Archived: Feb 11, 2008

> Editorial

Concerns over election unwarranted

Republicans and Democrats need not worry

By Chris Walker

The election results of Super Tuesday yielded different outcomes for each of the two major political parties. For the Republicans, it’s clear that John McCain is the front-runner, and now the probable nominee (with Mitt Romney recently dropping out) despite the objections of the conservative wing of the GOP.

For the Democrats, the race changed very little – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both still contenders in an extremely close campaign, rare for a nomination cycle that usually creates a known candidate by the second or third week of primaries, if not earlier.

These results, however, create more questions for both sides. A major question for Republicans now is whether McCain can rally support from a conservative base he rarely, if ever, energizes.

As far as the Democrats go, besides obvious questions of who will be the eventual nominee, people are beginning to wonder if this long, drawn-out process of selecting a candidate is doing damage to their cause: No matter who it will eventually be, half the party is going to feel a little ripped off that they have no reason to support the “other guy” (or “gal” in Clinton’s case).

These questions are warranted, but any realist will realize that concerns brought about by these doubts are somewhat foolish.

First, concerns over McCain’s conservativism won’t matter much when the general election comes about. While popular pundits like Rush Limbaugh bring up McCain’s “liberal” stances on campaign finance and immigration, among other things, they forget that his support comes from close-to-center Republicans and right-of-center independents more than conservative Evangelicals that previous GOP presidential candidates have previously sought support from.

Some may see this as alienating the base, but come November, it won’t matter: McCain will get that base because a vote for a third-party candidate will effectively hand the election over to a Democrat. Even the pundits will come around and admit to this by the time the Democratic nominee is selected.

As far as the Democrats are concerned, worry over a divided party where half the primary delegates will vote for a losing candidate won’t matter much either. First off, it would be pretty stupid for either candidate – Obama or Clinton – to not select the other as an eventual running mate.

With the ability each has had in drawing out record numbers of primary voters, ignoring the ability to bring about a strong Democratic force that each has means risking the election against McCain, who doesn’t represent the “change” that these voters are craving.

More importantly, despite the bitter campaign that they’ve had, Obama and Clinton share too many of the same values to push any Democratic supporter of either away. Their stances on issues are very similar; it is the means to the ends that they disagree on.

This can be seen on their health care policies: Obama and Clinton both favor a system that would make health care more affordable to poorer Americans. Their plans differ, however, with Obama stipulating that he doesn’t want to require citizens to buy insurance while Clinton does.

Their differences lie in the details, not the goals, of their policies. An Obama supporter, therefore, should not feel antagonized by a Clinton-led ticket, and vice versa.

Worrying over how conservative McCain is won’t stop the conservative base from voting for him; he is, after all, a pro-life Republican. And concerns over a split-Democratic Party won’t matter either – the two candidates are closer than the electorate realizes. While these concerns are genuine, this election’s campaign period has proved one thing for certain: American politics move fast. By the time November rolls around, these concerns will be long behind us.

> Comments

Johanan Raatz on Feb 11, 2008 at 12:51 PM:

"they forget that his support comes from close-to-center Republicans and right-of-center independents more than conservative Evangelicals that previous GOP presidential candidates have previously sought support from. "

Actually as far as the evangelicals are concerned most of them support McCain after Huckabee. At the moment the opposition to McCain seems to come from the "country-club" Republicans.

J. Johnstone on Feb 12, 2008 at 05:43 PM:

Thank you for a sane article on the election. It is true that Clinton and Obama are lockstep together in voting in the Senate and that Obama has a rather uneventful state senate career. Being from Chicago, however we have a different view of Obama. He is not a force of change or the moral high ground, but rather a political insider, whose campaign is brokered by powerful Illinois special interests such as the nuclear power lobby. Political corruption is a way of life for Chicago and his connections with Tony Rezko are the norm here. What concerns us more about Obama is that the omnibus budget was allowed to defund science in Illinois. The repercussions are just now surfacing with hundreds of layoffs in the highest-tech postions- our scientists and engineers in Chicago and the western suburbs. Research programs at major universities across the US are also impacted and U of Wisconsin will experience it at some level. How could this happen. When former speaker of the house, Hastert, stepped down, our sr. senator, Durbin did not seem to understand the implications of the cuts. Our jr. senator, Obama was not present and did not participate in the budget decision which is crippling science in Illinois. We will not recover, these highly skilled people are packing and 2009 is too late. It will be a long time before we recover our competitiveness with the rest of the world in technical innovation. These were the two issues that defined the difference between Clinton and Obama for me. Clinton would never have survived such a mistake in New York. One last comment. If Obama is the nominee and he survives the Republican onslaught, it is Bill Clinton who will have to be wooed to join his administration to unite the Democrats. Hillary has a powerful Senate position and may even consider running for governor.

Teri Ann Jenanian on Feb 13, 2008 at 07:10 PM:

But I am concerned; very concerned. While you make a great point the the democratic candidates are very similar in their positions, there are clearly differences in their execution.

While Obama promises to reach across the table to friend and foe alike and work together to find solutions, Hillary Clinton already has solutions, as well as plans to implement them. Obama has the ability to make beautiful speeches that excite audience into such frenzy that they forget there is no real sustenance in his word. There is enough talk in Washington already. What we desperately need is action.

We are facing real problems that will only be solved by experienced problem-solvers. Obama may have those qualifications someday, but not today. Hillary is the one with the real plans for real solutions to our all-too-real problems, as well as the experience to get the job done.

Wisconsin Native and Illinois Resident on Feb 14, 2008 at 02:01 PM:

Ditto Johnstone and Jenanian. Hillary Clinton has the best solutions for Universal Health Care, she has worked well with Republicans, is respected by foreign countries and will improve US relationships in international issues, improve our economy and educational system. There are some other concerns to consider about Obama's campaign being influenced by Karl Rove. Apparently Rove has endorsed Republicans and Independents to donate millions and vote for Obama to insure a weak candidate against McCain. It appears these Republican neocons have skewed previous primaries in favor of Obama. Wisconsin voters please read this article before you waste your vote for Obama. http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/PDFfiles/2008Election.pdf

marigel on Feb 15, 2008 at 08:20 AM:

We are a group of women from Miami, Florida who have come together to support Hillary Clinton historic campaingn. Our ranks include all types of women who want to raise their voices to elect someone who will represent our interest We urge the women of the great State of Wisconsin to join our movement and help us elect the person who is most qualified to be president of the United States. and by the way J. Johnstone very well said.

Dave Koch on Feb 15, 2008 at 05:23 PM:

When President Kennedy announced that our nation would put a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth within the decade, NASA was inspired by the dream, but they had no idea at that moment how they would concur the barriers to achieve such a monumental goal.

When Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, but dreamed of a full life, he initially had no idea how he would overcome such a challenge. With the burn of the dream, he concurred the barriers and set aside the fears to call Tour de France his own.

When Christopher Reeve’s accident left him paralyzed, he did not accept defeat, but rather spun new dreams, embraced his personal challenges, broke through all of the barriers and set records that can only be characterized as Supermanion.

When Senator Obama started his campaign, he certainly must have known that there would be mountains to climb, records to set and barriers to break, but he dreamed of a fundamental change for the good of our country. He must have known that all of his challenges could be conquered as a united collation who share the same fundamental dream - and the foundation of that dream is change.

Like President Kennedy, NASA, Lance Armstrong and Christopher Reeve, Senator Obama has been accused of being a dreamer - a distinction that he should proudly wear - He is in good company.

Our’s is the generation that must facilitate change in the way our country operates at its very core. There are tremendous challenges, obstacles and barriers that must be overcome to put our nation and our world back on a secure footing.

All major achievements are rooted in a dream.

As President of the United States, Senator Obama will prevail because records are broken by those who dream beyond the barriers.

Dave Koch

Johanan Raatz on Feb 17, 2008 at 03:54 PM:

"As President of the United States, Senator Obama will prevail because records are broken by those who dream beyond the barriers."

Records are also broken by talented demagogues who get their lemmings to dream beyond barriers.

Notice how Obama seems to say all of the right things in just the right way yet at the same time doesn't seem to say much at all.

Johanan Raatz on Feb 17, 2008 at 03:55 PM: