Dear Editor,
Your editorial “US presidential elections: First stage over” (SN Jun 11) is apt and the candidates have begun the battle in earnest.
As you pointed out, it was a long bruising battle for the Democratic nomination and it is now time for the party to get its act together and go on to win the Presidency to restore America’s standing in the world. But it will not be an easy contest and may even be more bruising than the battle for the nomination.
Senator Barack Obama has triumphed over Senator Hillary Clinton in the closest contest in the party’s history. It was an extraordinary campaign with two phenomenal candidates. Unfortunately, only one can win and Obama has won according to the rules established by the party.
As the editorial noted, the battle went down to the end of the primary season similar to the contest between Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy in 1980. However, while Kennedy chose to carry the fight to the convention in August of that year, Clinton has bowed out gracefully to give Obama a fighting chance to become the first African American President instead of her becoming the first Woman President of America. I should note that Kennedy had less percentage of the delegates than Clinton has now but Kennedy fought on dividing the party that would lead to a blowout by Ronald Reagan over Carter. Fortunately, Clinton has decided to end her contest and rally around Obama to assist him to win the Presidency. As she said: “Children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States. Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it has about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before.”
As your editorial noted, Obama has won the nomination on a string of defeats while Clinton lost the nomination on a streak of victories. In other words, Clinton was gaining momentum while Obama was losing momentum. It is too early to assess the effect of this factor on the election outcome in November because right now polls in the US show a dead heat between Obama and Republican opponent John McCain; it appears that most Clinton supporters have crossed over to Obama. But opinion polls show Obama faces a stiff task in winning over Clinton’s deeply disappointed female supporters, not to mention her base among blue collar working-class whites (especially among less educated older folks).
I expect the race to remain a dead heat throughout the campaign right into voting day.
This is a Democratic year by all accounts and estimates and from opinion polls. Voters prefer Democrats over Republicans throughout the country. The Republican brand has been discredited thanks to President George Bush’s disastrous foreign and domestic policies. Polls show voters prefer Democrats over Republicans by double digits for the legislative branches of government. So Democrats will hold the Senate and House and even make gains. But the fight for the control of the White House remains a tight battle.
The fact that the Presidential contest is so close is a credit to McCain whose independence from the Republican right wing is deeply admired and respected by mainstream voters, especially independents. Obama has his work cut out for him.
Obama’s greatest challenge is to woo Clinton’s followers and independent voters. Unless he gets more than half the independents and 90% of Clinton supporters, it would be almost impossible to defeat McCain.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
Another letter from Bisram,
Now it’s time for his critics to respond…haha.
While I think Obama doesn’t want to run with Clinton, I don’t think he can win without her and her supporters.
This election shouldn’t be close at all but Americans r very sensitive when it comes to politics…r they ready for a Black President—I guess we just have to wait and see….
OH NO… another letter from NACTA.
What is NACTA?
What is the phone number? Fax Number? Website?
Give us a break Bisram!!!
Bisram writes as if no one else has access to the news. It is utter nonsense that Hillary Clinton “bowed out gracefully”, for every serious follower of U.S. politics knows that she was forced out by the New York congessional delegation and other influential Democrats, who were some of her most ardent supporters.
The truth be told, Hillary Clinton used supporters such as Harold Ickes and Terry McAuliffe to publicly mouth and test her intention to take her case to the Democratic convention in Colorado. But her party’s elders and others prevailed upon her to put party unity above her personal interest. And she acceded only when it became clear that the aforementioned New York delegation and other supporters had no intention to support her plans.
So Bisram is entitled to his views, however questionable and baseless they are, on the fight that Obama faces. But after having being wrong in his barnyard prediction about Obama losing the Democratic nomination, he need not now resort to falsehoods as a backdrop to his attempt at assessing the challenge that McCain poses for Obama.
You got it right Carl. This guy Bisram is under the deluded condition that he alone is privy to what is going on in the election campaign.
The idea that Clinton was gaining momentum is ludicrous. Those wins she picked up at the end were always going to be hers. That they were not landslides suggests that “gaining momentum” is abuse of a euphemism in describing them.
Hilary Clinton did not bow out gracefully. She fought tooth and nail to change something she publicly committed herself to at the beginning of the campaign. That is her support for the decision to sanction Michigan and Florida for moving up their primaries. Reneging on one’s word is not indicative of “bowing out gracefully”. Vishnu Bisram is an objective political commentator, NOT!!!!!!
Without Clinton’s supporters Obama has no chance.
Are you willing to money where your mouth is? I get the feeling you are saying Obama will not win.