maybe I should move to vermont

so, I just glanced at the post from last week on my way to write this new posting and noticed that the first sentence has come to be ambiguous since tuesday's election - so to clarify, for those who haven't followed earlier posts or don't notice the date, the reference to hillary clinton having "won twice lately" is in regard to her being presented (by me) the "fear monger of the day" award - not her having more recently been awarded, by those susceptible to her fear mongery, the primaries in texas and ohio. so there you go.

but speaking of that, it is exactly those elections and the manner of their being won that I want briefly comment on. my primary concern (enjoy the pun if you wish, groan if you must) about the way things turned out in texas and ohio... and I won't forget rhode island - is that after weeks of a narrowing clinton lead in the polls - reflecting the general trend towards obama as voters gained familiarity with him - there was a last minute reversal, which can really only be explained by clinton's resorting to extremely negative and inflammatory (and unfounded) campaign methods - and (now we get to it) at the heart of those methods is fear mongery. grrrrr!

I was thinking these sort of thoughts yesterday morning as I walked to stroh's deli on abbot kinney here in lovely, almost springtime venice to get my morning coffee and newspaper... the result of my thoughts was my arrival at a conclusion that brought about in me a peculiarly grumpy mood for such an otherwise lovely morning. It was this: clinton's success in texas and ohio is going to prove to her and anybody else who's watching that negative, inflammatory, campaigning, preying on the fears of the constituency in an effort to win votes - the realization that, to many voters even the hint of danger, an innuendo suggesting incompetence in a rival - is enough to sway them to vote for the person feeding their fears - and that, it seems is most often the person who in actuality has their best interests least at heart. my moodiness was only aggravated when I got my la times and was greeted with a, just above the fold and just beneath the candidate's photos, headline stating, "Going negative proved positive in comeback" - so they saw it too, but far from condemning it, it is simply reported and recognized as sound strategy... the politics of fear clearly continues and has a strong following that accepts it without question. the article was continued on page A13 where it was headed by the words "Negatavism wins for Clinton" - well, if it wasn't clear before... but still, negatavism is simply seen by the media and because of it, by the general public, as a tactic, a method, a tool to be used when necessary. grrrr...

it's all very discouraging - not simply because politicians aren't above such deceitful manipulation, but also and maybe most so, because people are so damn susceptable to it - that is why I believe it is absolutely crucial that we DON'T BELIEVE THE FEAR MONGERS! however days like yesterday force me to acknowledge the uphill struggle in this fight against fear mongery - it will continue to be used as long as we allow it to work.

on a more optimistic side, many voters in ohio and texas were not swayed, I'm not alone in expressing concern, rosa brooks had a pretty good opinion piece in the paper today, I heard a fair amount of chatter about the effects of clinton's strategy on npr yesterday... and so clearly there are like-minded people out there and maybe they're not even in the minority... nevertheless it doesn't take many to sway a close election and I think clinton's strategists are counting on just that... sway the fearful few and that will be enough to leverage there way into position - and that's the best they can hope for - it's too late to win on pledged delegates, but if they can build momentum and then make an argument to the convention... well, like I said, that's there only hope so it must be what they're working towards... oh but I forgot - you can't run a campaign on hope... so why are they still doing it? hmmm. I'll have to think a bit about that.

and finally I just briefly want to acknowledge my appreciation to the state of vermont for not only giving obama a clear win but also for this.