Unity in Unity, N.H.? Not so much for some Hillary Clinton backers
Los Angeles Times
Scott Martelle
June 27, 2008
Our cousins over at The Swamp have an item this morning spotlighting just how nagging a problem Barack Obama faces in trying to woo some disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters in facing off against John McCain. It seems a couple of notable New Hampshire Democrats -- James McConaha, a former Clinton administration farm official in New Hampshire, and his Democratic activist wife, Valery Mitchell -- have no intention of hopping aboard the Unity bus.
Picking up a story in the Nashua Telegraph, the couple have agreed to lead Democrats for John McCain. And that's not the only anti-Obama group out there comprising Clinton supporters. In fact, though polls show most of her backers moving to Obama, there is a large and vociferous crowd out there that refuses to go along.
Whether this is enough of a counter tide to have an impact in November is the big question, of course. And it will matter most in the battleground states -- a few thousand Clinton supporters voting for McCain here in California, for instance, isn't likely to turn the state red. But it could be an issue in states where the red-blue divide is narrower.
Regardless, campaigns are an amalgamation of a lot of moving parts, and it can't be a good distraction for the Obamans to have to go out and try to run down strays from the Democratic herd.
-- Scott Martelle
Los Angeles Times
Scott Martelle
June 27, 2008
Our cousins over at The Swamp have an item this morning spotlighting just how nagging a problem Barack Obama faces in trying to woo some disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters in facing off against John McCain. It seems a couple of notable New Hampshire Democrats -- James McConaha, a former Clinton administration farm official in New Hampshire, and his Democratic activist wife, Valery Mitchell -- have no intention of hopping aboard the Unity bus.
Picking up a story in the Nashua Telegraph, the couple have agreed to lead Democrats for John McCain. And that's not the only anti-Obama group out there comprising Clinton supporters. In fact, though polls show most of her backers moving to Obama, there is a large and vociferous crowd out there that refuses to go along.
Whether this is enough of a counter tide to have an impact in November is the big question, of course. And it will matter most in the battleground states -- a few thousand Clinton supporters voting for McCain here in California, for instance, isn't likely to turn the state red. But it could be an issue in states where the red-blue divide is narrower.
Regardless, campaigns are an amalgamation of a lot of moving parts, and it can't be a good distraction for the Obamans to have to go out and try to run down strays from the Democratic herd.
-- Scott Martelle
Last edited: