Fear And Loathing In New Hampshire
Hillary Clinton backers in New Hampshire are frankly terrified at what they see as Obama's unjustified rise in the polls. No, they actually do think it is unjustified and that their candidate deserves the nomination almost as a birthright. There are some utterly astonishing quotes from supporters of Clinton in this Washington Post story.
MILFORD, N.H. — The pillars of the New Hampshire Democratic establishment had filled the front tables at the party's annual dinner Friday night, the better to applaud enthusiastically when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, their overwhelming choice for president, talked about her readiness to lead.
But when Sen. Barack Obama took the stage, hundreds of Obama supporters swarmed the front of the hall, surrounding their tables and sending people such as Beverly Hollingworth to the exits.
"I'm really worried about him," said Hollingworth, a member of the state's Executive Council and a former state senator, as she headed for the door. "Other people have been working their whole life for change, and have made good progress. This is just rhetoric."
With the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, Obama is riding a very big wave, spreading consternation and bewilderment through the ranks of Clinton supporters here struggling to make sense of what is unfolding before them.
The article describes the huge demographic shift that New Hampshire has undergone in the past few years. Some 25% of its registered voters are new since the Clinton years in the 1990s. Many of them are registered as independent. And the New Hampshire Democrats loath the newcomers:
Mary Louise Hancock, the 87-year-old grande dame of the state's Democrats, said she "resented" that independent voters were poised to influence the outcome of the Democratic primary, saying it turned the vote into a "personal-liking affair" dominated by "students and the trendies."
You know what? That one remark, if widely circulated in New Hampshire, could be enough to tip the race to Obama. That attitude is exactly what is not needed for a candidate with Clinton's high negatives. It is guaranteed to cost votes. I'm stunned that a longtime pol would even make such a remark.
By Sam L., Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 8:39 am
And I say it’s their own damned fault: if they’re going to let “independents” vote in their party primaries, they’re not thinking ahead.
By feeblemind, Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 9:11 am
So who will all the independents vote for in the primary? If they all jump on the Obama band wagon and stay away from the GOP candidates, how does that affect the Republican race? I think it might hurt McCain, but that is as far as my thinking takes me.
By i crutchfield, Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 9:24 am
I think what she was really trying to say was “this black man has no business even competing, no less attempting to take away the halo, and crown from Hillary”.
I think within the next few weeks, the ‘true’ Hillary will come to the surface, slimy, shrill, hateful, cold, and overreaching.
Subtle racism will also surface, causing HRC to lose the african american vote. One thing for certain, the african american community will not take lightly attacking Obama, since it has become obvious that he has the chance to be the nominee, experienced or not.
By syn, Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 9:52 am
I have to wonder when the African-American community will come to the realization that for decades they have been supporting Margaret Sanger’s ‘Negro Project’?
By bill-tb, Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 11:43 am
Once the inevitability wall fell in Iowa, it was over for Hillary. It is no longer necessary for Democrats to kowtow to the Clintons. Hillary has neither the talent nor the brains to pull off the endless lie with impunity, and now everyone knows it.
By Jeff Ellis, Sunday, 6 January , 2008 @ 11:44 am
“Other people have been working their whole life for change, and have made good progress. This is just rhetoric.”
One has to wonder just how impressive it is to continually to claim to have worked 35 years for change and yet, apparently, not having succeeded in actually changing anything.