The Inverted Logic of the Obama Lover

Original Link: http://wwsword.blogspot.com/2008/06/inverted-logic-of-obama-lover.html

David Sirota has penned a truly ridiculous essay, which The San Francisco Chronicle picked up today. Here is the operative line: "Little discussed is the fact that putting Clinton on the ticket could directly undermine the mandate of the party's primary: the rejection not of Hillary Clinton, but of Clintonism itself."

First, more Democrats voted for Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. This means that Democrats who cared enough to participate rejected Obamania not Clintonism. To put this another way, concerned Democrats endorsed Clintonism by casting more votes for Hillary. Only in the warped mind of Obama lovers and/or Hillary haters does an Obama loss morph into a mandate against the philosophy of the victor, Hillary Clinton.

Second, 122,267,553 Americans voted in the 2004 election. Fewer than 18 million Americans voted for Barack Obama in the Democratic Primary. The way to know for sure if the general electorate rejects Clintonism is to run Hillary Clinton against John McCain and see who wins. Based on an electoral map using scientific polling Hillary Clinton defeats John McCain rather handily, strongly suggesting that Americans will again embrace Clintonism, not reject it. Obama, on the other hand, loses the general election against McCain, which reflects what we saw in the Democratic primary.

Third, Bill Clinton is the only Democrat to have won the White House since 1976. Bill Clinton is the only Democrat to have won re-election since 1964. The reason for this is obviously not because Americans reject Clintonism, but because they embrace it. For what is Clintonism? Progressive centrist liberalism, that philosophy which, given the character of American politics, best matches the interests of most Americans.

Sirota makes other ridiculous claims in the essay. For example, he writes, "Some say Hillary Clinton's defeat was the victory of sexism - but Obama faced at least as much racism." Anybody who makes this argument is simply not living in the real world. Worse, this belief reveals a mind that is, at best, indifferent to the sexism that shoots through US society. Indeed, only a sexist can claim that racism in the 2008 primary was equal to the rampant misogyny that kept Hillary Clinton from blowing Obama out of the race early.

Sirota is noted for his opinion that progressive centrist liberal politics are out of step with public opinion. As a consultant for the Ned Lamont campaign against Joe Lieberman, Sirota saw first hand how out of step this philosophy is with the electorate - Lieberman opted to run as an independent and clobbered both Democrat Lamont and the Republican candidate. In other words, pundits like Sirota, and the politicians they adore, are out of touch with public opinion. His ilk constitute the Moveon.org crowd, self-described progressives who have convinced themselves that their cultural leftism and identity politics reflect mainstream progressive American values. They're wrong and they will get yet another dose of reality come November.