GUNNING FOR HILARY — by Steve Nadis
Have you heard that Hilary Clinton has the nomination already locked up? That’s what the Republican strategists want you to hear. They keep saying it on the radio and the TV talk shows because they feel that if they say it enough maybe people will go along with the inevitable. Why is this? Because they feel confident that Hilary is beatable, and they’ve got their own Swift Boats lined up to sink her. Obama is a wild card who scares them; they haven’t yet found the Swift Boat that would bring him down. On the other hand, they see Hilary as their best, and perhaps only, chance to keep a Republican in the White House.
Posted by
at
16:30:14
Hillary, unfortunately, is extremely beatable. Aside from the die-hard Republicans who hate her, there are still a lot of swing-voters who hate her, too, either because they think she should have divorced Bill or because they think she’s too brash or too political or they “just don’t like her” (whatever that means). Add to that a few skeletons remaining in the Clinton closet, and the Republicans would LOVE to see her take the nomination. (They’ve probably had a game plan ready for her since 2000.)
As for people like me, who would be quite happy to vote for Hillary under better circumstances, I can’t help but feel she should have waited another term. Why? a) She hasn’t done nearly enough to distinguish herself as a Senator, to prove that she’s a leader first and a political animal second; b) as I mentioned above, the memory of the Clinton-Whitewater-Lewinsky debacle is still lodged firmly in the memory of many voters; c) her voting record on the Iraq War is less than stellar; she’s played the middle road a little too much, and many of her opponents–Republicans and Democrats–will be able to use that against her.
A lot of the sentiment against Hillary is irrational, but it’s there, and if there’s one thing the Republicans are good at exploiting, it’s irrational sentiment.
Agreed, Gatemouth. You took a vague feeling I had and expressed it as a coherent argument. Will you be my press agent (or spokesperson) should I ever have the need for a press agent (or spokesperson)?
well put, gm.
Even though there is a vibrant smattering of support for this lady up here, north-of-the-border, in Apple-snapper country [even across the seemingly uncrossable political divides of liberal/conservative & radical/reactionary!], it wouldn’t take a Reagan or even a McCain to “sweep her off her… platform” in November, so to speak.
Sorry, I’m too self-centered to be a spokes-person. I’m more of a “hub-person”.