Thursday 17 March 2016

Americans Hate Clinton and Trump, Poll Shows


This poll from CNN shows us Hillary Clinton's favorable / unfavorable ratings, which are at an abysmal 42% / 55%. As her ratings within the Democrat party are rather better (19% unfavorable), it's starting to look like Hillary is winning the nomination because all of her support is within the party. Looking outside the party, such ratings suggest a big electability problem looming on the horizon.

Independents, who make up the largest voting block in the USA at 40%, appear to despise her. This is the group that any candidate needs to convince if they're going to win an election. Furthermore, she doesn't have the youth vote, who flock instead to Bernie Sanders. It's well known that, the older you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican, so the youth vote is also crucial to a Democrat's success. These key demographics could cost her the election. The only hope for Clinton is that Trump is hated more (and he might be), but, even if Hillary does win, it won't be a big win, and there'll likely be many years of obstructionism from Republicans to follow.



The Hillary supporters I've had the displeasure of interacting with want us to ignore this poll. If it can't be dismissed as Republican lies, it must be done away with. These people are willing to risk it all and throw the country under the bus in order to get their candidate the nomination. They're willing to sacrifice the votes of those who've repeatedly said they can't vote for her. Instead, they want to go it alone with their close-knit tribe of loyal Democrats. This is not how you win an election!

Essentially, what Hillary supporters are saying to independents and young people is "we don't need your votes". That's their prerogative, of course, but they shouldn't expect me or anyone else to imbibe our own vomit on election day and vote for her. We said we wouldn't; we let you know this beforehand; so if you're not going to listen, it's on you, not us. People who tell you to "vote blue no matter who" but go ahead and choose the least electable candidate are being disingenuous about wanting to ensure a `blue win'. Rather, they're risking it all for their disfavored preference. Why should Bernie supporters have to accommodate their foolishness?

So, if it's not Bernie, I'll be writing him in. Voting for the lesser of two evils is voting for an equal or worse choice of evils next time. Voting for Hillary is a vote for war, Wall Street, and wealth inequality. How can I, in good conscience, put my name to that? I've tried to give this corporate, neoliberal, warmonger the benefit of the doubt in the past. I've tried to limit myself to positive messages about Bernie rather than negative stuff about Hillary. A month ago, I even wrote a facebook post defending Hillary against the racism accusations. No longer will I do that. Her supporters are like mini-versions of her: rotten to the core - disingenuous, negative people who take every opportunity to lie or obfuscate the truth. They're the kind of people who don't deserve my restraint or my allegiance at the polling booth. They don't appear to want it either, so I'm happy to oblige.

Submitted by Hector Danson.