Cynthia Ruccia, organizer of Clinton Supporters Count Too, “mostly women in swing states who plan to campaign against Mr. Obama in November”:
We, the most loyal constituency, are being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus.
No, you’re not.
You’re being told that your favored candidate doesn’t have enough delegates to win the nomination for president, is behind in the delegate count, and doesn’t have enough primary contests left to catch up.
All of which is true.
Candidates who don’t win their party’s nomination for president don’t get to run as that party’s candidate for president. That’s how it works.
I have some questions for Ms. Ruccia:
1. When Dennis Kucinich lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
2. When Joseph Biden lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
3. When Bill Richardson lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
4. When John Edwards lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
5. When Christopher Dodd lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
6. When Mike Gravel lost the race for the nomination because he wasn’t getting enough delegates and votes, were his supporters “being told to sit down, shut up and get to the back of the bus”?
7. Barack Obama isn’t my first choice, either. I didn’t even get to vote for my first choice: he wasn’t on the ballot any more. Democrats are getting to vote for Hillary Clinton or someone else in all fifty states plus seven other contests. How does that mean your voice wasn’t heard but mine was?
8. When you speak of “we, the most loyal constituency,” are you claiming to speak for all women?
9. If you are planning to campaign against your party’s nominee in November, how does that make you “the most loyal constituency”?
I have nothing against disloyalty, Ms. Ruccia. I like disloyalty in politics, as a matter of fact. If you are determined to campaign against Barack Obama, nobody will remove your free speech rights, and you will be perfectly free to organize however you wish. Indeed, you will apparently even get free media exposure from the New York Times.
I just think your description of the situation is a poor one.
