Convince me, but be nice, superdelegate says
Convince me, but be nice, superdelegate says
by The Republican Newsroom
By JO-ANN MORIARTY
[email protected]
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WASHINGTON - Undecided superdelegate Debra S. Kozikowski of Chicopee is asking supporters of the two Democratic presidential candidates to tell her why she should give her vote to their candidate.
Disgusted by the mean tenor of online conversations about the Democratic presidential choices, Kozikowski, the vice president of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, threw out a challenge.
“Think about me wearing my super duper hat reading your posts. Convince me why I should deliver my superdelegate vote,” to either U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., or U.S. Sen. Hillary R. Clinton, D-N.Y., Kozikowski wrote in her posting on the Web site, www.ruralvotes.com/cms “You too can rise to the occasion with civility and grace.”
She wants voters to talk nicely about their candidates.
“The online community has gotten really nasty with each other,” Kozikowski said.
“I don’t think people recognize how turned off - even old hands at this process like me - get by that kind of negative rhetoric,” she said.
“I wanted people to start talking to each other because when this (the nomination) is over people need to be talking to each other,” she said.
A superdelegate is an elected official or political party leader who attends a presidential convention and who may or may not have made a commitment to vote for a candidate. Clearly, Kozikowski has stated no such commitment.
On the Web site, the colorful journalist Al Giordano is the political blogger, creating a department on the site called, “The Field.”
He posted a cartoon character of Super Woman and invites bloggers to “convince a superdelegate. Yes, that’s right, folks. Here at Dr. Al’s School for Gifted Commenters, we’ve got a live one: Debra Kozikowski … is a living, breathing and uncommitted superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in August.
Giordano said she’s one of about 260 remaining uncommitted superdelegates who will decide the Democratic nomination and very possibly the next president.
So far, the entries are following some established patterns. Several bloggers identify themselves as middle-aged white voters explaining that they came to support Obama because of their children.
A 47-year-old white woman said her two adult children shocked her by waiting for two hours in line to see Obama speak in Connecticut, and she is inspired by the enthusiasm the candidates is creating in young people, adding “I expected them to wait in line for a Jay Z concert but never at a political rally.”
Another blogger, indentified as Soren, listed his reasons for supporting Clinton: “1. Her formidable mind, 2. her clear love for the country and for our people and 3. her indomitable spirit,” adding, “some felt Clinton felt entitled; I feel she is destined.”
Some bloggers wrote about deeply personal issues. An entry from Nate, who described himself as a gay man originally from Dallas who was raised in a Christian fundamentalist household, said he lives in Chicago not far from Obama - who he has supported since 2002 - and that “he’s never disappointed me. As a supporter, I’ve been able to hold my head high because of the integrity with which he runs his campaign and the courage he has shown in tackling old problems with innovative and sometimes unpopular, approaches.”
Tom W. described himself as a lifelong liberal Democrat who is supporting Clinton for an array of reasons, including her stamina and personal charm. “Quite frankly,” he wrote, Clinton is the “most compelling personality on the stage.”
By today, Kozikowski had more than 700 responses, up 100 more than the day before.
“I just wanted a civil conversation so at the end of the day, people could feel united,” Kozikowski said.
Kozikowski is one of 22 superdelegates from Massachusetts, of whom three, aside from Kozikowski, remain uncommitted. The others are U.S. Reps. John Tierney of Salem and John W. Olver of Amherst, and party official Jim Roosevelt.