Advice on party unity at The Huffington Post? Huh. That’s rich.
No, it’s not a joke. A blogger claiming to have “dozens” of acquaintances who supported Senator Clinton in the primaries and are now reluctant to vote for Senator Obama now is dispensing advice on how to bring more Clintonistas into the fold. Her suggestion–pander and consdescend.
The blogger’s first piece of advice is to express regret that Hillary was not the vice-presidential candidate. If you don’t regret this, if you never wanted her on the ticket in the first place and your Clintonista pal knows it, this idea is sure to fail. Don’t pretend to like or respect Hillary Clinton if you really don’t.
And another thing to consider is that not all Clinton supporters wanted her on the ticket. I certainly did not.
Her second piece of advice actually isn’t that bad. She encourages Obama supporters to allow Clintonistas to vent their frustrations. But it is obvious from the tone of her peice that she thinks that the Clinton holdouts don’t have any genuine reason to be upset. Either that, or she just wanted to make fun of the Clintonistas who are angry at the media and the party so her post would be more consistent with the general tone of The Huffington Post.
Her next piece of advice is to “act empathetic.” Note that she doesn’t encourage anyone to actually be empathetic. Just fake it so that he gets elected. I find that disturbing given that her candidate ran on a platform of uniting the country. If the Obama campaign can’t empathize with other Democrats, how can they empathize with non-Democrats to a degree necessary to unite the country? Obama’s inability to empathize with blue-collar workers is one reason that this race is so close.
If you can’t genuinely empathize with your Clintonista friend, don’t fake it. Only if you truly empathize will you find the right words. Unless you’re an actor, it will be obvious that your empathy is not authentic and it will drive a wedge between you and the Clintonista.
The absolute worst peice of advice comes next. Remind the Clintoninsta that she has a vagina that McCain/Palin want to police. Yes, it’s the Supreme Court/abortion card. How insulting to think that the women who supported Clinton don’t know that McCain/Palin are anti-choice. Do you think they’re stupid? How insulting to think that only Clinton women are refusing to support Senator Obama.
If that doesn’t work, inform the Clintonista that John McCain is a sexist who cheated on his first wife before leaving her to marry his current wife, Cindy. Don’t mention that Senator McCain and his first wife are now friends and that she plans to vote for him. You can also mention a joke that Senator McCain made about Chelsea Clinton, but you shouldn’t mention that he apologized for it. You probably shouldn’t mention that Hillary and John are now friends.
Finally, if all of this wonderful advice failed to sway your Clintonista friend, badmouth Sarah Palin. Be sure to tell your friend that Gov. Palin is a token. Don’t forget to repeat the story about her calling Hillary a “whiner.” But don’t let her see the actual footage because Palin didn’t really call Hillary a “whiner.” Make sure you don’t mention that Joe Biden made a joke about Gov. Palin being “better looking.”
I have a hard time believing that someone with such a narrow view of Clinton voters could possibly claim to have “dozens” of Clintonista “acquaintances.” This blogger, like so many others at The Huffington Post and the other ABC (anybody but Clinton) blogs enjoy taking cheap shots at Hillary Clinton and her supporters. After all, that’s what victor’s justice party unity is all about.
Note: Tomorrow, I will post a diary about how Obama supporters can talk to reluctant Clinton voters. If any Clintonistas have suggestions for this diary, you can contact me at psychodrew@gmail.com.
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