Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

If Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, she will inspire conservatives to vote as no one else could. Right-wing voters don't just dislike her, they actively despise her! They'll vote in droves to ensure she doesn't win the Presidency. Read their blogs, listen to right wing talk shows, heck, talk to them around the dinner table if you don't believe me. Right wing discussions indicate many Republicans not inspired by their current candidates won't bother to vote. Unless Hillary is running, of course. They'll show up just to vote against her. While at the polls, they'll also vote for all those rubber-stamping, obstructionist Republican Senators we'd like to fire. Clearly, Hillary Clinton against any of their hopefuls is the Republicans' best GOTV tactic, even more so than their anti-gay and anti-choice strategies that have spurred their followers to vote in the past. For that matter, plenty of people would vote against Barack Obama simply because of his skin color, or because they're tricked by his name or his upbringing into believing he's Muslim or somehow tied to terrorists. (Even Muslims consider Obama a Muslim because his father was, and that automatically makes him one too in their eyes.) While we should not dismiss Obama's prospects just because racism and voter ignorance stand in his way, we can and should be realistic about what Republicans and conservatives will do to beat him. Even his name will be used against him: Barack Hussein Obama. Whew. I can hear the pundits and right wing talk show manipulators already. The problem is, even when our left wing and middle of the road candidates inspire us, our voting turnout remains low. If we're not careful, the spiteful, negative voting of our opponents may result in a lost opportunity to elect new Democrats in Congress as well as our being stuck with a war-mongering Republican president again next fall. Obama's stand against the war is clear, but all it will take is another fear-generating attack by Islamic Jihadists this summer or fall, and even the war mongering McCain will start to look good to a frightened electorate.

Savvy voters need to take a step back to look at the big picture.

It's time for progressives to face reality: A Primary win for either Obama or Clinton could result in a huge loss next fall. Sure, we're inspired when we hear Obama speak, and lots of us would love to see a woman President. But this year we have the unprecedented opportunity to fire all the Bush-policy rubber-stamping & obstructionist Republicans in the U.S. Senate and replace them with Democrats who can get us out of Iraq, enact true election reform, and get big business out of our government. We might even get a handle on health care, equal rights and immigration issues on the way! Are we just hoping and pretending we'll finally have a woman or person of color elected as President? Polls show that John Edwards is the only Democratic candidate who can win when paired against any of the Republican candidates, yet he can't compete against Clinton & Obama in the Democratic Primary. If the Democratic party's superdelegates sway the vote for Clinton and we end up with an "Anybody but Hillary" race next fall, or if Obama can't shake free of his name, childhood school experiences and racism, we may up with yet another Republican president, or at the least, lost opportunities in the Senate.

Although it'll be easy for the right wing to slight Clinton with misogynist innuendo, it's unlikely that Republican and conservative pundits or talk show hosts will get away with blatant racist comments. Which means Obama may start to look good to conservatives who are tired of paying for the Iraq occupation. Perhaps Obama will acknowledge that if he wins the Democratic nomination, his well-known inexperience and the fear of terrorism will cost Democrats the presidency and/or Senate for another four years. If Democrats and progressives truly want change, we need to start talking to each other about how to get all the way there, recognizing that even Barack Obama could lose next fall if we can't maintain the momentum we're seeing in the Primary race. Molly Ivins said, "There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times."1 Progressive Democrats who heed those words can aim for NO REPUBLICANS LEFT BEHIND in 2008. To do so may take some initiative on our part, given the likelihood that not even Oprah could convince Obama that his running for VP would better serve America. In the spirit of Molly Ivins, let's try something different this time.  

Ideas...?