Kos at the WaPo-Hillary Clinton: Too Much of a Clinton Democrat?

[LiviaOlivia]

Hillary Clinton: Too Much of a Clinton Democrat?
By Markos Moulitsas
Sunday, May 7, 2006

Hillary Clinton has a few problems if she wants to secure the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. She is a leader who fails to lead. She does not appear "electable." But most of all, Hillary has a Bill Clinton problem. (And no, it's not about that.)

Moving into 2008, Republicans will be fighting to shake off the legacy of the Bush years: the jobless recovery, the foreign misadventures, the nightmarish fiscal mismanagement, the Katrina mess, unimaginable corruption and an imperial presidency with little regard for the Constitution or the rule of law. Every Democratic contender will be offering change, but activists will be demanding the sort of change that can come only from outside the Beltway.

Hillary Clinton leads her Democratic rivals in the polls and in fundraising. Unfortunately, however, the New York senator is part of a failed Democratic Party establishment -- led by her husband -- that enabled the George W. Bush presidency and the Republican majorities, and all the havoc they have wreaked at home and abroad.

Of course, it's still early. At this point in the last presidential cycle, the first hints of Howard Dean's tr ansformational campaign were barely emerging. In 2002, the Democrats had no clear front-runner, but the conventional wisdom was betting on a handful of insider candidates with money and connections: Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman and John F. Kerry, and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt. These three were supposed to contend. The early polls gave them (especially Lieberman) the inside track to the nomination, and the media gave the rest of the field no more than its usual dismissive coverage.

~snip~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050501717.html

[yurbud]

1. she is playing to the corporate crowd, not us

[msongs]

2. 4 yrs bush, 8 yrs clinton, 8 yrs bush....more years of clinton too?

the gene pool is getting too inbred eh?

[ovidsen]

3. Stuck in the 20th century without a paddle

Markos points out that no Democratic President has been elected with a majority of the votes since Carter in 1976. And he laments not just Senator Clinton's failure to grasp the concept of grassroots internet campaigning, he argues that she is the opposite of bold:

Afraid to offend, she has limited her policy proposals to minor, symbolic issues -- such as co-sponsoring legislation to ban flag burning. She doesn't have a single memorable policy or legislative accomplishment to her name. Meanwhile, she remains behind the curve or downright incoherent on pressing issues such as the war in Iraq.

To paraphrase GHWB, "People accuse her of being indecisive. But she can't make up her mind about that".

[realFedUp]

4. I'm reading Kevin Phillip's book American Theocracy

He spends a lot of time in the theocracy section
on how, why and who those fundies voted for...I
think religion and so-called "moral values" had
a lot to do with the change in Congress in the
90's and certainly the votes for GWB. This is
still an area that Dems are weak in...and it's up
to the party to say to the country that Dems
are religious and all of us want much of the
same things in this country....civil rights for
all, good health care and education, clean air and water,
and the freedom to practice our faiths and and
the freedom not to.

I agree that Hillary hasn't connected with the
grassroots, but I wouldn't count her out at this
point. Many people/women who may not be paying attention
to political minutia see her as a strong female
politician and an obvious choice for the first
female president. I like her strengths and I do hope that
her advisors don't box her in.