Monday, March 10, 2008

Angry With Hillary

I feel disappointed that Hillary won in Texas and Ohio. In fact, I feel more than disappointed. I feel angry. Not so much that she won as how she won. Or how I think she won. Or how I think she may have won.

I think she may have won by throwing everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Obama and hoping something would stick. It looks like a few things may have including that ridiculous 3 AM spot, the even more ridiculous assertion that she and John McCain are highly qualified to be president while Obama's only qualification is "that speech he gave in 2002." And, oh yes, Obama's only pretending to have any reservations about NAFTA.

I don't know if the last point is true, but Obama says it isn't, and I'm inclined to believe him. In fact, I'm more inclined to believe him about virtually everything than I am her. I have the feeling, justified or not, that Hillary Clinton or her people would say or do almost anything to take the office to which she seems to think she has a birthright. This reminds me of my strongest objection to many illegal immigrants. It's not so much that they're here illegally per se as that they appear to think that they're entitled to be here and to militantly thumb their noses at our immigration laws, and how dare anyone say anything against them or otherwise stand (or place a fence) in their way. Not that Hillary running for president is exactly the same. She has a legal right to run. But the fact that Bill and she seem to think that she's preordained for it turns me off.

But that's not the only thing. Aside from her attacktics, there's her voice. The more I hear that voice, with its histrionic modulations for oratorical effect, the more it grates on my nerves. I confess that I'm hard pressed to think of any female politician's voice and oratorical style that has impressed me with its gravitas. Barbara Jordan's, perhaps. But I'll use the same word that many others have to characterize Hillary's campaign voice--shrill.

What's more, I have the feeling that she's so plugged in to the political scene and so Machiavellian in her political approach that a Hillary Clinton administration would be pretty much a case of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." No, I'm not saying that she'd be as bad as George Bush, and, at least, she can properly pronounce "nuclear." But I suspect that if she were president, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and in the public at large would remain just as contentiously divided as they were under Bush and that this would not be good.

Of course, I'm assuming that it would be different under Obama. I'm assuming that his inviting rhetoric about uniting across party and ideological lines and working together for the common good and the charisma he radiates when using it would be effective in a way that Hillary could never be. But perhaps I'm mistaken. The only thing I know for sure is that I would much rather hear a president Obama speech or press conference than a President Clinton one.

However, if Clinton attacks and otherwise manipulates her way into the nomination, I feel quite certain that crusty John McCain will be our next president, and we'll have at least four more years of the same old same old, including more Supreme Court justices ready to overturn Roe v Wade and continuing troop "surges" in Iraq on our way to maintaining our disastrous presence there for the next 100 years.

For as much as I dislike the Republican party and its platform, it would be all I could do to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton, and if I feel that way, how many others who would have voted for Obama will end up either voting for McCain (or Nader) or just not bothering to vote at all?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

People who voted for Hillary are usually the old women, and uneducated people. They're lack (or loosing) the ability to reason and to think logically. Those people are very easy to persuade by negative ads, smokes and mirror, smear tactics. Hillary is the master of all those dirty political tricks. Sadly half of the population in the US is very low educated and fit perfectly for Hillary's scheme. She will also used the claim as a party seniority to persuade the party delegates selecting her as candidate. Don't forget that popularity votes is not really count (for example: G.W. Bush). It reminds me of the evil character in the movie who will do anything to achieve the absolute power.

Anonymous said...

Obama picked up more delegates in Texas and the MSM is still saying she won. He won the caucuses and will get delegates from that and he will pick up some from the primaries also. Don't worry, he will be our next commander in chief. How are you? My disgust with her, is in offering the second slot to the person that is winning the popular vote. She is stooping to Rove tactics now. She should be ashamed of herself.

Anonymous said...

There was probably also a bunch of
Republican shenanigans. Limbaugh has claimed that a bunch of Independants and Republicans crossed over and voted in the Democratic Primary for Hillary just to screw up the primary. Face it Hillary has no chance of winning against McCain, but Obama will slaughter him, and the Republicans know it. They want Hillary, we want Obama!

Unknown said...

I would be furious, too, but fortunately I think Jess is right. Obama is going to get the nomination, anyway. And it is probably wise for him not to scrap in the mud with her.

The more Hillary gives in to her Darth Vader self, the more she ruins her chances of somehow convincing a big majority of Superdelegates to side with her.

She's toast [I think; I pray]. I only hope Barack can get out of being obligated to offer the vice presidency to her.