Bloggers Big Tent Democrat and Jeralyn continue to fan the flames of division at Talkleft, a once respected site that has become the defacto sounding board for bitterly disappointed and angry Clinton supporters.
Today, BTD jumps all over a piece at Politico. Seems an unnamed senior adviser suggested Obama won't spend a lot of time in the next few months wooing Clinton supporters. BTD's reaction?
Makes sense to me. Why worry about 18 million voters? So it turns out the Obama campaign has some not too smart people on his campaign too. Expect a swift rebuke from Axelrod over this.
Whatever.
Well, let me guess as to what Obama's stragey is here. Perhaps he feels that Hillary supporters are, well, ADULTS. And as ADULTS, perhaps Obama feels they should started behaving like adults.
Speaking for me only, the one thing I've always found disheartening about the Hillary campaign is their tremendous sense of entitlement. This was her time, after all. How dare that young, arrogant Obama come along and disrupt the show!
Hillary ran a strong campaign and lost. And now, we are expected to "give her space" and let her "assess her candidacy" and "consult her supporters." Why, exactly, does Hillary Clinton need space? What is there to assess? She may have officially lost the nomination last night, but unoffically she lost it many weeks ago. How much time does she need to get a grip on reality?
When Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee conceded, they did so graciously. They congratulated McCain and endorsed his candidacy. There was no time needed for "relection," no time needed to "consult" their supporters. The facts were what they were. They lost. They admitted defeat and promptly asked their supporters to back the nominee.
At Talkleft, the resentment is still smoldering thanks to Hillary's inability to endorse Obama on his night and her unwillingness in her speech to attack John McCain (which was disappointing, since McCain moments before began publicly wooing her supporters. A little "hell no" from Hillary would have been appropriate).
Here's a taste of the comments at talkleft:
Speaking for me only... I didn't watch Obama's speech. I didn't even read the transcript that was posted here.
I did however read a hell of a lot the past 6 mos.
And am now catching up on pro-McCain literature and have heard all I want to ever hear from OB.
In my opinion his "soaring" is highly overrated and I am taking kindly to "straight talk."
Big Tent Democrat deletes a lot of posts at Talkleft. But apparently, comments of so-called Democrats saying they will vote Republican are perfectly appropriate.
Here's another gem:
It takes a lot of arrogance on Obama's part to treat Hillary supporters like members of the "bitter ex-wives club". We were never married to him to begin with. Thanks for telling us our votes aren't wanted or needed. That's the funny thing with arrogant men, they tell you they don't need you, and expect you to stick around like a love lost puppy trying to win their love and affection. I'm way past that with Obama.
Obama's arrogance? He heaped all kinds of praise on Hillary during his speech, giving her tremendous credit. Yet Hillary was unwilling to recognize Obama's historic achievement on that important night. She chose instead to talk all about ... herself.
Hillary supporters don't feel hurt, we feel "spit on," and "pissed off".
It's a whole different problem. And arrogance and throwing out scary boogie men isn't going to solve the problem. LOL, it will only harden the resolve.
Actually, nothing will solve the problem for me. I'm certain beyond a doubt that he doesn't get my vote. I don't think I'm alone. I suppose they know that and figure why bother?
Why bother, indeed?
Maybe it will take time to heal. I accept that. But Obama can only do so much. If some Hillary supporters refuse to acknowledge that Obama and Hillary hold very similar progressive agendas, and yet still choose to support John McCain, then what can Obama do? How much ass-kissing is he expected to dish out?
And at what point will Big Tent Democrat and Jeralyn, as Democrats, take a stand and say: "Listen up, people. Enough is enough. Our candidate lost. It hurts, but it's time to move on and beat John McCain." Surely there's enough room in that big tent for Barack Obama.
Many Hillary supporters have accepted reality, been good sports and declared their support for the Democratic nominee. But for others, it's simply time to grow up and start acting like adults.