Thursday, January 24, 2008

Michelle Obama - What We Didn't Expect

Here is a letter that I received from Michelle Obama today:
plezWorld --

In the past week or two, another candidate's spouse has been getting an awful lot of attention.

We knew getting into this race that Barack would be competing with Senator Clinton and President Clinton at the same time.

We expected that Bill Clinton would tout his record from the nineties and talk about Hillary's role in his past success. That's a fair approach and a challenge we are prepared to face.

What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record.

Barack Obama isn't relying on a former President of the United States to campaign for him.

He's relying on us -- you, me, and hundreds of thousands of people like us who are giving whatever they can afford to support this movement.

You have given generously to this campaign in the past, but we all need to stand up in the face of these new attacks.

Please make another donation of $*,*** today: Obama for President

Barack's unwavering opposition to the war in Iraq, his outspoken support of women's rights, and his call for leadership that will transform our party and our country have all been mischaracterized in the past two weeks.

We've seen disingenuous attacks and smear tactics turn people off from the political process for too long, and enough is enough.

It's time for a change. It's time for a new kind of leadership and a new kind of politics in our party and in our country.

And while Senator Clinton has a former president in her corner, I'll put my faith in a movement of a whole lot of people who are ready for change.

South Carolina votes in 48 hours, and more than 20 states will make their voices heard in less than two weeks on February 5th. Now is the time for all of us to step up and take personal responsibility for making change happen.

Thank you,

Michelle



plez sez: my family continues to support the candidacy of Barack Obama over that of the other democratic contenders. in response to my buddy, francis holland, i do not support clinton on the ticket with Obama (when he wins the nomination)... and in the unlikely event hillary wins the nomination, i pray that Obama is not on the ticket, because i'm going to have a HARD TIME voting for her in november!

i just got off of the phone with my wife and plezWorld will be making another donation to the Obama Campaign this evening!

6 comments:

Francis Holland said...

Plez:

I'm convinced that Clinton IS going to be the nominee, and we need a strategy for where we stand if that happens. We all need a plan "B" and the traditional Plan "B" for a presidential candidate is the vice presidency, particularly if that candidate has come in second in the primaries, which seems increasingly likely for Obama, in my opinion.

From a Black perspective, if Obama is NOT on the ticket then it's hard to see what concrete and visible progress we have achieved from this year, in terms of our own electoral success. That would be a terribly demoralizing shame for Black and Black voters, after all that Barack Obama has meant to us. My mother used to say that "half a loaf is better than none." And even half a loaf often doesn't come easily.

I'm stricken by a revelation in Ms. Obama's letter:

"What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record."

As much as we hate to admit it, it's going to be a very dirty business taking the White House back from the Republicans and, no matter how far Democrats seem to be ahead now, the Republicans are committed to engaging in whatever fraud and strong-arming is necessary to assure a Republican victory in November.

That's why it surprises me when Ms. Obama says,

"What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record."

If she can't deal with the beating they're taking from kindly Democrats, how will they deal with the slash and burn tactics of the Republicans. This is among the reasons why I believe the Clintons will win the nomination. They're tougher and craftier, because they have decades of experience at it.

But, I might well vote for Barack Obama to increase his chances for the vice presidential nomination. I hope you will support him, too, if it comes to that, because half a loaf is better than none, for Obama and for the rest of us.

plez... said...

francis,

your argument fails due to the fact that neither hillary nor obama would help each other in the general election. both of them are pure liberal northerners: she was born & raised in chicago & is the senator from NY; he is a Black guy who represents IL in the senate. the only way either of them would be able to prevail in a national race would to bring in a more moderate southerner (like the governor of VA) or westerner (like richardson - who is also hispanic - of NM).

michelle obama's letter speaks to the fact that the obama campaign would expect this "win-at-all-costs" approach by the republicans, but it seems to be damaging to the democratic party to throw such viatrol at your opponent in the same party. to my way of thinking, when you run for your party's nomination, your goal should be to show the democrats that you are the best candidate, but you don't want to win by smearing or denigrating your competitor, since that other person will probably be necessary to get votes for you in the general election... can you see hillary (or worse yet, bill clinton) supporting barack obama in the fall?!?

this race-baiting & distortion of obama's record by the clintonistas damages not only barack, but the entire party structure... it's as though, if hillary doesn't win, then they don't want any democrat to win!

so, NO, i wouldn't want obama as her running partner!

i would HATE to see clinton and obama on the same ticket, because they'll get TROUNCED by the republicans in november! popular vote-wise, they may fare ok, but they'd probably get shutout in the electoral college... the clintons have all but BURNED their bridges to the Black community over the past couple of weeks AND hillary has so many negatives outside of the democratic party, there would be no way she could survive the Hate Hillary Vote of republicans and the apathy of the Black community... i've said it before & i'll say it again: i AIN'T voting for any clintons in this upcoming election! the thought of slick willie returning to the white house gives me shivers!

i will be voting for Barack Obama in hopes that he is the presidential nominee of the democratic party. failing his success, i'll have to look at casting my vote elsewhere!

David Sullivan said...

The Democrats could dig up the remains of Adlai Stevenson and put them out on the campaign trail, "Weekend At Bernie's" style and still win going away. Like you said Plez Barack and Hillary are too much alike to make a difference in the General Election, so its Hard Ball for now and if they aren't ready for this now how are they going to handle the economy, Iraq and the Elephants?

plez... said...

david,

i don't think this'll be a slam dunk for the democrats. hillary & bill (individuall & collectively) must be the two most divisive people in america... if she is the nominee, the Elephants will come out in droves to vote against her & with bill's last couple of weeks of racial politics (i'm sorry, but that kind of rancor is is expected from a republican, but not a fellow democrat), he has single-handedly alienated a sizeable portion of the Black electorate that "his wife" would need to win!

i know quite a few Black voters (present company, included) who WILL NOT vote for hillary...

David Sullivan said...

Then are you going to vote for Mitt, McCain or "I have a direct line to Jesus" Mike? I think its much ado about nothing. Barack will win the nomination, the Dems will win handily with Barack as the Pres. and possilbly the man of the "populous" Edwards as the VP.

I'm not hating on the Clintons, maybe because I like it down and dirty when it comes to politics.

I love Bill C. and think about how good you had it eight years ago before Bush snuck in there. The economy was good, no deficit, no war, plenty o' jobs. Hillary won't be Bill because she has none of the charisma or political ability. Abroad (and I'm not talking about Monica) he made inroads that Barack and Hillary could never make.

Bill C. is a wiley old bastard that is not above the frey. When Barack gets the party's nod he will be one of his biggest allies.

I have been right up to this point when most blogs I read six months ago had Obama doing squat and Hillary sailing.

Jameil said...

i'm not voting for her either. i have donated to barack's campaign twice already and am prepared to do it again.