The Sorrow and Pity Party

A few days back, bitterspice told me about a conversation she'd had with her sister in which her sister said she wanted Hillary Clinton to win on March 4th because she "hated" Barack Obama. She never came out and explained what bothered her so about Obama, but she really wanted Clinton to win and was angry that Obama was in the way.

All this struck me strange, but I guess that's where things are now. Clinton supporters are unable to fathom why anyone would turn her away for Obama, and Obama supporters are so caught up in their own feelings of inspiration that they're offended when they see anyone who isn't similarly impressed. Speaking as the supporter of a long line of primary losers--Edwards, Clark, Edwards, Harkin, Jackson, Hart, and Kennedy, I have but one thing to say to those in one can't who can't conceive of supporting the Democratic ticket if their candidate isn't on it: get over yourselves.

When the Washington caucuses came along, I hunted down the location and voted for Clinton. I was in the minority in that room, as usual, but I was fine with that. I certainly didn't despise the people on the other side. Theirs was a passion I didn't share, but if it came down to Obama vs. Insert Torturing Right-Wing Creep Here, Obama's easily my guy, and I'll listen to his inaugural speech with as much hope for the future as the last seven years will allow me to have. Besides, now that I'm done with voting, I figure I'm out of it. I'm content to let people who still have a vote decide where to go from here.

But, as James Wolcott pointed out today, other people can't seem to handle this simple idea:

The Sorrow and the Pity Party

Look, I understand the knocks against Hillary Clinton, truly I do. There are no flaming arrows fired her way that I haven't seen traverse the air before, no bill of indictment drawn up containing charges with which I'm unfamiliar. Reciting her sins and liabilities has become a familiar refrain, but if it's the Gregorian chant you live by, if you find Hillary Clinton such an insupportable choice for the Democratic nomination that you prefer to suckle your pride and idealism rather than soil your conscience should she be at the top of the ticket, fine, have fun with that. But, please, I beg of thee, could you at least spare the rest of us your longwinded, preeny, pious dirges?

"I have, in sorrow, come to the conclusion that should Hillary Clinton be the Democratic nominee, I will not cast a vote for president. I live in Virginia, which she has no realistic chance of carrying, so perhaps it takes little courage for me to make that decision, should it be necessary. But given that I am politically active, that I teach government to adolescents, that I encourage them to participate, it is truly in sorrow that I find I must make this decision.

"I will try to explain, if you care to keep reading, why I have made this decision."

Explain, the Kos Diarist proceeds to do, for numerous earnest, soul-searching paragraphs.

There's more. Read the whole post.

My feeling has always been that if you can't bear the thought of messing up your nice, clean soul with the muck of real-world politics, then maybe political engagement isn't the hobby for you. It's not nice out there. People say mean, cruel, backbiting things, and sometimes they even fib a bit. And if you want to use the political system to get anything done to help people without power (a hard enough trick to pull off in any political culture), then you need to attract the attention of a cruel, backbiting, ruthless bastard whose interests coincide with your desires. In Star Trek terms, yes, everyone likes the Good Kirk, but he can't live without the Evil Kirk.

I voted for Hillary, at least in part, because I respect ruthlessness in politicians. I was an Edwards guy to start with, but he didn't last long enough for me to vote for him, and Hillary seemed the one willing to go to war to get the things Edwards talked about done. Maybe Obama can be more effective, but I don't know that he has the steel for it. He strikes me as a man who fears making enemies. Now maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he, like John Kennedy, really does have an enforcer's mentality underneath the idealistic patter. But I'm broke and need health insurance that actually pays for things, so when the caucus came to town I didn't feel as if I could work on the if-come. That's why I voted the way I did.

Still, other Democrats have other priorities. I respect that, and wouldn't think of telling anyone what to do. The animosity between the two camps seems misplaced. This isn't, after all, the Stalin-Trotsky split or anything. Hillary and Obama are politically very close to each other, so much so that they have to strain to find things to argue about. They're close in another way too, though, which Obama supporters might want to consider before they get too carried away.

If Obama is to make it to the presidency and survive in it, he's going to have to be every bit as ruthless as Hillary, or the opposition and events will consume him. To accomplish anything worthwhile, he'll have to do things that will put stains on his shining armor. He'll have to do things that offend the moral sensibilities of his supporters. The Corleone family will never be legitimate. Our Evil Kirk will never be exorcised. That's politics. That's life. Accept it or walk away, but spare everyone the wailing and gnashing of teeth. This country's in too deep for us to waste time striking poses of moral innocence.