I thought I’d share this e-mail exchange with a voter who’s thinking about staying home in November. Here’s his e-mail:
This ‘ain’t’ what I signed up for. My life is progressive politics and this shit Obama is doing is complete horse-shit.
Furthering that bile called faith based initiatives, late term abortions, evangelical ass kissing, the death penalty for any human being let alone for sick ass rapists, FISA (he’s telling me ‘fuck me’ on FISA) and now his out and out childish babblespeak on exiting Iraq (fuck a timely exit, I want out ‘now’ the body count from staying and exiting like our cloths were burning amounts to the same thing–dead is dead and fuck how you got dead). Don’t ask the generals, ask ‘them’ the people doing the dying how they’d like to exit and they’d tell you they’ll all be out by 4pm this sunday left up to them if they had to walk to the Kuwaiti border backwards.
Bob, I love your writings, my brother, I read every posting on Huff with your name on it–and think very highly of you, but I’m not going to have the murder of NOT ONE Iraqi on ‘my’ head when I stand one day before Almighty God because of Obama’s bullshit (and I’m a ‘black-black man,’ the blackest of black men who has waited his whole life for this moment).
I’ve had enough. I’ll be sitting this one out. I’ll just have some explaining to do when asked in 40 years did I vote for the first black man to be president. I’ll just say ‘no’ and if they want to know why I’ll tell them why. I’m a Liberal Democrat first — a black man second when it comes to what I believe in.
I know, he doesn’t want his presidency ‘dogged’ by Bush talk 25/8 so that’s why he’s doing the FISA shit but that’s what’s happening and there ain’t no way around that for the 44th guy in the house — it comes with being the ’44th’ president, period. He can’t have it both ways. And neither can I.
So I’ll be sitting this one out and there ain’t one fucking word you or (the equally brilliant) Tom Hayden can say that will be changing my mind. Barack Obama can go fuck himself.
And my response:
>>I’ve had enough. I’ll be sitting this one out.
That’s a real shame… We won’t have another candidate like Senator Obama for a long, long time, especially if he loses. In addition, I think it’s important to give the man a chance to actually BE president first. If he governs to the center, then we can pick him apart for it. But meanwhile, this election is too important to put a few statements in the heat of a campaign above the greater history of this moment in time. John Kerry was pro-death penalty, anti-late-term-abortion, pro-faith-based, and he voted for the invasion of Iraq (as did John Edwards). As for Iraq, Senator Obama is our best shot at getting out. Staying home won’t absolve any of us from the atrocities of Iraq. However, voting for the best shot at getting out will certainly help.
I’m sure you know that candidates of both parties run to the center during a campaign. Senator Obama needs indepedent voters in order to secure the overwhelming mandate he’ll require in order to govern ‘his way’. While I disagree with some of his remarks, I’ll concede that he knows way more than you and I about how to win an election — after all, he beat the unbeatable Clintons.
Anyway, let’s get him elected, then hold him accountable… because the alternative is more death. McCain wants you to stay home. He’s counting on it.
Agree or disagree with Senator Obama’s recent statements, I will admit that he has to do something soon to smooth things over with voters like this e-mailer.
