighting:

But McGovern, who lost the 1972 election to incumbent Richard Nixon by landslide margins, doesn't attribute his defeat to merely the contours of his political base. Indeed, he argues that his candidacy was damaged more by the infighting that occurred within the Democratic Party even after he had secured the nomination.

"After I had the nomination won and everything except the crowning at the convention, the other candidates that I had defeated in the primaries and the caucuses ganged up on me and spent the next month just bad mouthing me around the country," he said. "And, of course the Nixon people used some of the quotes and threw them back at me in the general election."

It is in this regard -- not necessarily his general election defeat -- that McGovern worries history could end up repeating itself. Noting that Obama seems poised to be the eventually nominee, though believing Sen. Hillary Clinton should stay in the race, he called for a more civil discourse between the two candidates.

"That is the one minus," he said. "I think there has been a little too much negative backbiting. And that is the one negative that concerns me because it is what happened to me in '72... I had to go into that convention exhausted, instead of spending the last few months carefully and systematically picking a running mate and getting my convention organized. We can't have that again."

THAT gives me cause for concern. I just don't know. :shrug:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/25/george-mcgovern-still-bac_n_98599.html

Edit to add link

[Aloha Spirit]

48. Thanks for the link!

[Buzz Clik]

16. "If the tick on the back on your neck promised to quit sucking blood , can she stay there?"

No.

[mcctatas]

17. Of course...

she can run whatever the fuck kind of campaign she wants, if it works, no harm no foul, if it doesn't, then no one will be able to use that tired old "Obama hasn't been fully vetted" meme in the general, and I firmly believe that either one of them can and will beat McCain!

[stillcool]

18. Yes.

[mmonk]

19. She used Farrakhan and Hamas in the last debate.

That makes it very difficult for me since Obama is a democrat. It makes me also nervous that it could spell the end of progressives in the party. I might be willing to consider it if when she and her surrogates are on TV, she would denounce the racist xenophobic attacks and quit blaming Obama for MI and FLA.

[otohara]

20. She's Not Going Anywhere

and she will get more negative.

I'm a realist - The Clinton's are the one's who live in a "if", "but", world.

[Ninga]

21. The very question you ask begs to be questioned!! For goodness sake, if Sen. Clinton thought it wer

in her best interest to run a positive campaign, wouldn't she?????????

She is running the campaign she wants to run.

This is not about what the voter wants, it is about what the Senator wants.

[Barack_America]

22. If she runs a positive campaign she will be ignored...

Because the race is essentially over, it's only the dirty tactics that keeps people tuned in.

In short, she will not be ignored, thus she will not run a clean campaign.

[Aloha Spirit]

30. Yeah, agreed, I'm just thinking about the other consequences of the primary campaigns besides

choosing a nominee.
Like getting people charged up, getting people registered, letting people see the candidates up close...

[knixphan]

23. I'm thinking about John McCain.

[wileedog]

25. I have less problem with it than the current clustereff she is running

But I would still rather see the party stop shooting at each other and circle the wagons on McCain.

Its time to start framing the debate for that election, not continue to give free reign for him to do it.

[Coexist]

26. sure

[zam]

27. I will be jumping a triple axel in hell before Hillary will run a positive campaign.

And I am lousy at skating.

[SeaLyons]

28. Glad you approve of HRC staying in the race...

I don't think she was planning on doing anything else. :hi:

[Liberal Gramma]

29. Yes

I have no problem with her running. I have a problem with her negativity.

[pscot]

31. The girl can't help it

She will stay in, but "positive and legit"? I wouldn't turn my back on her.

[flpoljunkie]

32. Runs a positive campaign from now on? Ain't gonna happen!

[EFerrari]

33. It doesn't matter what I think. She can't win. n/t

[grateful581]

34. no

She is only helping Mccain and destroying our party.

[HooptieWagon]

37. That's a mighty big "If".

She wouldn't keep her end of any such agreement. She runs a vile and nasty campaign because she's a vile and nasty person who surrounds herself with other vile and nasty people. A leopard can't change it's spots.

[Shoelace]

58. "vile and nasty"?

hmmm, for a minute I thought I was on the DU forum, must be my computer has gone haywire and I ended up on a Freeper's forum! They've been using those adjectives about her for years.

[HooptieWagon]

66. "vile and nasty" from her new BFFEs - Murdoch and Scaife.

How freeperish of her supporters to embrace them.

[Shoelace]

70. quite a coup I'd say

to win over 2 arch conservatives and that took no small courage to pull off. Murdoch has changed his mind about global warming as well thanks to his son. Sometimes as these guys get older, they think about their legacy. Here's a good quote about this endorsement:

The newspaper said Mrs. Clinton had experience and that Mr. Obama did not. It disapproved of some of Mr. Obama’s views. But it seemed most impressed by Mrs. Clinton’s decision to visit the paper, despite its longstanding criticism against her. “That is no small matter: Political courage is essential in a president,” the paper wrote. “Clinton has demonstrated it; Obama has not.”
Apparently Mr. Scaife has been reassessing the Clintons for a while. This re-think accompanied his change of heart last year over the war in Iraq, when his editorial page decided President Bush was “delusional” and called for an immediate withdrawal of troops.
Some attribute the billionaire’s 180-degree reversals to a messy divorce. Others say he has an eye on his legacy and wants to atone for the damage he may have done to others, perhaps the Clintons included.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/scaife-paper-endorses-clinton/

[Why Syzygy]

38. For what? No. We don't need her around.

[DJ13]

39. If she didnt have Republican 527's doing her smearing for her, yes

But since they are, and she is alright with it, then no f*cking way do I want her to stay in the race at this point.

[Aloha Spirit]

40. Seems like half of responses are--she cannot win so what's the point....

This is what I'm trying to get people to think about.
I don't agree that "someone can't win so what's the point" is a strong argument.
It is the particulars of her campaign that make a strong argument for her not staying in to the end.
There are lots of good things that can come from a campaign besides just determining a winner and loser.

[Aloha Spirit]

44. Additionally, if it gets nasty in Indiana and NC, then I propose this theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1asAYQT4mA

[truebrit71]

50. Try and find campaign donors to give $$$ to a campaign that is mathematically eliminated...

...Good luck with that...

I'm not disgreeing with your last sentence, but the longer a campaign goes on the MORE negative it is likely to get, not LESS...

Example: Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns...

[Aloha Spirit]

60. Fair enough!

[Beregond2]

42. She can't

"take back" all the treacherous things she has said and done by playing nice from now on.

[spotbird]

43. If a frog had wings it wouldn't bump

its ass so much.

Hillary can't do it, she won't do it.

[SoonerPride]

47. No.

It is over.

[ej510]

49. I would not care if she stopped her idiotic tactics!

[ima_sinnic]

51. to what end? and "positive campaign" in relation to HRC is an oxymoron

if she cared about the party, and about DEMOCRATS winning in November, she'd start working to ensure that Obama will win instead of undermining and sabotaging him at every turn. Her campaign is out right now conducting slanderous push-polls over the phone, per a report by a DUer who received such a call in IN.

Conducting a positive campaign is not in her blood. She's not a real leader, as she has always waited to see which way the wind is blowing before committing herself to anything. She's also a war monger, and just cackles nervously about her double dealings with Uribe in Colombia. So she can fuck off.

[Aloha Spirit]

56. I'm just trying to suggest that arguing she should quit because of math is not the strong argument.

[Why Syzygy]

77. What is the "strong" argument if "YOU CAN'T WIN" isn't?

[Aloha Spirit]

79. She's damaging Obama's prospects through her negative campaigning is the strong argument for asking

her to quit.

[Why Syzygy]

80. Why didn't I guess. Blackmail!

[Aloha Spirit]

81. blackmail: "exert pressure on someone through threats "

I said ask, and the only argument is for a collective good that she would benefit from. Therefore, not blackmail.

[Andy823]

First off

It won't happen, and second, she has already gone to far in my book!

[lisa58]

52. will she divorce Bill?

[panAmerican]

Spilt milk. What would be the point?

[Bad Thoughts]

53. IFF

I think she has damaged many relations within the party. Running a positive campaign would mean repairing them and rethinking her own image with regard to the party. Is it possible? Yes, but it is not as simple as playing nice.

[backscatter712]

54. Forget it.

She's done. The campaign she's run to date is vile, and she's lied every time she opened her mouth. If she said that she'll run clean from now on, I'll continue to not believe her.

She should have become a Republican - she obviously fits in better with them.

[Yes We Did]

55. NO.

[krawhitham]

57. Yes

[Eurobabe]

59. Hillary is Sybil, you never know who is going to show up

She is incapable of being one way or another, that is what is so scary about her. I honestly think she has a personality disorder, like McInsane.

[smiley_glad_hands]

61. Yes, IF and ONLY IF she runs a positive campaign that elevates ALL Democrats. eom

[Terran]

62. Kinda late for that, isn't it?

:eyes:

[Catherina]

63. No. The primaries are over. McCain is visiting other countries as a presidental candidate

building his case and we're stuck here bickering because Hillary's hubris knows no limits.

It's time for Obama to start touring as our presidential candidate and focusing on McCain.

[Genevieve]

64. No

[barack the house]

65. Wheterh we are cool or not Hillary will be in it to the conclusion. Barack said i

Hillary has every right to run. So that regard she should.

[undeterred]

67. No. I want her to go away right now and never come back.

[Aloha Spirit]

68. Thanks for responses! I was just trying to get people to see that the math argument is kinda weak.nt

[Raejeanowl]

69. You Can't "Blame Clinton" For Her Supporters

The fact of the matter is, even if the math doesn't begin to work without some superdelegate revolution and/or a Hillary grand slam in the remaining primaries, popular voter support for Clinton is nearly as high as that for Obama. You can't dismiss it. Those voters will (and presumably would, in the GE) only go to Obama out of a lack of any other Democratic alternative.

Where do you think Obama got much of his present support, but by default, from the resignation of Edwards, et al? Dividing "the spoils" could have just as easily cut the same margin in Clinton's favor.

She hasn't mesmerized her people any more than Obama his, unless that's what the blame game is suggesting. Nearly half of the Democratic voter population in the U.S. has, to date, has REJECTED OBAMA, and that's what rankles around here. Has rejected the DU popular choice; where the numbers seem to run much so much higher in his favor that the Clinton fans are bailing out and/or laying very low because they can't stomach the constant gang-bang bullying and pressure (which is actually the least of the nastiness). And now we get to hear daily that the only reason we are supporting her is because we're probably white trash, uneducated, old, and irrelevant anyway. Thank you, fellow Dems.

Well, speaking of intolerance, if Obama can't stand the heat (of Clinton staying in to the BITTER end, which she is fully entitled to do, by the way-just as he would be if the situation were reversed), he needs to get the hell out of the political kitchen. I think we're still going to elect a Democratic president-how about you?

Unfortunately, Clinton can keep her messages positive all the live-long day, and still be excoriated as the inevitable dirt, failings or faux pas of her opponent leak out, whether she comments or not. She or her campaign will be blamed for planting or manufacturing them. Or she will be criticized for failing to address them.

By the way, I beg your pardon for "hijacking" the Obama Peep thread the way it's done in the reverse here all the time, because it struck me as such a quixotic question. Our permission or endorsement here on DU is not needed.

[book_worm]

71. I don't care if she stays in until the end of the primaries in June

but I think after that if she's still behind in popular vote and pledged delegates she should do the right thing and end her campaign and endorse Obama.

[Sinistrous]

72. And the correct answer is: NO!

Her changing her rhetoric and eschewing backstabbing would not change the fact that Sen. Clinton is beholden to corporate interests and the politics-as-usual crowd in DC.

[CakeGrrl]

73. It's a moot point. She doesn't KNOW HOW to run a positive campaign

and is up to more dirty push-polling tricks in NC right now.

The longer she hangs around, the more toxic her campaign becomes. IF she was capable of running on positives, it would be harder for the dem leaders to step in, but the Clinton campaign has become a rogue element. It's becoming a matter of just how much more earth they scorch if they're allowed to continue.

[polichick]

74. Too little, too late - she was wrong on the war, wrong on K-L, and...

WAY WRONG on rolling in the Rove gutter to take down a fellow Dem.

[NatBurner]

75. like that'll happen...

pshaw

[lojasmo]

76. Until June 4. EOM

[TheDoorbellRang]

78. The odds of her staying with a positive campaign are equal to her odds of winning

Yeah. I'm Charlie Brown. Oh please hold the football for me, Lucy! I'm sure this time will be different.

[mudesi]

82. Too little too late

Her credibility is completely gone.

[futureliveshere]

83. Yes, sure. That way the media attention is maintained and the message is clean.

[yourguide]

84. Yes, if she's not tearing down the party and her opponent I would be fine with it.

It's why Obama should challenge her to run a positive campaign. She can't do it.

[TTUBatfan2008]

85. I'm cool with it...

if she stays in all the way to the convention but runs a clean campaign where she talks to voters about herself without trying to tear him down. Let them choose you based on your own ideas and your own positive attitude rather than trying to trash the guy that is 90% likely going to be the nominee.

[Fox Mulder]

87. Nope.

[TwilightGardener]

88. No. I want her to go the fuck away. Forever.

[SoxFan]

89. As likely as Amy Winehouse entering a convent

[shadowknows69]

91. Nope she needs to leave, she's working for McCain now

She should be driven from the Senate and our party

[stevenleser]

92. No, she has already been too destructive of an influence on this whole race. She needs to go away

and she needs to go away now! :argh:

:mad:

:puke:

:think:

:grr:

:banghead:

:rant:

[democrattotheend]

93. Absolutely.

I have been saying that for a while. Actually, she could help Obama by staying in and focusing her energy on McCain, letting him stay above the fray.

[npincus]

94. NO- I used to think so but, enough is enough.

Time to divert all resources and attention to kicking Grandpa's ass back to Az.