Monday, March 10, 2008

Kudos

I just saw a news story in which the African American mayor of Philadelphia has vowed to continue his support for Hilary Clinton in her bid for the presidency despite the growing support for Barack Obama. The thing that sticks out for me in this story is that the Mayor appears to be a man of conviction unlike so many who have gone scurrying after whoever is leading in polls and delegates. Those who support Mrs. Clinton when she is favored and then switch their support to Mr. Obama when he is ahead are sending the signal that their support has nothing to do with issues or positions but instead has to do with positioning themselves to be in the "favor" of whomever they think might be a winner. I am so sick of the political maneuvering and rhetoric. It is refreshing to see someone sticking to a position! My candidate of choice (John Edwards) withdrew from the race some time back, but if he re-entered the race today, I would there to support him. The office of the presidency of the United States is too important to base its support on the whims of polls and the words of what is rapidly becoming a "rabid" press corps. The media people see a slight upswing in someone's numbers and they effectively "anoint" that one as the winner when there are still lots of delegates in contention. I know that part of their job is to boost circulation and viewer ratings, but the greater part of their job should be responsible journalism -- they should be reporting the news, not trying to steer its outcome. Whoever the Democratic Party nominates (most likely Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama) is the candidate I will support. I am just thrilled to see that at least one political office holder (the mayor of Philadelphia) is standing by his candidate of choice. If i lived in his city, this action would go a long way toward securing my vote. And that is the way I see it!!

2 comments:

Lemuel said...

I would hope that your sentiments and intuition is correct - that Philly's mayor acted out of his own personal conviction. If so I would applaud that.

But as a life-long resident of PA, I know of the "machine" politics that rules our largest city. I know that our current governor is a product of that machine and that he has issued the "call" ("order"?) for everyone to support Clinton and that he has already been caught attempting to intimidate others to follow his position.

I fear that things are not what they appear to be.

Ur-spo said...

one of the measures of self esteem is knowing you can't be bought.