Talkin'Trash: Uniters and Dividers

It should be against the rules, whoever makes the rules. No inflammatory emails until after a person's had their second cup of coffee.

I got an email around 9 am this morning that went on at length about 'things you should know about HRC'. It would not have phased me a bit, I would have put it in the trash and not even bothered with it, like so much other spam. But this was sent to delegates for our Saturday legislative district caucus. Clinton delegates.

I took a deep breath, wrote a terse response telling the author:

As a long time Clinton supporter, I don't appreciate your Obama generated Clinton talking points, all of which I could debate with you but won't waste my time. Go to the caucus and support your candidate, and let us Clinton delegates support ours. I believe all good democrats will rally around the winner when this is over, but getting an email like this, at this point in the process, doesn't help motivate me to go out of my way to get Obama elected. We Clinton supporters believe in our candidate as strongly as you believe in yours, and we need this process to play out before we get on board the Obama train. It is insulting to me and to the process.

Yours in democracy,
Fenway Fran

I really didn't write Fenway Fran. This guy has no clue who I am. Even with my real name.

My Obama supporting friends would not do this. The content of the email was very nasty, and most was easily countered. There was no reason to send it. Period. If this person truly believed in his candidate, he would be working positively, making sure all the Obama delegates showed up, because the final allocation of delegates depends on who shows up. Obama won our county caucus, but if more Clinton delegates actually show up, then Clinton would get that proportion of the six delegates moving on to state. Is it worth alienating people who you need in November for a minority proportion of six delegates??? I think not. We all want a big D beside the name of the next president (and Senator, and Representative, and...and...).

An Obama supporter told me the other day that delegates are not bound to vote for the one who brought him or her to the dance. They may not be legally bound, but I dare say they are ethically bound, morally bound, and democratically bound. We are not 'superdelegates'. We were chosen in our candidate sub group to represent all those who supported our common choice at the next level. I can't imagine ANY delegate changing their mind at this level. Heck, 99% of the people at our caucus kept their initial choices. Only a few 'undecideds' went one way or the other. If this email sender was trying to sway votes for Saturday, he didn't score ANY points judging from the responses he got from Clinton delegates who hit 'reply all', as I did.

My candidate has warts. I know them well. The whole world knows them well. So does Obama, probably more than we know. No one is perfect. Politicians are always ready to point out the opposition's warts. That's the way it is. Even if you say you want change. People who don't respond in kind get buried. Think Gore, think Kerry. And if your warts aren't pointed out 'in house' they darn well will be pointed out in the general election. I've looked at the warts, the resumes, and the people under a pretty bright light, and I've chosen my candidate with all this in mind. I believe she will be the best leader for our country at this time. Half of the Democrat electorate agrees with me. I'm not an outlier. So Mr. Obama supporter, don't insult my intelligence by sending me any more of your trash.