Diane Mantouvalos of the Just Say No Deal coalition was on Hardball with Chris Matthews this evening. Ms. Mantouvalos covered the relevant points effortlessly gliding through the interview. She pointed to Obama’s inexperience as the primary reason many are holding back.
National Public Radio’s Bonnie Erbe nailed the question that Matthews posed as what Obama can do to secure that part of the Clinton base that is reluctant to vote for him. Her answer, “Not much.” It’s not policies, per se though that is a portion of it, it’s Senator Obama himself. Whether it be his inexperience or his character, Senator Obama leaves many heading for the exits.
It surprises me that media is surprised that over the past two and half months, and longer than that it you look at the exit polling from the primaries, that Clinton supporters remain so adamant in their dislike of Sentaor Obama. After all, they love him, why don’t we? Yet the polls of Clinton supporters have not shown any variation. Depending on the state anywhere between 20% and 40% plus of Clinton supporters keep on stating that they will not vote for Senator Obama, many of them noting that it wouldn’t even make a difference if Senator Clinton is Obama’s running mate. Just this week, a Wall Street Journal poll showed that nearly half of Clinton voters nationwide are not on board with Obama with a fifth opting to vote for Senator McCain. The media can talk this to death but perhaps they may yet one day soon believe their own polls or better yet take us at our word. I am not voting for Obama.