Slog

Well now not only is your boyfriend wrong but now you are too.

Volunteer with Obama's camp?
Donate instead of wasting money on drugs and alcohol to allieve anxiety?
Organize a caravan to the closest battle state- Montana?
Hide in the mountains if Big Gov fascists Palin and McCain come to power, as there are lots of guns there, and they hate the government?

There are many positive solutions to this current twist...

oh, hush now...

No way is he right. You think the Republicans are nasty now? Imagine if Hillary, their bete noir were the Dems' candidate.

I have given money. I'm can mutli-task: panic, blog, and give all at the same time.

Its common knowledge that the Repubs had a basement full of shit to throw at Hillary should she get the nomination. What we are just now starting to see with the return of the Culture Wars thanks to Sarah Palin is what we would have been seeing since June had Hillary been the nominee. It would be just as close now, but with a different type of fight.

This is exactly the reaction they want - infighting and recrimination.

So just chill the fuck out (and do what you can to win).

ANything they are doing now they would be doing to Hillary, who is not a "fighter" or anything of the sort. Hillary is a "fighter" just like McCain is a maverick.

How soon we forget Clinton never got more than 50% of the vote and the third party was right wing.

The simple fact of the matter is that Americans are fucking retarded religious nutballs who want and get the kind of people they have in office. And us sane ones have to deal with it.

Fuck this stupid country.

Notice that Drudge's headline doesn't take into account Palin's deer-in-the-headlights ABC interview, which tied Iraq to 9/11, attributed a posthumous endorsement of the war on terror to Lincoln (WTF?), and threatened Russia like she threatened Levi into marrying her daughter.

Drudge is a STUPID FUCKING INCREDULOUS HACK. And you all need to stop wringing your hands about it.

He seems convinced that if the Stranger had only given its coveted endorsement to Hillary, we wouldn’t be in this mess

Wow, I knew Hillary supporters were nuts, but this is off the hee-zee.

Look, to all the "Hillary wouldn't be losing to McCain" people: If The Hill had won the nom, every right wing nut bag that has had a hard on for The Clintons for the last 16 years would have come out of the woodwork. They would have made films (I heard someone had one ready to go), released books, and can you imagine the whisper campaign? They were as disapointed that The Hill loast as her supporters were.

The right wing has come together against Obama, but not nearly to the degree they would have against Hillary. I'm happy to disappoint them...

YES! THANK YOU! Hillary could've wiped the deck with McCain's wrinkly ass and Palin's Bush-in-lipstick idiocy.

Despite a few bad weeks, I'm still optimistic. If Obama loses the race it is because he is handling his campaign in the same way Gore and Kerry did. Palin should not have so much power over him, but right now, she does. He's got to do something and quick. Dan, I'm not as worried. I'm sounding my panic button. I'm saving my anxiety for Election Day. Enjoy your drug of choice.

sorry, apparently I was drafting my post as eveyone else was posting the same thing. I gotta learn to type faster.

I am happy to see that others share my sentiments.

Oh, Dan. Watch Shirley Bassey clips on YouTube. That'll help. And drink.

People HATE Hillary Clinton. Hate. Having her on the ticket wouldn't be a plus. The Republicans would've been even worse towards Hillary. Sorry Terry's still upset.

I think folks just have to realize that we've got 2 months to go. Lots of things can change. Obama will start pulling away and all this worry will be a distant memory.

Hillary would have consolidated the Republican base behind McCain much sooner so the panic you are feeling now would have started then. We'd now be in the same place we were then, but unlike with Hillary as the Dem candidate there is still plenty of room to move a lot of the fence sitters leftward.

obama is going to win this year & in 2012, and he'll fix some (iraq), but not all (TSA), of the things wrong with this country.

hillary will become senate majority leader, where she & president of the senate Joe Biden will shut down the flat-earth filibuster contingent of the GOP.

this will come to pass.

or i'm moving to Cyprus.

Refight the primary after Obama is President - besides, polls back then showed either one in a close race with McPain.

This kind of panic is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Quit freaking out all the time, and therefore quit bouncing the freaking-out around the blog world that makes up your bubble of correspondence and daily life, and things will calm down.

Really.

How about we have some not-so-panicky (or even not all that politics-related) Slog posts today? I'm sick of watching people I like and respect get defeated so damn easily.

Everyone's been whining that Barack needs to get tough - well here's the beginning. Will it work? No idea, but at least he's doesn't seem to want to go out Kerry style..

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gG53SH

#2, ever heard of ROI?

@11 Bullshit. She'd be the biggest punching bag the GOP had ever worked out on. The right may not like Obama, but they absolutely fucking hate the Clintons.

We're going to keep hearing this nonsensical fantasy from Hillary supporters, but it's all bullshit based in nothing.

As others have said, Hillary would have united the right much quicker than Palin, allowing McCain to choose a moderate running mate that would have been more convincing to moderates & independents. That would put I'd in a more difficult place than we are now.

Obama by 5 points.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Where IS Hillary, by the way? Shouldn't she be out stumping for Obama in PA and OH?

everybody needs to chill. a lot can happen in 2 mo's. SNL will blast palin on sat nite (w/ tina fey as palin, no less)--& i'm sure SNL will keep going at it til nov. that can do a lot to sway perceptions & voters. also, the debates will make a diff--& i'm sure biden will mop the floor w/ palin, & obama will mop the floor w/ mccain. also, the troopergate report comes out next mo. we need to be strong & determined & not freak out. if the republicans (& independents) see that we're freaking out, then they will take that as a sign of weakness, & it will further strengthen them.

Republicans don't second guess themselves while Democrats do.

Had Hillary been the Democratic nom, I guess at least Palin would still be some obscure governor no one would have otherwise heard of. On the other hand, she did a horrible job of running her own campaign for the primaries, something she entered with a huge lead, and a contest in which she even had Republicans crossing the aisle to try to cheat her in and she still failed miserably. She was an awful, awful Presidential candidate.

Contrast that with Obama, who, while some on the left cry and panic (which I guess is understandable, given the last two Presidential elections) is still projecting the same air of ease and reason and hope he always has in public appearances.

It's McCain who looks increasingly desperate, from his wildly unwise VP pick intended to try to revitalize his base and campaign, to his throw-everything-at-Obama-to-see-what-sticks "strategy" this past week.

Please, for the love of Christ, stop giving links and hits to that fucking piece of shit right wing mouthpiece tool Matt Drudge. Delete the bookmark from your browser and never go to his site again. I haven't clicked on the Drudge Report in ten years or so and I promise there is no reason to, ever, in an age of rss feeds and Google Reader and so on. Please, please consider linking to the actual stories that Drudge is cherry picking to PRINT *** IN *** ALL *** CAPS ***

Seriously, Dan, how can someone who is otherwise so reasonable and rational keep getting suckered into bothering to pay attention to that bleating? You had the right idea with your call to arms to donate yesterday and it's the get out the vote movement, as other posters have commented, that will win this race for Obama. The rest is all pointless, vacuous white noise.

If you want something to seize on to feel better about the outcome of this election, consider that Obama has a team of Wall Street insiders in his inner circle, that even Rupert Murdoch is charmed by him and ask yourself if the Powers that Be, who remember getting very rich under Bill Clinton, really want another four years of fiscal irresponsibility, consumer nonconfidence, stock market volatility and economic ruin. Are those people going to let John McCain and Sarah Palin (!) into power? Seriously?

Terry needs to get over it. The right-wing would have gone after Hillary to no end. Don't you remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLQGWpRVA7o

@ 16: Cyprus? As in the tiny island in the Mediterranean? Isn't taht a little drastic? Canada is much closer.

I take particular pleasure in knowing that the GOP have been salivating for decades at the thought of ripping through a Hillary presidential bid, and now all that stored up ammunition is just moldering. You know that that there were at least a dozen anti-Hillary books written and waiting to be published. Probably a ton of merchandise, too. So many quips and one-liners waiting to be unleashed. All those Republicans getting stiff with anticipation are just standing around flaccid and frustrated.

And Jesus, Dan. You know, the race to the White House is a fight. Stop being such a goddamn pussy every time something doesn't go perfect for the Dems. I mean, you actually have some tangible influence in the media. You can do things that the average person can't. When you post a link to donate to the campaign, lots of people see that and actually do so. Put on a brave face and fight right up until the end. Help with the fight. Help win this. You're part of it, too.

Remain. Calm.

Barak Obama is a fucking NINJA. He has ice in his veins. He knows that if he succumbs to panic he will misstep and fail. The dynamics of this election still completely favor him.

Sarah Palin is the only unknown factor for the average voter left in this race. And she has peaked early. She has only one way to go as people learn what a corrupt nincompoop she truly is. So Obama needs to remain balanced and even-keeled in his approach to the election. McPalin's lies are catching up to them.

JC nails it;

Democrats, Liberals, stop being a flailing group of pussies every time something isn't utopic for you. A bunch of hand-wringing isn't going to win elections.

Unless she commits some really serious fuck-up --- like getting caught in a motel room shooting heroin into a naked 8 year old girl --- this thing is Palin's to lose. By comparison to Xena, Automatic-rifle Warrior Princess, Obama looks like a smug, over-educated establishment man, which he kind of is. Populism cuts both ways here; Progressives want a secular messiah, but America wants an Action Figure, which is what Guv Palin is, every bit --- even more -- than California's Big Man.
What the fuck, though? Dems have been standing around for months, bursting into tears of ecstasy every time Obama or Michelle or, jeez, even one of the girls opens their mouth... and so Marge Gunderson steps into the scene, and suddenly it's flosweats and shrieking accusations of cynicism. Mercy. It's all such a... a shock. Imagine, a political campaign dissembling and manipulating; there ought to be an inquiry.
The fact is that at least half this country has had the idea that come January every child would get a pony, and that we could all eat ice cream forever and stay nourished and fit. And war and poverty will somehow evaporate. But Obama is just another person who thought enough of himself to run for President; Palin is closer to Oprah --- actually, Roseanne is probably a better cultural touchstone. Rosanne, if she was equally comfy with an AK-47, nursing her beautiful downs baby, or managing domestic challenges. And looked like a beauty queen. Matter of fact, she looks a hell of a lot like Geena Davis would look in the Oval Office. Plus, imagine the double pleasure all those women --- all those people! --- will have knowing on some level what Hillary Clinton must be thinking, that the manifestation of everything she has ever feared and despised as a school-girl and a wife (I mean, Bill must be torn on this whole issue, hatred with a hard-on and what-not) is going to take her job. Her place in history. There's another half of the country that wants to see Hillary suffer enough in any case, but this is entirely too delicious.
I'd love to think that this will blow over, but I'm afraid it's time to prepare ourselves for a totally new experience. This woman is a fucking Superstar, and if any Progressive who denies that does so at his or her political peril.

The GOP are like dogs, they can smell fear and then go for blood.

Do not fear. Keep hopeful and positive. Hopeful and positive.

And send any GOP family emails about Obama and McCain.

Fnarf beat me to it @24. If Hillary truly cares as much about this country, and the Democratic Party, as she says, she will get to work and do what needs to be done to get Obama elected.

Palin has already shown herself to be a lightweight on policy, and about a tenth as talented politically as Obama. She won a right place, right time campaign in Alaska against massively unpopular opponent in the GOP primary. That's the extent of her resume.

The only option McCain has is to hide Palin from the media for the next fifty days. Yes, there are dumbasses who hope to witness the return of George Bush (this time equipped with a vagina) but they are a minority. McCain will bleed independant voters as they learn who Palin really is.

Palin is a "superstar" like Ashley Simpson. The more people see her, the dimmer she gets.

#27 is right. Drudge is a fucktard right-wing partisan hack. Believing him is like believing Hannity or Limbaugh.

@25 - I'm sorry? Did you really mean to suggest that Tina Fey doing a parody of Sarah Palin on SNL will sway the vote? Was that sarcasm (please say yes)?

@35

That's bullshit. She was treated like complete shit by both sides, namely ours. She doesn't have to do a fucking thing. She knows where she stands now, and it isn't to support you people and your new found Jesus.

I am a progressive gay guy living in Little Rock, AR with family in Missouri, Tex, California, and Delaware. I was in the minority here in AR when I voted for Obama in the primary. Talking to most of the people I know and the family all over who are not into politics the america that I know is still not ready for Obama. I hope I am wrong.

Best,

Drew

Axelrod and company aren't stupid. They've been grinding out a fifty-state ground game that puts McCain to shame. Quietly.

I second all the comments urging you to quit with the public handwringing. C'mon. Democrats should know better by now what that crap does.

To use a relationship-advice truism, self-confidence is an attractive quality in a potential mate. And if you have no self-confidence, it's generally not going to attract anyone beyond predatory assholes.

The Republican brand of self-assurance may rankle sensible folks when it's propping up nothing but an empty-headed moose-shootin' religious crazie and a pugnacious fake-maverick liar with impulse-control problems, but the shit _still works_. And if that same kind of unflappable, aggressive mass confidence is instead backed up by a sane, humane, competent, charismatic candidate who's maybe the best goddamn hope this country's seen in decades, maybe it will win him the election.

Stop fearing the pit bull. BE the pit bull.

I was thinking that way on Hillary as well, but let us remember:

- Obama BEAT the Clintons in the dem primaries. Not an easy thing to do.

- If McCain didn't pick Palin, he might have picked Huckabee, who would firm up the base AND really be a long-term threat. He's totally charming. He's the one they consistently send on Stewart and Colbert.

- Register people to vote. Everywhere. Obama's campaign set up an awesome link today for easy voter registration. Put it on your myspace page.

- And finally, if McCain does pull this off, then try to enjoy watching the havoc that will be wreaked on the nation. Start drinking games everytime the debt goes higher. Invest in a little house in Canada everytime we go to a new war in a different country.

- Hillary's going to appear at some point soon. She has to. And Obama should promise her Secretary of State or something like that.

- And remember, the Rovians are drinking up our anxiety. I knew it would get tight. It had to.

But do something.

@ 33: what color is the sky in your world?

@24 & 35,
I don't envy Hillary, campaigning for Obama while some halfwitted pundits and Obama partisans interpret her every word as a devious plan to undermine him so she can run in 2012. Damned if she do, damned if she don't.

But anyway, she is in Ohio campaigning for Obama this very weekend. So I guess she does truly care about the country, who would have guessed!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/10/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4437018.shtml

Wait for the debates before you start freaking out.

As for the boyfriend, I'd suggest gagging and flogging. If the bitch doesn't shut up, proceed to caning.

42 has it down pat.

Glad to see you've come to see the light about Hilsey, Dan. As to where she might be at the moment, I imagaine somewhere laughing her Manolos off.

No way is she gonna seriously campaign for that Obama character. And why should she? He wouldn't even retire her debt...

We went strategically with Kerry last time. He's a war hero, it will work we all thought. Didn't work. This time I voted with my heart, strategy be damned. Am I worried? Yes. I'm still mad at all the Hillary hold-outs though. I would have supported Hillary happily if she'd been the nominee.

49

Exactly where I am. Hillary lost because of her own failings. She's too friendly to the DLC Democrat Establishment (hell she IS the DLC Establishment). She recognized too late that this election was about change. She assumed she would win. She hired bad people and led them poorly. The way her campaign was run is, by itself, a good reason not to vote for her. It was ineffective, disorganized and headed by a corrupt SOB who is NOT a Democrat (Mark Penn).




HOWEVER, I would be backing her if she were the nominee. The alternative is an unholy nightmare and Hillary would make a fine President.

We won't support spine-less NO-Bama and will re-defeat him in November !! Go Hillary 2012 !!!

Stupid Effing Credulous Hack of the Day: Dan Savage?

I mean, seriously, is there any point in reprinting this and spreading a dangerous and untrue cultural meme?

Hillary would not be doing any better right now, and McCain would be running with a male evangelical nut job instead.

xrist. this panic is getting tired.

what was "Hillary is going to get the nomination!" is now "McCain is going to win!"

it wasn't true about Hillary. it's not true about McCain.

Obama's people know what they are doing.

all this does is point out how crazy we dems are. insecure idjits. if we were a Savage Love question, you'd slap us back to reality with one of your almost witty, always condescending comments.

as for your bitter Hillary supporter, treat him like the Clintons treat all gay people - make promises that you have no intention of keeping, then, first chance you get, throw him to the wolves to make yourself more popular to the mainstream.

If it's any consolation, Hills would have gotten her ass kicked as well.

I tell myself this: Obama is the best politician of the last 40 years, is right on 90% of the issues, and has run a nearly perfect campaign offering a clear break from the Bush years. McCain presents a continuation of Bush policies, and has run a middling campaign relying on lies and deception. The choice is clear before the voters. If they choose wrong, and its not arrogant at this point to say there is a right and a wrong choice, its not Obama's fault and its not the Democrats fault, its the dumbass American peoples' fault, and they deserve what's coming.

Damn right your boyfriend was right about Hillary! All those Hillary haters are about to eat their own shit! Unless they're R's. Too bad. So sad.

Dan, it don't help to panic. time to man up.

Manup

There's a cloud in the distance
Rising from the dunes
Ten thousand riders
Blaze a trail of ruins
No doubt about it
They're headed this way
Who will protect us on a judgement day?
Some are unready, some are unwilling
Hiding amongst the women and children
Rousing the rabble from under the bed
I'm calling you by name to bite the bullet
Manup
We didn't want no trouble
But trouble's what we have
You call it paranoia
And have yourself a laugh
And avoid the confrontation
Until some other year
Somebody call the boys cause there's no men in here
Some are unready, some are unwilling
Some are still able but ain't got the feeling
Talking real loud at the back of the crowd
I'm calling you by name to bite the bullet
Manup
Listen to me my friend
What you will not defend
Somebody else will end up takin'
And when the famine comes
You think they'll just give you some
But if you believe that
You're mistaken

@55: Totally agree. I hope that I've done everything in my power to help the campaign but ultimately America will get the president it deserves.

I keep threatening to expatriate but somehow never do. I guess I get the nation I deserve.