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Last night our country hit an important milestone. Senator Barack Obama received enough
delegates to become the first American of African descent to be called the Presidential
nominee of a major party. The announcement was made before a crowd of tens of thousands
of enthusiastic supporters and millions more witnessed the event on television. The historic
achievement, however, was made with an asterisk.
Earlier in the evening, in front of a slightly smaller but equally enthusiastic crowd, another
hugely important speech was made by Senator Hillary Clinton. With no advance copies of her
speech available, the media was on pins and needles waiting to hear what she would say.
Although the woman to make it further than any woman before in the quest for the Nation's
highest office did not concede the race as some had hoped, she did answer a burning
question. She told us what she wants.
"Well, I want what I have always fought for in this whole campaign. I want to end the war in
Iraq. I want to turn this economy around. I want health care for every American. I want every
child to live up to his or her God-given potential, and I want the nearly 18 million Americans
who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible."
The media did not have much time to process her stated desires as she was quickly followed
by Senator Obama. As one of the 18 million million Americans who cast my vote for the New
York Senator, I think I understood what she meant.
Throughout Senator Clinton's campaign, the people that voted for her were widely
categorized by the media and others as old, poor, uneducated, white women, hispanics, and
blue collar workers. Several outlets took extra liberties to belittle her base as unimportant.
They were essentially called dumb, racist, and undesirable.
Senator Obama's base, on the other hand, was regarded as young, wealthy, highly educated,
and African Americans. His was heralded as a desirable base, smart, savvy, and sheik. Many
perpetuated the notion that his was a new coalition that could win the presidency without the
help of the people who voted for Senator Clinton.
Senator Obama stated he was confident that he could win Senator Clinton's voters where it
wasn't clear to him that she could win his. Only as the contest unfolded, it became more clear
that he was struggling with her base. It turned out that white women, blue collar workers,
hispanics, and less wealthy voters are not a base that can be taken for granted. They are a
group that cannot easily be described as Democrat or Republican. They are the elusive swing
voters.
So what is Senator Clinton asking for when she asks for respect?
She may be referencing the nearly 600,000 voters in Michigan who turned out to vote in the
primary but were ignored. The voters in Michigan essentially had a choice between Senator
Clinton or uncommitted, a position that is awarded delegates in the Democratic allotment
system such as "superdelegates" who are considered uncommitted. They chose Senator
Clinton to Uncommitted 55% to 40%, but the delegates were awarded as 54% to Senator
Clinton and 46% to Senator Obama, who had removed his name from the ballot. The Rules
and Bylaws Committee decided that instead of using the data that the voters had given them to
illustrate their preference, that they would assume that the voters were incorrect and actually
meant to vote for Senator Obama, even though uncommitted is a recognized delegate status.
The 30 member committee assumed every uncommitted vote was for Senator Obama and
even some of Senator Clinton's votes were for Senator Obama based on their opinion. That is
not respect.
Some have argued that a large number of Senator Obama's supporters stayed home during
the Michigan primary because they were told that their vote wouldn't count. I argue that there
is likely an equal or perhaps even greater number of Senator Clinton's supporters that stayed
home as well. If I were to respect the Michigan voters, I would look at the actual votes cast,
not the ones I believe that should have been cast.
Senator Clinton could also feel that respect means not taking the people who voted for her for
granted. Senator Obama stated that he was confident that he would get her voters in
November. He implied that many of the people that voted for Senator Clinton only did so
because of name recognition. That sentiment implies that he believes her voters are dumb.
Respect would be to believe that people voted for Senator Clinton because they feel she has
superior plans and proposals for solving our country's numerous problems. Respect would
also be not assuming that you will automatically get votes that you don't work for.
Perhaps Senator Clinton is looking for respect to come from the media. The people who seem
to refuse to acknowledge the historic number of voters that have turned out to support her.
Although exit polls look for ways to categorize and dissect the electorate, it would be
respectful to note that Senator Clinton's voters are a hugely diverse group. They are not just
one block of voters, they represent America. Like it or not, more people have cast their
ballots for Hillary Rodham Clinton than for any other person in a primary election. That
deserves respect both to the voters and to Senator Clinton.
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Those you see following the Obamessiah are not Democrats, though the species may try to look similar. They are in fact nothing but JACKASSES!
P.U.M.A.