can someone deconstruct the Hillary->McCain suction for me ?

[dusmcj]

Simply, I find it boggling that any Hillary supporter could have any reason to decide that it's better to vote for McCain than Obama now that their candidate of choice (Hil) has not been chosen.

So:

1. is this a bunch of overblown media sputum and there are exactly five such people who are being re-interviewed in heavy rotation ?

2. if not and it is a real phenomenon, can someone PLEASE explain to me the "logic", no matter how twisted, subjective or irrational, that these people use to make this choice.

3. were one to present the notion to said people that "yes, but if you vote for McCain then your social rights to a normal (i.e. socially liberal) society are immediately in mortal peril, so are you sure you want to do that ? Cloning hasn't been perfected yet, so in return for your vote you won't get the real Cindy McCain, you'll get the windup model. And she won't be allowed to use birth control, get an abortion, or have a brain, and she'll expect you to own guns and hunt and call her a *unt on occasion in public." would these statements affect them ?

3.1 because they forgot
3.2 because they're stupid (always a possibility)
3.3 no because they don't care about social liberalism
3.3.a this choice would raise the question, how many of these people exist and why were they voting for Hillary ?

4. is this phenomenon, if real, being seized upon by the usual reactionary suspects with the zeal of Chinese hackers who've been told that anti-Chinese commentary has been sighted on an American online bulletin board ? I.e. are they producing an avalanche of false testimonials to the effect "I was lost but now I'm found, I wanted Hillary but now I'm voting McCain fer sher."

I can only give you my word that I'm not a troll, nor do I want to unnecessarily irritate wounds which have been rightly decreed to be closed, at least here on DU. I ask the question because a. the phenomenon quite simply mystifies me (lessee, voter who was heading for one of the most socially liberal national political figures as their freely chosen pres pick now picks up old goat who's making progress up the religious right's colon - doesn't stack) and b. because it at least has the potential of being a problem if a critical mass with inertia develops.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

1. Hillary attracted some Reagan Democrats who didn't vote for Kerry or Dukakis or Mondale

I agree with your 3.3: they don't care about social liberalism

It is wrong to assume that all Hillary voters would automatically vote for Obama out of ideology. There are some very conservative registered Democrats.

Some of those folks typically vote Republican in presidential elections, and are not atypical McCain voters. Their willingness to back Hillary was a special case. (As was their willingness to back Bill in the 1990s. Bill Clinton won all sorts of states that it's hard to believe any Dem won in the last 20 years)

[demo dutch]

2. My mother in law was going to, but is so turned of by Palin & switched to Obama because of Biden

[On the Road]

3. Have Never Been Asked to Deconstruct Suction Before

But I would guess it's largely 1 and partly 2, for reasons that have less to do with reason and more to do with loyalty and identification. When a politician has been your primary opponent for so long, you see them through a different lens, and may never be able to bring yourself to vote for them.

To the extent that it's 3, the rationale might be that the presence of a woman on the ticket is more important than any reduction of individual rights, which may be seen as speculative. Seems like misplaced priorities, but then I'm not a woman.

And for 4, yes, that too.

[Chan790]

4. Well...

K and H hit on a big part of it. Also, it's mostly #1 above...It's anecdotal. If you're a reporter and you think it's an interesting topic for a piece you're going to want an interview. You seek someone who holds the opinion you're seeking to discuss. It doesn't indicate the statistical significance of the topic.

I can find at least three people who would be willing to say on camera they won't vote for our ticket because Obama is black and Biden is a Catholic. That doesn't make them statistically significant...anymore so than my mother who self-IDs as a liberal Republican. (Her delusions not withstanding, she's voting Obama...though she pondered a write-in for Nixon.)

[BelgianMadCow]

5. What do you base your suction assumption on? And on 2

I can see how there could be a small (so 1 = likely) overlap between HRC and McCain supporters - on the basis of centrist / white / establishment / name recognition / hawk.

regards
bmc