Slagle to Hillary Supporters: Get on Board
August 26th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Former Texas Democratic Party chairman Bob Slagle, a super delegate pledged to Hillary Clinton, has emailed 40,000 Clinton supporters with a little history lesson on the perilous consequences of party disunity.
“It would be a good idea to review what is at stake this year and the disastrous impact of Democratic defections in prior presidential elections,” Slagle wrote. “In 1968 we narrowly lost to Nixon because disgruntled liberals refused to back Humphrey. In 1980, we lost because many disaffected Kennedy supporters refused to help Carter and we got Reagan. In 2000, we lost Al Gore and got Bush because disaffected liberals sat it out or voted for Nader.”
If Obama fails to receive their support, Slagle said, Hillary supporters will unwittingly bring about a McCain administration –- with continued Bush tax cuts, a longer Iraq war, and a U.S. Supreme Court that might reverse Roe v. Wade and declare the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.
“Given the tragic consequences of those elections, shooting ourselves in the foot again seems an affront to common sense,” Slagle wrote.
Not all were receptive to his arguments. Slagle says he’s received a lot of negative responses. But he predicted most Hillary supporters will come around. “It just takes a while for that lemon drop under their lower lip to melt away and then they’ll quit pouting.”
Longtime Clinton friend Garry Mauro predicted that Hillary will surprise the media in her speech tonight with genuine warmth toward Obama.
Anything less might lead Democrats to allow divisiveness to cripple their presidential candidate. Hillary needs to literally embrace Obama. As Slagle recalled: At the 1980 convention, “Ted Kennedy was standing so far away from Carter that he nearly fell off the stage. It made for damn poor pictures and videos.”
– Patricia Kilday Hart
August 26th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
What Slagle leaves out, for obvious reasons, is that the D’s lost 2000 and 2004 because Gore and Kerry let the crypto-republican DLC develop and run their campaign strategies, and that did such a good job convincing the serious progressives that Nader was right that they stayed home, which made the GOP’s election theft possible. Had they actually run campaigns, rather than “me-too” GOP-position-suckup road shows, and had the candidates had enough huevos to actually WANT the office, to they might have won by margins too big to be stolen.
But that would probably have made a difference in the power relationships… couldn’t have that.
The line (fuzzy NoMan’sLand, really) in the US isn’t between left and right, or D’s and R’s, it’s between Rich and Poor… and make no mistake, the people who get the meaningful microphones at the conventions are, and will continue to be, rich. The people who get the “Bohica” job are, and will continue to be, poor.
The campaign dog-and-pony show, and the election kabuki, aren’t going to change a thing. Rich folks gonna support rich folks, poor folks gonna get told to drop trou.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Slagle also leaves out the fact that those of us who voted for the National Delegates did so believing that they would cast their vote for Hillary.
We hope that these Delegates will stick to their principles and hold on to their integrity by voting for Hillary.
These delegates are committed to US……the constituents who believed they would represent us honestly and bravely.
The delegates are their to represent US ..not Senator Obama or Senator Clinton .
The roll call vote should reflect our VOTES for Hillary, otherwise, we are once again allowing the DNC and Obama to SILENCE our votes.
I hope the Texas Delegates and the DNC do what is right and DO NOT stifle the voice of the voter.