My extreme right-wing coworker is going to vote for Obama in NC.

[yardwork]

And so is her mom. They are both life-long Republicans.

Why? Abortion is the litmus test for them, but they are sick to death of what the Republicans have done. Faced with a choice between Hillary and Obama, they decided that Obama is "slightly less pro-choice than Hillary." (I doubt this, actually, but I'm much too pleased to hear that they are planning to vote Democratic to argue with her in any way!)

I believe that if Obama is the Democratic nominee, North Carolina has a good chance of going blue in the fall. Gobama!

[NJmaverick]

1. What Obama manages to do, is be Pro Choice with out being antagonistic to the Pro Life crowd

That's what makes him a very special candidate. He is able to work things out in a way that both sides are reasonably happy.

[yardwork]

4. If he actually appeals to pro-lifers without abandoning a pro-choice stance

then Obama is in a position to neutralize a potent wedge issue that has been used against Democrats for decades.

[NJmaverick]

5. Exactly! If you think about it, the average republican votes self interest

They GOP sells them on the "anti religious" aspect of the pro-choice crowd. In the big picture most of the "pro-life" crowd are not directly affected by the issue, so it's not all that important to them. What made it important was framing it as a contest between religious beliefs and secular law. Show the many of the "pro-lifers" that you respect them and their beliefs and that you want to minimeze abortions and suddenly it's not a big deal.

[rox63]

18. He wants the opposing sides to talk to each other

and try to understand each other. Sure, they may disagree on certain subjects. But he knows there are some areas where they can find common ground. He manages get all sides interested in dialogue but without abandoning his own liberal principles. He knows that we all have more in common than things that separate us.

[rucky]

25. Yep.

I still think his appearance on the 700 Club is the most brilliant thing he's done.

[nomorenomore08]

2. Indeed, Obama could put a lot of Southern and Great Plains states into play.

Can't see that happening with Clinton, sadly.

[marylanddem]

3. My mother, an elderly white woman in a nursing home,

likes Hillary - I have absolutely no clue why, and I don't think she does either. Guess Hillary's making inroads in nursing homes...

[woolldog]

14. She probably sees herself in Hillary.

and can identify with her. And I don't have a problem with that. That's why Hillary is getting 70+ percent of the older white female vote.

[lastliberalintexas]

33. My grandmother is like her

I think that generation feels they are running out of time to get a female president. They remember being forced into marriages they may not have wanted and certainly having kids they didn't want. They remember trying to concoct homemade contraceptions or self induce abortions, they remember unchecked sexual harassment and gender discrimination, and they likely see a female president as miraculous considering the status of women in their youth.

I disagree with my grandmother about her choice of candidate and have even since I was still hoping that Gore would jump in. But I can understand or at least sympathize with where she (and minority Obama supporters) are coming from, so I just don't discuss primary politics with for now. :)

[redqueen]

6. It's wild, isn't it?

I remember when I was still supporting Edwards... and in talking to Republicans, I found that many Huckabee voters seemed to actually LIKE Obama. They griped about McCain... absolutely *loathe* Hillary... but Obama, they would vote for.

[yardwork]

7. I admit that I am really surprised!

My co-worker has a deep fear of "Muslims." I had pegged her as probably afraid of Obama for a number of reasons, but here she is, planning to vote for him! And her mom, too.

[redqueen]

11. I wonder if she heard him talk about his faith...

and saw him stick up for Wright.

[Shoelace]

9. so if both of them are on the same ticket

she could pull in the liberals and he could do the conservatives. That IS the way we get back the White House!!!

[redqueen]

10. She's not pulling in anyone but her supporters.

And let's not forget how many are voting for her just to fuck things up... cause they won't be voting for her again in the fall.

[Shoelace]

16. How could Hillary help an Obama general election campaign?

this from an article in Huffpost:

In many ways, but let me list three:

Constituencies: As the presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin put it: "Obama and Clinton do fit in a jigsaw-puzzle way. She brings women, older voters, blue-collar workers, Hispanics, and he brings elites, liberals, the young and the crucially necessary black vote."

Historicity: A unity-ticket would guarantee historic victories to both African-Americans and women and help mitigate lingering primary animosities.

Energy: Both campaigns have generated tremendous excitement and voter turnout. Why sacrifice even a fraction of Hillary's base of support who will not vote for Obama if she loses? Could Wes Clark reclaim these voters for Obama or generate as large of a voter turnout as Hillary? The 2008 Democratic primary has been the stuff of the greatest political drama. Until the most recent negative turn, Americans enjoyed watching both candidates side by side during debates (recall the sparks flying in the Kodak Theater): so why end it?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-jacob-halper/if-you-will-it-it-is-no-d_b_98144.html

[redqueen]

19. Disagree strongly.

Her "constituency" as of now includes buttloads of interfering republicans.

As for history... pfft. There are better-qualified women.

I love how they concede that she's already lost in their "energy" portion.

*sigh*

[Shoelace]

20. that "butt load of Republicans" is Rash Limbaugh's butt load of

crap! Way before "Operation Chaos" was announced, here in Oregon, there were many hundreds of Republicans switching to the Democratic party.
That my dear is why Rove/Limbaugh came up with the "Chaos" to hide the fact that they are loosing Republicans at warp speed.

If you believe Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell ya real cheap!

Also, there may be better qualified women just as there are more well qualified men to run than Obama but this is what we have and we must somehow be smarter than the Republicans for a change.

Both of them need to run on the same ticket or our party is history.
After McSame wins, that will be the end of a 2 party system and any 3rd party is a pipe dream as it sits these days.

[redqueen]

21. I've seen the numbers.

She only started getting large numbers of repub votes AFTER McCain was the nominee.

Besides... read this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5685078

Hillary is toxic.

[bunnies]

12. Hillary could pull in the liberals?

:rofl: Now THAT is funny.

[redqueen]

22. Yeah... I thought that was pretty good myself. The DLCer pulling in liberals.

Sorry... make that the activist-smearing DLCer... heh..

:)

[bunnies]

24. Hell. She cant even make her mouth form the WORD liberal

never mind pull them in. Why would she want to pull us in anyway? The DLC has worked so hard to push us out!

[yardwork]

27. Um, no. All the liberals I know support Obama, too.

I don't know anyone who still supports Hillary. Truth.

[stellanoir]

8. Does anyone know if Indiana or North Carolina have open elections or what sort

of voting technology they have?

[yodermon]

13. I'm in Charlotte

It's an open primary (anyone can ask for the Dem, Repub, or Indy ballot).
The voting machines vary all over the state.
I'll be early-voting on Monday, woo-hoo!

[MadBadger]

15. Shhh....Dont tell them about the Baby as a punishment BS

That will put them right back in the Republican camp.

[olkaz]

17. There was a very vocal pro-life crowd at his campaign announcement in Springfield

They didn't get much attention, but he didn't antagonize them either.

I think it's important to let them know that we value their opinion, but we should not be cowed by their threats.

[bluetrain]

23. He voted "present" instead of yay or nay on a number of important pro-choice issues. So they're

right, based on his actions (which is all we can judge anyone by), he is less pro-choice than Clinton who has a solid record of voting yay on women's health.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

28. They both have a rating of 100 by NARAL

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/06/naral-reaffirms-support-f_n_80107.html

[Barack_America]

26. Encourage them to vote early.

I can't imagine that their decisions are going to hold.

[Aloha Spirit]

29. +1

[KAZ]

30. K and FN R Yardwork! n/t

[keep_it_real]

31. The Obama campaign should make a TV ad out of that Picture

Of Rev. Wright attending to LBJ after surgery.

[crankychatter]

32. I've been trying to tell people there is a landslide coming in November

If they will just let go of the reigns and let Obama campaign.