Well, it’s been an educational few days (if you haven’t read the post below about the push poll call I got from the Clinton campaign, you might want to scroll down and check it out).
My little phone call recording has gone from Huffington Post to Daily Kos to Politico to ABC news, and it looks like POTUS 08 (the XM satellite radio channel that covers the race and nothing else) is going to interview me on air Tuesday morning.
The comments have been fascinating, too, both on here and on the media sites. I’ve been called either an idiot or a really good guy on public media sites by people from all over the US and a few from Europe.
I was torn about whether to edit the comments here - I feel ethically OK about editing because I don’t consider this a public site, so I feel like I bear some responsibility for what’s said here. Kind of like having a rude guest at a party in your living room. It’s my place, so I feel some burden to shut them up or escort them out if they’re hurting the people around them. In the end, though, I decided to publish all of them that didn’t contain profanity in the interest of the public discourse, though I certainly was tempted.
Here’s the thing, folks. I know some beautiful, intelligent, inspired people who support Senator Clinton, and yes, I even know some good, bright, kind people who are Republicans. I treasure their friendships and I respect them. Part of why I support Obama in the first place is that he has avoided demonizing and dehumanizing people in general. He’s trying to raise the level of the general conversation. Can we avoid insulting each other and rather concentrate on holding each other accountable?
This stuff is important, and of course we have to ask the tough questions, but there’s a difference between a tough question and an insult.
By putting this out there, I’m trying to hold the Clinton campaign accountable, not insult them. Let me be clear that if I did get a push poll from the Obama campaign I would record it and put it out to the media. That would only be fair. I’m deeply impressed by the transparency of his campaign, and that’s what justice is: everybody being subject to the same rules. I would do that in the interest of justice, even though it would hurt the candidate I support.
I think this phone call was pretty despicable, and I think when the candidates make this kind of choice it should be made public. I’m not willing to insult people, though. That’s not the point. I’m not going to ‘go negative,’ and I hope Obama won’t either. It’s one of the fundamental differences I see between the campaigns: I honestly believe that Obama would rather keep his integrity and lose the race, and sadly I don’t see the same signs coming from the Clinton campaign.
Here’s the thing — I’ve done some digging around and I can’t find *any* reference to the Obama campaign doing anything like this. I think that’s because they’re not doing it. The accusations are that his inspiring speeches are just empty talk. Well, how do we check that to find out? Against his actions, I think. And his actions seem to speak pretty loudly.
Hang in there, people. Let’s try to inspire each other and keep to the high road, listen to each other and speak truth as we understand it, while understanding that there may be more truth out there to learn.
Oh, and while I’ve got the floor - thanks for caring enough about this stuff to chime in. Even you ranters. 
