Why Clinton Supporters Struggle to Convert.

I am working as hard as I can to become a strong advocate for Barack Obama. In the world as it is, US voters have only two choices – and Obama is the better of them. But as a supporther of Hillary Clinton’s erstwhile campaign, there is significant politico-emotional work involved in converting to Obama. And Obama’s refusal to challenge what Russ Feingold calls the FISA “capitulation” evokes one of the most difficult aspects of this conversion. I have agreed with Big Tent Democrat’s analysis of the primary/general elections almost all the time. His response to an Obama blogger’s comments captures the frustration that I – and, I suspect, a number of Clinton supporthers – feel.

Big Tent Democrat is responding to a post from DemFromCT that said, in part:

Too many people have too many unwarranted expectations about what Obama would do as President. At the same time, Obama is sending a clear message that he intends to run pragmatically, and has the toughness to do so. Whether it’s FISA or campaign finance, that means making some people unhappy. Running to the center means increasing his chances of winning and the size of the win, and it also means that the “Obambi” slurs (weakness, no substance) are badly missing the mark. I’m not suggesting we suck it up and like everything he does, I’m suggesting we be realistic about expectations.

Big Tent’s response perfectly captures how I feel with Obama’s actions on FISA, and my worries about what kind of concrete policy “unity” and “bipartisanship” and a “new” politics will result in:

I find it ironic and disingenuous that after a year of not just sucking it up but actively smearing Hillary Clinton and deifying Barack Obama, that post appears now. NOW there is an admission that Obama is just a pol. NOW there is an admission that all the talk of “new politics” was pure BS. It is a perfect example of why the Left blogs lost all credibility with their behavior during the primaries – their behavior towards Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama belied the belief that the Left blogs were truthtellers. It was a disgrace.

I always knew Obama was just a pol. I wrote it all the time. I knew Clinton was just a pol. I wrote it all the time. But the Obama Blogs NEVER wrote that. Never expressed that. Hillary was evil. Obama was pure and good and new. The reality based community was filled with delusion – or at least spread delusion.

This is the bitter feeling that many Clinton supporthers have to overcome to be ready to vote and advocate for Barack Obama. I’ve been saying the whole time that Obama is not going to deliver a different sort of policy result and that, therefore, he shouldn’t be judged from the assumption that he will. What, after all, is the POINT of amassing and mobilizing a remarkable ground-game if you can’t leverage that into different policies?