Although it is still spring, it is time for a bit of planting that might yield summer flowers. No one could hang around our Comments sections for long without knowing that things got regrettably ugly here between supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton and supporters of Barack Obama. And two of the fiercest advocates for each candidate are longtime commenters Jamie and Brian. These passionate loyalists agreed to take a step across the breach today and offer three things they admire most about the other's candidate.
Jamie (Clinton supporter) on Obama:
"Let's start with the obvious. For the first time in our history, the United States could very well have a president who is not all white. This image before the world, indicating that we are finally starting to resolve the long and painful racial divide, is a good thing. When you combine that with the beautiful wife and two lovely children, it is a young, vibrant image of a country moving into the future despite recent set backs.
Two. He is a dynamic and talented speaker. All right, I consider most of it fluffy cotton candy of no substance or depth, but the ability to energize others to take necessary action is not a small talent and will be important as we try to dig our way out from under the mess of the Bush administration. If he can sell an "ask not" philosophy that encourages young people to make necessary sacrifices while changes for the better take place, then he will be a successful president.
Three. He does seem willing to learn from others. He doesn't do it gracefully yet -- as in not giving credit to others for the ideas he steals -- but at least he seems to steal from the best, which is progress. Now if he will show the same intelligence in picking a Cabinet that can add to his knowledge base and make him even more effective, everything will turn out alright." (Jamie's blog)
Brian (Obama supporter) on Clinton:
"Without question the thing I admire most about Mrs. Clinton is her commitment to the welfare of America's (and the world's) children. Throughout her career she has shown a sincere desire to improve the lot of our most vulnerable members of society. From her work for the Children's Defense Fund to her wonderful book, It Takes A Village, Mrs. Clinton has shown true concern, passion, and commitment for those least able to defend themselves. In her book she drove home the message that every child is everyone's child.
Tenacity, the woman has it in spades. Time and time again the woman has been on the wrong end of unfair attacks -- and despite hostility coming at her from most directions it never appears to get her down. The weight and sting of such attacks would have many if not most taking to their beds and assuming the fetal position. Not Hillary, she keeps her head held high and her eyes on the target, plows right on through, and doesn't stop till she's attained her goal.
Intelligence, she's smart as hell, and when she decides to tackle any subject she makes it her own. This was more than demonstrated by the fine work she has done in the Senate on the Committee on Armed Services. She won over the most hard boiled of military brass, not because of her stand on the issues but by the depth of her knowledge of the subject at hand." (Brian's blog)
Our many other commenters on either side of the Clinton-Obama divide (and John McCain supporters too) are invited to take this Sunday to offer something genuinely positive about the other side (or at least take a break from personal attacks against other commenters). Consider how Benjamin Franklin broke the deadlock of warring delegates in Philadelphia, giving birth to our horribly flawed and forever correctable Constitution: "I can not help expressing a wish that every member of the convention who may still have objections to it, would, with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument."
(Oh how he would have loved Summer Love)
-- Peace, Craig
