At first I felt very guilty for not supporting Clinton, because she's clearly competent and it would indeed be great to see a woman take the top spot. In any other line-up of candidates, I would have strongly supported her. Certainly, I'm not the only one; she would have secured the nomination easily had it not been for the Obama-phenomenon. It's unfortunate for her, and clearly hard –no, impossible –for her to understand and accept what's happening. But sometimes history turns a page and there's a paradigm shift in the collective consciousness of people.
I guess that makes me one of those naive, latte-sipping intellectuals who fall for great oratorical skills over substance and issues. There's really no evidence that Barack would be a great president. But then again, is there ever? Do we ever know for sure who'd be successful? Sometimes we just have to trust out guts. What's so appealing about Obama? He's like a breath of fresh air. He brings inspiration and hope. He comes across as very intelligent and he appears to have a balanced, calm personality and a good sense of judgment. Whether he has the courage to actually carry through on his beliefs remains to be seen. But at least he has the right ideas.
And I have to admit that Hillary is making it increasingly easy for me to support Obama. Her negative attacks and her determination to bring him down can only hurt the Democrats in the general election and it reflects poorly on her. The way her team is trying to spin everything in her advantage, well, it's the nature of the game, but it's also offensive to anyone with a shred of common sense.
Now she is bringing up the "dream ticket" with her and Obama running together, which has been floating around in democratic circles for a long time, but at this point seems more like a nightmare. She's using it only as a strategy, trying to make us believe that if we vote for her, we'll get them both. Of course there's no guarantee that she would actually pick him (or that he would accept) if she were the nominee. If they had been able to agree on a joint ticket before the dog fighting started, everyone would have been ecstatic. Now it's too late. Obama is the frontrunner and there would be no point for him in conceding the #1 spot to her.
It's hard to believe that a few months ago, the Republicans had a handful of candidates, none of whom anybody liked, and they had to pick the lesser evil of the bunch, while the Democrats were energized by three very viable and likable candidates. Now the Republicans rally around their guy (mostly), while the Democrats are tearing each other apart.
I hope Obama wins the nomination (and picks Bill Richardson for his VP) and that he wins in November. If McCain wins, I predict that he'll be a one-term president, replaced in 2012 by either Obama or another fresh, young politician who has yet to emergy on the scene. But let's keep our fingers crossed that the change this country needs will happen NOW!
2 comments:
Why do you shower so much praise on Hillary? She is always so opportunistic and calculating, and she represents a dynastic approach to politics. 20 years of Bushes and Clintons in the White House is enough!
Well, I do think she's intelligent and competent and would probably make a good president. Certainly, she's also power hungry, but can you get that far in politics if you're not? Still, I agree that we're ready for a change and Obama offers the promise of a better way.
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