Primary Colors 2
Hillary Clinton gives me the willies, as I told Jeremy and Jason at Drinking Liberally last week.
It’s strictly an emotional reaction.
It has nothing to do with policies or positions or principles.
Her policies and positions seem to be thoroughly manufactured middle of the road.
Her principles seem to be what can get her elected hard to fathom–oh, never mind.
Bill Clinton seems to have been very much what he appeared to be. For good or ill, faults and strengths, he was himself. What you saw was what you got.
But Hillary seems to be a cipher.
I frankly think that, of the candidates for the Democratic nomination, John Edwards is the best choice. I also think that he doesn’t have a prayer, because he has let himself become an object of ridicule.
But, in the long run, remember, any Democrat is better than every Republican.
Thoughts?
July 14, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I see no reason to dismiss Hillary. Even if you don’t like her now, you may yet be comfortable with one or more of the images she will adopt in the 15 months before the election.
Seriously, though, if there were only Democrats to vote for, I’d vote for Obama. He’s much more progressive on religious freedom than Edwards.
July 15, 2007 at 12:01 am
I think Obama is a decent guy.
Not just because of his public positions in the campaign.
I heard him on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me (see link on sidebar) a year ago, before this presidency thing came along. He pointed out that his wife still expects him to take out the garbage.
He does seem to be a down-to-earth sort of guy with a sense of humor.
And, frankly, I think the idea of “experience in governance” for a President is greatly overrated. Leadership experience is much more important than political experience. Sure, experience in governance can help, but it is not the determinent.
George Washington had little experience in governance. He is still the gold standard for Presidents.
Abraham Lincoln had a history of losing elections. Many consider him the greatest president, because he saved the Union.
Andrew Jackson was, actually, a pretty lousy politician, but a pretty good President.
Eisenhower was not a politician, but he turned out to be a fairly good president, except for his failure to confront Joe McCarthy.
I think that, if Nixon hadn’t been such a paranoid freak–trying to fix an election he already had in the bag–he would be remembered as a good president. Instead, he’s remembered as a paranoid freak. He made his bed. He can lie in it.
I think that Lyndon Johnson, a man very experienced in governance, would be remembered as a great president, except for Viet Nam. He knew the Viet Namese War was a fraud, yet he soldiered on (like someone we know). But, think of it, he had the courage to defy his Southern roots and fight for civil rights, and fight he did.
As a Southern Boy who grew up under Jim Crow, I know how much better the nation is for LBJ’s championship of civil rights. It is so sad that his legacy will be forever–and justifiably–sullied by the Viet Namese War.
Of course, in the case of the Current Federal Administrator, a history of failure in business has been replicated–oh, never mind.