Monday, August 25, 2008

McCain Airs Second Ad Targeting Angry Clinton Voters

Trying to capitalize on the anger of some Hillary Clinton supporters, the McCain campaign released its second ad in two days targeting Hillary voters for conversion to the Republican Party.

The ad is filled with images if Hillary Clinton herself, and features Debra Bartoshevich, a former Clinton Delegate who is now actively campaigning for the Republican Party:

"I'm a proud Hillary Clinton Democrat," says Bartoshevich, a nurse,
in the 30-second spot. "She had the experience and judgment to be
president. Now, in a first for me, I'm supporting a Republican, John
McCain.

"A lot of Democrats will vote McCain. It's okay, really!"

What Bartoshevich doesn't explain is why it will be "okay." Why would it be "okay" for someone who supports the life and cause of Hillary Clinton, to back a party that has attacked her more unfairly than even the worst democrats? Would it be "okay" to go from opposing the Iraq War to supporting it? Would it be "okay" to fight for choice, then give up and support the candidate who promises he will have a "pro life" administration? Why would it be "okay" to go from standing up for the struggles of working people, to supporting the richest and most corrupt few? How can a person be a nurse, and support the party that doesn't want to reform health care?

A Moral Quandary

No, Ms. Bartoshovich does not give any of these explanations because she has become nothing more than a sad pawn in the republican game; one has to wonder if she realizes they would sacrifice her well-being and values the minute they had a chance. Now the Republican vultures are circling over our convention, looking for easy prey:
...the campaign's "Citizens for McCain" outreach initiative to former
Clinton supporters, are being joined this week by efforts on the
ground, as senior advisor Carly Fiorina and other top McCain officials
head to Denver to recruit these disaffected Democrats.
The GOP does not stand for anything Hillary Clinton stands for. How any Democrat could be enticed to go on TV and support McCain is beyond me.

One also has to wonder at the ethics involved in being a party delegate to the Convention, who then deserts the party when the election doesn't turn out the way they wanted it. Clearly there is an ethical problem with this kind of conditional democracy, because Ms. Bartoshevich was stripped of her delegate status for supporting the opposing party.

Democracy is about cooperation toward a common cause, such that if you don't end up on the winning side you accept that fact because more people voted the other way. No such morality seems to be defining former delegates like Ms. Bartoshevich, not to mention the conflict in values a person like this must feel as they shift their support from a liberal, pro-choice Hillary Clinton to a Republican who opposes the Fair Pay Act, and claims he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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