tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post1861840566972409204..comments2024-03-26T20:24:43.919-05:00Comments on Papamoka Straight Talk: Hillary Clinton DNC SpeechPapamokahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14611162290397820224noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-11051262422930845072008-09-04T21:26:00.000-05:002008-09-04T21:26:00.000-05:00Well HDean? Hmm, copy and paste much? Give me a ...Well HDean? Hmm, copy and paste much? Give me a break will you?Papamokahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14611162290397820224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-60455845992029608322008-09-04T21:16:00.000-05:002008-09-04T21:16:00.000-05:00I have voted Democratic in every national election...I have voted Democratic in every national election since my first vote at 18 years old. I am now 30. I have believed in our candidates who have championed for our platform of equal rights for all people. I have believed in providing access to opportunities for people to elevate and improve their lives through education, service, and access to good jobs. Allowing our economy to grow for everyone, not just the multinational corporations at the expense of everyone else. Bridging the gaps that have left so many people in this country behind because of poverty, education, race, gender, and many other reasons not mentioned here. Providing healthcare to all Americans that covers and protects them rather than just leaving everyone to their own accord of buying essentially a healthcare discount card. Not allowing a single religious philosophy to be the basis of government decisions, actions, and legislation but rather being open to people of all faiths and beliefs to be a part of the party and its guiding principles. Being champions of minorities and women. Standing up to those who threatened our country but simultaneously being an active participant in fostering relations with other countries and providing assistance aid around the world not just in times of crisis but as part of an international philosophy to elevate the lives of those living in standards and conditions far below what we have been afforded in this country. <BR/> <BR/>So, given my long oration of philosophies that I believe in ,and as a young voter am still evolving, it would make sense that I should be unquestionably casting my vote for the Democratic ticket this year. However, the actions exhibited by the nominee, his campaign, and the Democratic National Committee during the primary are simply disturbing to me. We had an historic primary that represented the great history of the Democratic party and could have shown a bright future for this party. Instead, from the beginning of this year, one single candidate was thrust into the nomination through misrepresentation of positions, manipulation, bias, strong arming of party leaders, disrespecting and insulting people who supported someone other than the nominee, and the active destruction of the record and reputation of the previous Democratic President and the nominee's Democratic opponent. Unfortunately, most people will chalk this up to pure politics. However, I am further disturbed that this party went to extreme lengths to minimize and marginalize the voters and the candidacy of Senator Hillary Clinton and thereby relegate the fundamental idea of representative democracy to less than a talking point. <BR/> <BR/>The caucuses and caucus/primary two-step was a disgrace. The rules and bylaws committee meeting in May was an insult. And, the staged floor vote at the Democratic National Convention was a sham and mockery to the very democracy and rights of voters that the Democratic party claims to espouse to.<BR/> <BR/>The Democratic leadership never wanted to put Senator Clinton's name into nomination even though she had earned nearly half the delegates and more primary votes than any Democrat in history. Astonishingly, it took two petitions from pledged delegates to both get a vote for Senator Clinton and to bring that vote to the floor of the national convention. In this last figurative moment of the 2008 Hillary Clinton for president campaign, she and the voters deserved to have the standard traditions and rules of the party followed as had been done in every previous convention. Watching Senator Clinton have all 18 million of her voters recognized, respected, and recorded on the floor of the national convention would have gone further towards healing wounds in the party than the staged mockery that was displayed. Unfortunately, staged "Party unity" was more important to the Democratic leadership than allowing the Democratic voters to be heard and respected on the convention floor.<BR/> <BR/>It is unfortunate, but I will NOT be casting a vote for the Democratic ticket this year. It's not just a matter of how much I agree with our nominee's virtually untested philosophy but it also matters how he got to where he is, who he insulted, demeaned, and ostracized along the way, how many times he has changed positions (even to the detriment of our own platform) and how he manipulated the process and people to have himself thrust into the nomination that he did not earn in a fair or respectable way.<BR/> <BR/>Unfortunately, my choice of not voting for the Democratic nominee leaves me with very little to choose from at the top of the ballot. Despite my choice to protest the democratic ticket, I cannot vote for the Republican ticket. I have watched and listened to the Republican party and even in their display of "country first," I still see strong fundamental differences between myself and their party philosophy. I expect to be voting "present" for this year's presidential election and I will instead support our down ballot Democrats to bring a Democratic voice into our local and state government.<BR/>I truly hope that my party, the Democratic Party, will learn some lessons from this year and re-evaluate the process, circumstances, bias, misrepresentation, and deviation from tradition that unfairly delivered the nomination to one candidate while simultaneously disrespecting that candidate's opponent, all Democratic voters, the 42nd president of the United States, and the party.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-38586948162587136932008-08-27T19:40:00.000-05:002008-08-27T19:40:00.000-05:00Very well thought out opininion Ms. Crystal and I ...Very well thought out opininion Ms. Crystal and I appreciate your opinion. I'm a die hard Obama and Biden supporter and I was trying to think how someone could ever convert me even remotely to even think of voting for John McCain if I were in fact a Hillary Clinton supporter... ROFLMFAO... Never going to happen.<BR/><BR/>I'm also looking hypothetically at someone jumping from a Hillary Clinton supporter as a parabel of someone changing their faith in the for instance of Jesus and then switching because Jesus is no longer available to serve at the local church or temple so you go satanic? <BR/><BR/>That is an opinion I would love to hear because I'm thinking that alot of this is media hype and not reality.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment Ms. Crystal.Papamokahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14611162290397820224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-56241759111507648992008-08-27T18:16:00.000-05:002008-08-27T18:16:00.000-05:00It is generation thing. I am what I consider a str...It is generation thing. I am what I consider a strong 28 year old woman that is as progressive as the next, but I have supported Obama since day one. I am not old enough to have lived thru the Women's Movement and I take insult to older women telling me that I am ungrateful or just do not understand. I do not see the glass ceiling that my mother or grandmother saw. I do not think just because she has the same gender as I that she (Hillary) should be president. I say "yes it is time for a woman president but since rumors of her running a couple years ago, I have to say not that woman." I have got anything I want in this life by working hard and if I did not get it then I just didn't work hard enough. But playing the sexism card is not going to prove someone worthy. <BR/>I hate when people would be willing to throw their vote away over details. We need and want change in this world and how is having someone who brags of 35 years of service going to be change. It would be business as usual. <BR/><BR/>And last nights speech was no more than making sure she is set up for either 4 years from now or 8 years from now. She will most likely have her time but right now I do not think she is GROUNDED enough to do so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-35661235073021640132008-08-27T06:36:00.000-05:002008-08-27T06:36:00.000-05:00Papamoka, you're ahead of the curve of most of you...Papamoka, you're ahead of the curve of most of your colleagues in at least recognizing that this is a real issue.<BR/><BR/>Unlike some, I believe Clinton is sincere in her support for Obama. But actually the phrase "Clinton supporters" is becoming something of a misnomer. This has never been about a personality cult or loyalty to one individual. There are bigger issues at stake.<BR/><BR/>We're not the ones who wrecked the party. <A HREF="http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2008/08/glaring-daggers-why-i-cannot-do-as.html" REL="nofollow">It was the Obama crowd that did that</A>. (I know you personally aren't like that, but frankly, you're unusual in this respect.) We need to take the party back and restore it to what it should be. That will never be possible if Obama wins in November and "vindicates" all that his supporters and the current party leadership have done.<BR/><BR/>I think you would agree that your picture of a McCain administration is exaggerated for rhetorical effect. More to the point, a heavily-Democratic Congress will contain his worst excesses. I believe it's a risk worth taking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10249940.post-79554140213804623472008-08-26T23:44:00.000-05:002008-08-26T23:44:00.000-05:00Great observations. I don't know how many of her ...Great observations. I don't know how many of her disappointed supporters will decide to step up for their country and the progressive movement, but I am proud of Hillary Clinton tonight and I will support her in every way as one of the great leaders of all Democrats and all Americans. <BR/><BR/>OwenTherapy Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430632215537467125noreply@blogger.com