I can’t shake this nagging feeling that we are going to be stuck with another four years of Republican misrule, no matter which of our candidates wins the nomination. This has been worrying me for months and months, and it seems to be playing out just like the worst case scenarios my fevered imagination has dreamed up since Barack Obama emerged on the presidential campaign scene. Hillary Clinton’s ambitions were clear much earlier, so I’ve had a lot more time to worry about her as a candidate, but Barack’s arrival really ramped up the anxiety level.
Before you beat me to a cyberpulp or deem me a concern troll, let me explain. I’m a diehard Democrat who will gladly vote for whoever wins the nomination. I’m also glad that my primary is done, though my guy dropped out before I got the chance to vote for him. And I am just absolutely sick at the thought that Democrats are busily handing McSame all the ammunition he’s going to need to sink our hopes of reclaiming our country in November.
Way back when, I started worrying about Hillary as our nominee. I believed (and still do) that there are just too many Clinton haters out there for her to be electable, not to mention the misogynists who simply will not vote for a woman, no matter what. Although I admire many things about her, particularly her conduct during the impeachment b.s., I’ve been quite disappointed with some of her votes, and I don’t like her corporate connections even as I recognize them as business as usual for politics. Still, I voted for her in the primary after John Edwards broke my heart.
Why, you ask? Because I don’t think Barack is electable, either. And maybe because I knew he had no chance to win in my state, no way, no how, and I wanted to be voting on the winning side for a change.
Let me back up and explain what I mean by "electable." I’m thinking about the candidate’s potential to catalyze voters who will come out specifically to vote against that particular candidate, voters who otherwise might just stay home.
I recognize that my perspective on this issue is shaped by my environment; I live in a very red state chock full of racists and woman-haters, many of whom on the surface seem to be good, perfectly reasonable people. As a tiny blue dot in that enormous red sea, I’ve had to become acutely aware of what sorts of values and beliefs motivate the people around me. Most of the bigotry isn’t overt, though it isn’t uncommon to meet people who assume that you share their prejudice because you’re the same race or gender as they are. In the "nicer" circles, it simply isn’t polite behavior to be overtly racist or sexist, but make no mistake: the feelings are there and may manifest themselves to our great disadvantage at the polls in November. Maybe I’m overstating the case, but I suspect we’re hardly the only state where underground racism is a reality. We all know it would take a miracle for a Democrat to win Oklahoma or most other red states; what I’m worried about is unacknowledged racism and sexism in swing and blue states affecting the election results.
Here’s why I’m so apprehensive. On the one hand, we have Democrats swearing that they will sit out the voting in November or vote for McSame if (fill in the blank) isn’t our nominee. On the other hand, we have racists and misogynists who won’t vote for a black man or a woman under any circumstances, no matter how bad the alternative may be. They may or may not stay home, but they certainly won’t be voting for the Democratic nominee, whichever one it happens to be. And don’t forget the sniping back and forth between Clinton and Obama supporters. Not only are we dividing ourselves, we’re providing fodder for the GOP slime machine, which will ramp up in its full, traditional-media-enabled fury as soon as we have a nominee.
So can we elect a Democrat in November? Not if all this horribly divisive behavior continues and people make good on their threats to vote Republican or stay home. Occasionally I’ll drop in on a candidate diary, but regardless of which camp is doing the slamming, I come away feeling sick and even more worried that we’re about to shoot ourselves in our collective foot. Every time I read a story about another nasty tactic from the Clinton campaign, I want to cry, and equally so when I see how Obama supporters go immediately on the attack any time there’s the slightest chink in her armor. And while I respect and admire the fact that Obama himself seems to strive consistently to take the high road, I also worry that he’s not tough enough to take on the GOP slime machine (say what you will about Hillary, the woman is tough as nails).
Opponents sow the seeds as they attack one another in the primaries, and their general election opponents reap the harvest.
But does it have to be this way? We cannot win in November if we do not unite as a party and commit to pulling the lever for the Democrat, no matter which one it turns out to be. The possibility that a large block of voters may turn out just to vote against an African American or a woman is too dangerous to ignore.
Obama supporters say that the best course of action to save our party’s chances is for Clinton to drop out. Realistically, that doesn’t seem likely, at least not right now. Perhaps she really is all about personal aggrandizement and doesn’t care that the party is being torn apart and our chances in November damaged, but maybe she truly believes she’s the one best suited to undo the havoc wreaked by the Bush misadministration. I don’t truly know what she thinks, and neither does anyone else. Clinton supporters want to see her stay in the race until the bitter (no pun intended) end, and I’m not entirely convinced it would necessarily be a bad thing if she did.
I’m squarely on the fence as to who would be the better candidate. There isn’t much difference in their policy positions, and both of them have serious disadvantages when facing off against McCain. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, this country is still rife with racist and sexist sentiments. I often tear up when I allow myself to imagine a woman or an African American in the White House; it is so long overdue and I would love to see it in my lifetime. But that hopeful pride is always tempered by a visceral fear that it’s all just a dream that’s too good to be true.
That’s why I’m in favor of a unity ticket as our best way forward. Yes, I know that Nancy Pelosi is adamant that it simply will not happen. I know that Clinton supporters don’t like the idea of a unity ticket unless their woman is at the top. And Obama supporters reject the very notion of Obama sullying himself with Clinton as running mate, regardless of who’s at the top. I know all the arguments against Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama. But I’m still convinced a unity ticket may be our only hope for victory in November, the only way to (maybe) get past the sulky sore loser syndrome we can all see coming.
There is of course the possibility that a unity ticket would draw more opposition, for example from those who might vote for Obama but are diehard Clinton haters or would never put a woman second in line for the presidency. We might also suffer a double whammy backlash from both racists and sexists (though I suspect there’s a great deal of overlap between the two groups). But I strongly believe it would also serve to unify the party, which is absolutely crucial for winning back the Oval Office.
Obviously we can’t win if enough Democrats vote for McCain. We can’t win if enough Democrats stay home out of disgust that their candidate didn’t get the nomination. We absolutely will not win if these two things happen and the racist or sexist anti-vote is mobilized as well. We must stop fighting amongst ourselves and come together. A unity ticket may be the best way to make that happen.
I’m not a concern troll. I’m neither a Clintonista nor an Obamabot nor an ignorant Okie (such hateful labels), but a well-educated and well-informed grandmother who is deeply frightened that America is on a one-way path to destruction. Our only hope is to take the White House back, in this election cycle, from the Republican criminals who are trying to steal our kids’ futures. From what I’ve seen so far, that hope is growing dimmer and dimmer. It may already be too late to save this country, but we have to try.
I want the campaign to be over so the infighting will cease and we can get to work trying to repair the damage our country has suffered. I want everyone to kiss and make up and stop being so nasty to each other. I want everyone to put aside their petty (yes, petty, in the grand scheme of things) differences and promise to vote for the Democratic candidate, no matter who it turns out to be. Most of all, I want my premonitions of doom to be proven wrong: I want us to win.