The Hillary Problem

Every once in a while, I find myself asking the question, "Just why did I leave the Democratic Party eight years ago?" But no sooner do I ask then they cheerfully remind me. The very fact that Senator Hillary Clinton (at this point in time anyway) is the odds-on favorite to win the nomination in 2008 is enough of a reminder, to be sure. If the Democrats are stupid enough to give her the Big Prize next year, they'll deserve everything that happens to them.

Lets's face some serious facts here, kids: Hillary Clinton is not - under any circumstances - going to be the next president of the United States. 'Tain't gonna happen - not in this lifetime nor the next. Get used to the idea. Come to terms with it. Get a grip. Deal with it. It's not in the cards - marked or otherwise. It's not part of the equation. It's not on the table. It's not under the table. It's not in the stars. It's not in the moons. It's not in any body's horoscope - yours or mine. It's not on the horizon. Let me be as clear and as concise as I possibly can: That's never, ever going to happen. Period.

Could I be any clearer than that?

I do desperately want to see a woman in the White House in my lifetime - Heaven knows we men have messed things up - but, please, not Hillary Clinton! Anyone but Hillary Clinton! Her credibility, as far as I'm concerned, is beyond shot - it's non-existent. Her pandering to the extreme right wing of the political spectrum in recent years can only be described as transparent and shameful. Her support for a constitutional amendment calling for a ban on flag burning is a case in point. As the nineteenth amendment of 1919 banning the consumption of alcoholic beverages made abundantly clear, when the constitution is cynically manipulated to limit freedoms, the end-result is always disastrous. She should have known that - She must have known that - but her political ambition has always come before anything else - facts be damned.
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And let's not forget the big reason why she should never be elected president: it's all a question of judgement. In 2002 she came face to face with what will undoubtedly be remembered as the most important vote of her career and she blew it! With a drooling eye on the '08 election, she just had to prove to the electorate that she was as hardened a warrior as any man. When she voted to give this president - of all presidents - the power to wage war without the constitutionally mandated congressional approval, she quite possibly committed the worst blunder an elected representative can make. In the five years since, her support for the obscenity that you and I, as taxpayers, are now funding in Iraq has only compounded the error. People like John Edwards and John Kerry - and even Chuck Hagel, for Pete's sake! - have at least admitted that their support for this stupid, tragic war was a dreadful mistake. Not Hillary Clinton! Her refusal to admit as much should not be confused with a profile in courage: a brave and lonely statesperson standing alone in the political arena, her face "marred by dust, sweat and blood", daring to do battle with public opinion and political expediency. No, it's not that at all. It's stupidity - pure, naked stupidity. To argue otherwise is simply naive.
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To expect a victory for Mrs. Clinton in November of 2008 is to ignore some crucial factors: she has not only alienated progressives but moderate conservatives as well. Do you really think that she has any chance of winning in the south? As politically polarized as America has become in the last quarter of a century, how can the Democrats realistically depend on moderates alone to put her over the top? As the old Ringo Starr song once aptly observed, "Pigs will fly and the earth will fry" before that ever happens.
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If the Democrats are foolish enough to nominate Hillary Clinton next year they can count on another third party, Ralph Nader-style uprising. That's the reason we're in this mess to begin with. If Al Gore hadn't run away from the party of FDR's natural constituency seven years ago, Nader's candidacy would have been dismissed as irrelevant, George W. Bush never would have been elected and Gore would today be enjoying the final two years of his second term. Trust me on this one, campers: we can't afford that ever happening again.
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The fact is, I'll be voting Democratic next year regardless of who the nominee is. But of this you may be absolutely certain: if that nominee is Hillary Rodham Clinton, I'll be holding my nose. The Democrats have come a long way in the last five months by reclaiming the House and the Senate - but they've got a long way to go. Let's hope they don't screw up - again.
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Pray for peace.
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

PS - This is just a silly afterthought but look at the photograph of Hillary at the top of this posting - Doesn't it look like she's doing a Jimmy Cagney impersonation? "You Doity Rat"!