Posted: Tuesday, 19 August 2008 11:32AM
What Will Hillary Holdouts Do?
Steve Corbett Reporting
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Surrounded by Republicans, I stood in the ballroom of the Clark’s Summit Ramada Inn last night and looked for allies. In a crowd of about 100 people, it was all but impossible to tell who was Republican and who was Democrat.
OK, some people looked more Republican than others.
But sometimes you really can’t tell.
Stuffed shirts on both sides often look alike.
A newspaper report this morning put the split at about 2 to 1 in favor of the GOP. That holy one third is the sacred number that John McCain is counting on to tilt the presidential election his way.
Most of the Democrats in attendance last night were Hillary Clinton Democrats, hold-outs who feel betrayed by their party and cast aside in exchange for the myth of Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee.
For the most part, staunch Obama supporters and staunch McCain supporters feel the same about Hillary supporters. There’s no love lost among the extremist crowd.
But Hillary’s people are not radicals.
They’re some of the most dedicated traditional Democrats in the party, some of the most hardworking grunts in the crowd who always did what party bosses told them to do. They worked as precinct captains and community activists who spread the Democrat message for decades.
They followed orders.
But they also watched party bosses invent Obama. They watched party bosses disrespect Hillary. They watched party bosses manipulate caucuses and votes and delegates.
Then they said “enough.”
Although Hillary has publicly supported Obama, many of her supporters refuse to follow her lead. They now pledge to withhold their vote entirely, write in Hillary’s name as a symbolic protest vote (my choice), or vote for somebody else.
Independent Ralph Nader will pull some Hillary votes. So will Libertarian Bob Barr or somebody else.
John McCain is somebody else.
That’s why McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina hit Northeastern Pennsylvania in a barnstorming tour that roamed from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre and back again, with a few stops in between.
The big blue bus called the “Straight Talk Express” stopped in Pittston Township so Fiorina could appear on “Corbett” and answer questions about why she is reaching out to Hillary voters in a region that hammered Obama in Pennsylvania’s April primary.
The woman is smart and charming. She has a heart, a conscience and a keen business sense that critics liken to a razor that slashes whenever the corporate bottom line needs an adjustment to appease shareholders.
Democrats cringe at the thought.
But Fiorina also knows the reality of the situation.
For McCain to win Hillary voters, he needs to soften his own Republicanism, even more than he has in the past. Hard-line conservative Republicans already call McCain a liberal. But they’ll vote for him because, unless they do, they’ll have Obama as president.
Democrats need to hear more about democracy than business, more peace than war, and more sacred common ground than drawing battle lines in the sand.
If McCain and his surrogates, particularly Fiorina, really reach out with true compromise and bridge-building, they will woo more Hillary supporters. If they don’t, they’ll lose.
The Democrats have already defined themselves. That’s why millions of Hillary supporters want to battle party bosses and shape the new heart and soul of the Democratic Party.
Count me in.
I’m not ready to vote for McCain but I understand why other Democrats and independents are.
But for McCain to earn more votes from Hillary supporters, he absolutely must show even more willingness to cross the partisan aisle as he has in the past on immigration reform, gun control and campaign finance reform.
McCain must define himself and his vision of the future as a place where real bi-partisanship reigns.
Fiorina is as good a spokeswoman as McCain can get. But she can’t do it alone. Millions of women who voted for Hillary – as well as a few good men - are waiting with open minds.
Let’s see if McCain is up to the challenge. If so, he’ll win the November election. If not, he loses.
Decisiveness in the face of adversity often defines leadership.
Every Democrat in that Ramada ballroom loaded with Republicans could figure that out.
Now we decide where to go from here.
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