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Mar. 6th, 2008 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikI've been mostly staying out of political discussions recently. Okay, mostly I've just been busy. But in a lot of ways I haven't felt like I've had much to say. One of the reasons for my relative silence is that I have been afraid throughout that this was going to get ugly, and I figured that any way in which I added to the contention of the primaries could only be to the bad. Maybe a tiny little bit of bad - hey, how many people listen to me, anyway? - but still, preventable bad.
That, and honestly there's so much to be cheerful about this coming presidential election. I mean, if worst comes to bitter worst (outside of the truly unforeseeable catastrophe) we'll get... McCain. (Yes, I'm pretty liberal, and to me this counts as worst.) And frankly, on the surface of it at least, he's seemed pretty reasonable for a republican. Not to mention that at the moment the bar is so incredibly low... I was surprised a bit how quickly I missed Bill Clinton when his last term was done. I spent most of his time in office being a least somewhat annoyed with him. But I was shocked to find myself feeling rather nostalgic for the first President Bush. Gods, those really were the good old days, weren't they? I mean, not compared to a lot of other good old days (some not so old) but compared to the last few years?
More to my immediate concern, we have such strong candidates running on the democratic side of things. Really, two of the most gifted speakers in the party right now. Whatever way it goes, I'm looking forward to those debates with McCain. I would be happy for either of them to be president. In Barrack, we have someone with a kind of charisma, and increasingly a kind of mythology around him that we haven't seen in a very long time. In Hillary, we have someone who has a deep understanding of the office, someone who has most of her husband's gifts... and almost certainly a more steady hand on the tiller. (Okay, that's a somewhat unfortunate image to invoke around Bill... moving right along.) In Barrack we have a relative newcomer, and someone who can talk convincingly about change. In Hillary we have a political insider... but before you scorn that, think both of the advantages in terms of knowing how to get things done, and how rare it is for a woman to have become a member of that particular old boy's club.
I've heard a lot of griping about Hillary's campaigning the last bit. I can't say I'm particularly thrilled about it myself. But, and this is the reason I'm writing this, I've also heard a lot of really vicious attacks on Hillary by Obama supporters, both in the media, and among my friends. It's one thing to disagree with her. It's another to demonize her, belittle her skills and mock her gender. I think the highlight of my week on that last has to be the one about how she has no international experience, she has only domestic experience. This from a liberal. Actually, the amount of overt misogyny has been pretty shocking to me. Folks, are you thinking about this? When did this become okay? What would be an equivalent form of overtly racially motivated mockery? The closest I can come up with - and I'm using this as an illustration only - is to say something like "The Oval Office is a place for a real grown up, not a boy." Yes, the Obama is a Muslim rumours are awful. But they're also from republicans. Maybe there are liberals out there trying to smear Obama the way other liberals have been smearing Hillary. But I haven't seen them yet, and considering the prevalence of the former, this is striking.
My point here isn't about the merits of either candidate, only that they have them. My point is that we have allowed what should by all rights be a time of enthusiasm to become one of bitter discord. Please, please, don't try to tell me who started it. Especially those of you who aren't actually in the process of seeking nomination. Think instead about your own actions. Are they making us as a nation a better place?
I'm not trying to silence anyone. I think discussion and disagreement makes us stronger. I think hashing out the issues makes us stronger. And I like a nice rollicking debate. But your actions, too, have consequences. Please consider them.
Hmm. Let me put it another way. All of you who have been upset with negative campaigning on Hillary's part (which is pretty mild stuff compared to much of what I'm hearing) how did that campaigning make you feel about her? I try to keep in mind that the actions of some of Barrack's supporters are not his fault. But even holding on to that, I think it does diminish him in my eyes, by reflection if nothing else. A leader is always going to be judged, at least in part, by the quality of their followers. What does it say about him if people are inspired by him to be vicious on his behalf?
I've had a dream for a while now. I've written a bit about it, but perhaps not here. My dream is that at the end of the primary, even more so if it is bitter (which it is now, but which is wasn't when I was first thinking about this) when we have a single candidate for president, Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama hold a joint press conference. And they together, winner and loser whichever way that falls out, say something like this:
"You all know that we do not always agree, and do not always get along. We have had our differences, and we have had them in public. It was hard and contentious and not pretty. It's too easy at times like these to get caught up in these conflicts. There are many of these divisions, and they through our country.
"The thing is, we both know that there are things a lot more important than the things that divide us. We have been in many ways a country divided, and for us to move forward, we need to heal these divisions. This is hard work, and it's not work that just anyone is willing to take up. But it is the work we are taking on, and we're starting right here, recognizing each others' strengths and talents, and running on a joint ticket. We don't have to be the same. We don't have to always agree. But we need to work together, and we're going to do our best to be an example of how it is done."
BTW, to anyone remotely progressive who is looking at McCain as a viable candidate - please go read his web site. Yes, we all know that in order to gain the republican nomination he needs to suck up to the social conservatives and religious right. OTOH, his appeal to many voters is that he is a moderate and man of principle. How much sucking up does he get to do and still get counted as a principled moderate? For extra fun, one could probably make up bingo cards of evangelical code words. One assumes that having secured the nomination he will start running towards the center.
That, and honestly there's so much to be cheerful about this coming presidential election. I mean, if worst comes to bitter worst (outside of the truly unforeseeable catastrophe) we'll get... McCain. (Yes, I'm pretty liberal, and to me this counts as worst.) And frankly, on the surface of it at least, he's seemed pretty reasonable for a republican. Not to mention that at the moment the bar is so incredibly low... I was surprised a bit how quickly I missed Bill Clinton when his last term was done. I spent most of his time in office being a least somewhat annoyed with him. But I was shocked to find myself feeling rather nostalgic for the first President Bush. Gods, those really were the good old days, weren't they? I mean, not compared to a lot of other good old days (some not so old) but compared to the last few years?
More to my immediate concern, we have such strong candidates running on the democratic side of things. Really, two of the most gifted speakers in the party right now. Whatever way it goes, I'm looking forward to those debates with McCain. I would be happy for either of them to be president. In Barrack, we have someone with a kind of charisma, and increasingly a kind of mythology around him that we haven't seen in a very long time. In Hillary, we have someone who has a deep understanding of the office, someone who has most of her husband's gifts... and almost certainly a more steady hand on the tiller. (Okay, that's a somewhat unfortunate image to invoke around Bill... moving right along.) In Barrack we have a relative newcomer, and someone who can talk convincingly about change. In Hillary we have a political insider... but before you scorn that, think both of the advantages in terms of knowing how to get things done, and how rare it is for a woman to have become a member of that particular old boy's club.
I've heard a lot of griping about Hillary's campaigning the last bit. I can't say I'm particularly thrilled about it myself. But, and this is the reason I'm writing this, I've also heard a lot of really vicious attacks on Hillary by Obama supporters, both in the media, and among my friends. It's one thing to disagree with her. It's another to demonize her, belittle her skills and mock her gender. I think the highlight of my week on that last has to be the one about how she has no international experience, she has only domestic experience. This from a liberal. Actually, the amount of overt misogyny has been pretty shocking to me. Folks, are you thinking about this? When did this become okay? What would be an equivalent form of overtly racially motivated mockery? The closest I can come up with - and I'm using this as an illustration only - is to say something like "The Oval Office is a place for a real grown up, not a boy." Yes, the Obama is a Muslim rumours are awful. But they're also from republicans. Maybe there are liberals out there trying to smear Obama the way other liberals have been smearing Hillary. But I haven't seen them yet, and considering the prevalence of the former, this is striking.
My point here isn't about the merits of either candidate, only that they have them. My point is that we have allowed what should by all rights be a time of enthusiasm to become one of bitter discord. Please, please, don't try to tell me who started it. Especially those of you who aren't actually in the process of seeking nomination. Think instead about your own actions. Are they making us as a nation a better place?
I'm not trying to silence anyone. I think discussion and disagreement makes us stronger. I think hashing out the issues makes us stronger. And I like a nice rollicking debate. But your actions, too, have consequences. Please consider them.
Hmm. Let me put it another way. All of you who have been upset with negative campaigning on Hillary's part (which is pretty mild stuff compared to much of what I'm hearing) how did that campaigning make you feel about her? I try to keep in mind that the actions of some of Barrack's supporters are not his fault. But even holding on to that, I think it does diminish him in my eyes, by reflection if nothing else. A leader is always going to be judged, at least in part, by the quality of their followers. What does it say about him if people are inspired by him to be vicious on his behalf?
I've had a dream for a while now. I've written a bit about it, but perhaps not here. My dream is that at the end of the primary, even more so if it is bitter (which it is now, but which is wasn't when I was first thinking about this) when we have a single candidate for president, Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama hold a joint press conference. And they together, winner and loser whichever way that falls out, say something like this:
"You all know that we do not always agree, and do not always get along. We have had our differences, and we have had them in public. It was hard and contentious and not pretty. It's too easy at times like these to get caught up in these conflicts. There are many of these divisions, and they through our country.
"The thing is, we both know that there are things a lot more important than the things that divide us. We have been in many ways a country divided, and for us to move forward, we need to heal these divisions. This is hard work, and it's not work that just anyone is willing to take up. But it is the work we are taking on, and we're starting right here, recognizing each others' strengths and talents, and running on a joint ticket. We don't have to be the same. We don't have to always agree. But we need to work together, and we're going to do our best to be an example of how it is done."
BTW, to anyone remotely progressive who is looking at McCain as a viable candidate - please go read his web site. Yes, we all know that in order to gain the republican nomination he needs to suck up to the social conservatives and religious right. OTOH, his appeal to many voters is that he is a moderate and man of principle. How much sucking up does he get to do and still get counted as a principled moderate? For extra fun, one could probably make up bingo cards of evangelical code words. One assumes that having secured the nomination he will start running towards the center.
