Or any other method of communication. Last December, when I made this challenge to local supporters of the Democratic candidates, I asked those who accepted the challenge to email me their contribution, and I would post it. No one accepted the challenge. None of the local supporters of Clinton, Edwards, or Obama was willing to tell us what, if anything, their candidate had accomplished, as a political leader.
Ten days ago, I renewed the challenge, directing it to supporters of the two remaining candidates, Clinton and Obama. And I tried to make it easier for any supporter to accept my challenge, extending the time limit as far as possible and accepting contributions at another site.
Let me explain the second part with some examples. Let's suppose that Mark Trahant at Seattle PI wants to take up my challenge. All he has to do is write a column telling us what his candidate has accomplished, and send me an email telling me about the column. Similarly, Lance Dickie at the Seattle Times could do the same thing. Or either could just do a blog entry. Journalists at the two local newspapers with all those ads for prostitutes, The Seattle Weekly and the Stranger, could do the same thing. (And though I don't care for their coarse standards, I will admit that both the Weekly and the Stranger have journalists with some talent.) Knute Berger, who writes mostly for Crosscut these days, could write an entry there. (And should, since he is an Obama delegate, as well as a journalist. If he can't tell us what Obama has accomplished, then he should consider backing a more serious candidate.) David Goldstein, who runs a blog with an unfortunate name, could write a blog post. Talk show host Dave Ross has a site; he could post an entry answering my question. Any of them who takes up my challenge should send me an email, since I read their publications and sites irregularly. (Very irregularly if the content is laced with obscenities and vulgarisms, since I have found over the years that people who use them constantly generally have little to say.)
Suppose that you don't have a publication or site of your own? Then you could compose an essay answering my question, no more than about 1,000 words long, and email it to me. (I assume anyone intelligent enough to take up my challenge will be able to figure out what my email address is. My own site makes that especially easy, but it isn't difficult to find here, either.)
Let me be clear about why I am doing this. I think that neither Democratic candidate has done much as a political leader. But I also want to be fair. And so I am giving their supporters a chance to prove me wrong. If either Clinton or Obama has accomplished something as a political leader, tell us about it. You may even win some support for your candidate.
And if Trahant, Dickie, Berger, Goldstein, and all the other local Clinton and Obama supporters are unwilling to take up this challenge, unwilling to tell us what, if anything, their candidate has accomplished? Then I think it is fair to consider their silence evidence, indirect evidence, granted, but evidence nonetheless, that neither Democratic candidate has accomplished much.
Finally, to be fair, I repeat this warning to anyone who wants to take up my challenge: When Clinton and Obama describe their own accomplishments, they both sometimes exaggerate — just a little. So if you are trying to figure out just what, if anything, your candidate has accomplished, you should not rely entirely on what they say they have accomplished. And I will add this warning to anyone who supports Obama: Early descriptions of what, if anything, he accomplished in the Illinois senate, are often misleading.
This post will be closed for comments, since I don't want to do anything to discourage supporters of Clinton or Obama from taking up my challenge. But I will put up an open post, two weeks from now, on the same subject, if no one has accepted my challenge. However, feel free to email a copy of this challenge to any of those I have named, especially Knute Berger.
Posted by Jim Miller at April 24, 2008 01:49 PM | Email This