We have all seen the troubling statistics for Senator Obama that CNN recently reported:
A newly released CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that if Obama does not select Clinton as his running mate, 22 percent of her supporters would stay home this fall — and another 17 percent would vote for McCain.
Do the math…that’s 39% of Senator Clinton’s supporters that will not support Senator Obama.
Tsk, tsk, tsk…what to do, what to do?
Many Obama supporters and the media (de facto Obama supporters) would have you believe that the “responsibility” to “deliver” these voters to Obama is now Senator Clinton’s “new job.”
They are severely mistaken.
The responsibility to “unify” the party belongs to the nominee, or in this case, the “selectee.”
Senator Obama did not earn Hillary’s 18 million votes during the primary, but if he hopes to win the General Election, he will have to earn them now. These voters cannot simply be handed to him, like many believe the nomination was by the RBC.
Senator Clinton, however elegant, passionate and compelling she was while delivering one of the best speeches of her political career, cannot in anyway “deliver” her supporters to Senator Obama. The loyalty that Senator Clinton has earned is not transferable.
Senator Clinton’s supporters are not lemmings. They did not support her simply because she asked them to. They supported her because she spoke to their concerns, she earned their trust, and proved herself capable of being the President of the United States. Senator Obama must do these things as well if he wishes to gain the support of her most loyal. He didn’t do it the first time around, and the second time will be even more difficult, especially since he shows no signs that he “gets it.” Apparently the Obama campaign’s strategy for winning over female voters is pretty simple:
Obama has said he will stress the differences between himself and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, especially on issues such as health care, judicial appointments and abortion rights. Obama campaign spokeswoman Linda Douglass says female voters will respond to Obama’s life in a “female-centric” family, as he discusses the influences of his mother, grandmother, wife and mother-in-law.
In short, Senator Obama’s strategy will play on false promises (Obama-style “universal” health care), fear (oooo SCOTUS and choice) and stupidity (”Vote for me, I was raised by a woman”).
News Flash: Being raised in a “female-centric” family won’t cut it. Women, especially not those who are the most loyal to Senator Clinton, will not vote for anyone, much less Senator Obama, simply because they were raised by a single-mother or has female relatives. In addition, wasn’t it Senator Obama who was supposed to be the candidate who appealed to our hopes instead of our fears? So what’s with all the threats of “judicial appointees” and “abortion rights”? Wasn’t it Senator Obama who not only wrote a defense of Democrats who voted for Roberts but, according to an article on his own website, also seriously considered voting for Roberts and expressed that if he were President he wouldn’t want his appointees “opposed simply on ideological grounds?” And lastly, if he thinks that his “universal health care” meme is going to fly with Hillary’s supporters (who know a Universal plan when they see it) he’s not mentally fit to be President. Elizabeth Edwards didn’t even let that lie slide, and neither will Hillary’s supporters.
Any other strategies Senator Obama…?
Yeah…that’s not gonna work either.
First, Senator Obama needs to stop thinking that women are just concerned about education and health care (he could at least try to drop the sexist assumptions), and realize that issues such as experience, the economy, immigration, and foreign policy are also important. In addition, he should note that it’s not just women who are refusing to vote for him. Further, he needs to get that there are still a multitude of questions he needs to answer: Wright, Pfleger, Meeks, Rezko, Ayers, Khalidi, Pritzker, etc. And lastly, he needs to recognize and decry the treatment that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton received at his hands, the hands of the media, his surrogates and supporters.
If Senator Obama doesn’t understand this soon, he’s gonna be in real trouble come November, because McCain gets it:
“There’s a lot of Sen. Clinton supporters who would support me because of their belief that Sen. Obama does not have the experience or the knowledge or the judgment to address this nation’s national security challenges.”
In his election night address, McCain had taken a swipe at the press — directly echoing continuing complaints from some of Clinton’s strongest supporters that she had received unfair treatment from the press during her White House run. “Sen. Clinton has earned great respect for her tenacity and courage,” he said. “The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes receives.”
Hillary did her job and more. Now it’s Obama’s turn.
