You know I am starting to have a great fear. The latest moves by Hillary Clinton have brought about some major worries for many of her supporters, myself included. Personally, I have few problems with the candidacy of Barack Obama. He has proven himself to be a viable alternative to the Arizona Sen. John McCain, George Bush's so obvious third term. I think that this problem centers itself on the Democratic Party and its central committee (DCC).
The main problem is first of all, the perception by Clinton's supporters that Hillary's resignation was done with a gun at her head. This gun was loaded and held by the DCC by its disenfranchise of the Clinton supporters. The rulings on Michigan and Florida's primaries have left the Clinton supporters feeling that they have no part in the process and that whatever happens they are out of it. In turn this creates the problem that, by all accounts, the Clinton supporters are running out to McCain in protest. The consensuses of Clinton supporter opinion, is that Obama is another George McGovern and will be shown as such by the Republican campaign machine. This is turn creates my greatest fear.
This fear is that this (soon to be massive) cross over will be labeled as the return of the “Reagan Democrats” as this may have been an opinion that was started over a year ago. In a June 10, 2007 editorial by Salena Zito, it is was alleged that the majority of Hillary Clinton's platform was geared to capturing the hearts and minds of the “Regan Democrats” and that her platform was a direct appeal to their "conservative values”.
Before even trying to get your mind wrapped around such a clear non-sense, one must deal with a major problem. In the twenty some, post Reagan, years, the majority of voters have run away from conservative thinking. Yes, there are some left especially in the Christian Conservative and other “four legs good, two legs bad” camps but most have snapped out of it. Many of these Reagan Democrats look back on Reagan"s eight years of disaster with shame. They are just now recognizing the disaster that was the Regan Administration and will not be fooled again.
I don't not believe that will stop the charge, however. It is hoped by many that there may be a way to elect McCain while steering him away from a third Bush term. I do not know but I really doubt it. The clear indicator will be his steering away from the positions of the conservative lunatic fringe as expressed by Mike Huckabee, Russ Limbaugh, etc. Senator McCain must learn that the term “liberal” is not half the obscenity that the term “conservative” has become.
