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Dirty Tricks in Texas and Ohio? | 144 comments (144 topical)

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Intimidation and sexist bullying (5.00 / 2) (#19)
by Donna Darko on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 01:52:06 PM EST
Obama volunteers are handing out the forms at precincts today and asking people to fill them in and then collecting them. For Obama to submit the forms on the voters' behalf without the voter physically being present at the caucus would violate the rules.

I also wouldn't be surprised if this involves sexist bullying too. Shakesville on caucuses:

What is it about the difference between the two that gives Obama the edge in caucuses and Clinton the advantage in the primaries?"

In my Seattle caucus today, overwhelmingly for Obama, us Hillary supporters were older, and less aggressive than the Obama supporters. ... Intimidation is a factor in caucuses. It's something the democratic party has to deal with which is why I want the democratic party to do away with them completely. The last thing democrats need when trying to build party unity is one half winning votes by scaring the other half.

Someone has also emailed me private accounts of older female Hillary supporters who reported being intimidated, shouted down, and outright bullied by younger male Obama supporters while caucusing. There were also reports of male McCain supporters who showed up claiming the specific purpose of intimidating female Hillary supporters.

And why not? When everyone's free to take shots at Hillary without serious consequence, it doesn't exactly send the message that anyone will care if her supporters are treated as fair game for sexist bullying, too.

This has been so since Iowa (5.00 / 2) (#34)
by Cream City on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:02:07 PM EST
Read the Des Moines Register readers' comments blogs about behavior at their caucuses.  Ditto in Nevada and elsewhere.  I took the time to read local online papers from the start and have been appalled -- not only that this has happened to pervert the process from the beginning but also that there has not been media or even much blog coverage about this.  I posted comments on this and other blogs and do so again in hope that maybe now that the Obamabloom is fading, media and maybe even Dem leaders will look at many, many reports from caucus participants of problems.  (Note: I know some problems are to be expected -- but intimidation and deliberate perversion of the process ought not be acceptable.)  This is no way to pick a nominee for president, and I'm so disgusted that I don't know if I can cast a ballot for one of our candidates this fall.

[ Parent ]
Do you have specific links? (none / 0) (#154)
by Kitt on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 07:16:16 PM EST
Nevada - we had two people in Nevada, one a rabid supporter; the other a level-headed Hillary supporter.  (I'm just kiddin' with the characterizations.)

All of us are local political bloggers.

[ Parent ]

Aghhh... (none / 0) (#66)
by BrandingIron on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:25:23 PM EST
...but something tells me that Texas women don't take that kind of cr@p.  My grandmother was tough as steel and so's my aunt and cousin (who are both of Clinton's age demographic), so...I'd like to see some young punk try to bully them.

[ Parent ]
Good to know! None of that (5.00 / 1) (#107)
by Cream City on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:19:15 PM EST
"Midwestern nice," the nonsensical time-consuming, ulcer-conducing part of it here. So many of those readers' comments on caucuses in their local papers ended with "but, well, what can you do, so I just left and didn't caucus and didn't complain. . . ." (Me, I have a nature at war with itself -- raised Midwestern nice but as the daughter of a Western woman, so I think I know what you mean by Texas women . . . that Ann Richards was not an anomaly.:-)

[ Parent ]
If some young punk had tried to bully (5.00 / 1) (#112)
by RalphB on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:29:14 PM EST
my mother, she probably would have beat him about the head and shoulders with her walker.  She didn't take cr@p from anyone.

[ Parent ]
actually yeah, i tend to agree with you. (none / 0) (#79)
by kangeroo on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:36:44 PM EST
the female friends i have from texas are all very strong and even fierce.  i couldn't any of them being bullied around.

[ Parent ]
couldn't see any of them being bullied (none / 0) (#81)
by kangeroo on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:37:15 PM EST


[ Parent ]
My family is hispanic, too. (none / 0) (#88)
by BrandingIron on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:53:28 PM EST
And they even make it a point to wear their "b*tch" pin proudly, LOL.  They don't care what people think of them, when they see something that they don't think is right, they'll stand up for what they believe is right.  No one's going to be bullying my aunt and cousin today, I can assure you.

[ Parent ]
I'm on my way to the precinct now to keep an eye (none / 0) (#114)
by Angel on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:34:50 PM EST
out for dirty tricks.  I'll be first in line so I get the sign-in sheet (hopefully).  I can be a mean b!$@h when I need to be so they better watch out.  I learned how the caucus is supposed to work from my mother - and she's 74 years old and a proud Hillary supporter and campaign worker.  

[ Parent ]

Dirty Tricks in Texas and Ohio? | 144 comments (144 topical)

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