I will support Hillary Clinton for President

bigtree

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Feb-01-08 01:43 PM
Original message

I will support Hillary Clinton for President

Edited on Fri Feb-01-08 01:59 PM by bigtree

I see two election choices: Believe in Clinton's political prowess or Obama's idealism appeal.

Right now, I've already burned through several candidate choices who've since abandoned the race. The ONLY concern I have now is which of these candidates can defeat the republican nominee. I'm stuck between believing that Obama's idealistic appeals will prevail and trusting that Clinton knows how to kick some republican ass.

Barak Obama is a huge unknown to me. I don't see anything in his political history to suggest that he can bring together all of these disparate political ideologies together as a coalition against republicans. It's a dream I've had since I bothered to care about politics, but I really don't see any sign that Americans are going to be any less ideologically polarized in their voting this time around than they have been.

I really believe that, when either McCain or Romney get going as the republican nominee, they will draw voters into clear ideological lines of opposition and support, as has been the case in past elections. We can easily predict that their appeal will be a militarized one, complete with vets and soldiers as a backdrop. We already saw that with McCain, in SC.

Hillary Clinton has a ruthlessness to her political approach which, while a bane to her rival Democrats, is just the hammer we will need to crush the republican opposition's inevitably dirty campaign. Personally, there isn't much I wouldn't give to put a Democrat in the White House in 2009. Political ruthlessness looks, to me, like just what is called for in a campaign against these demagogues who've advanced in the republican primary. And, the Clinton's political ruthlessness is well-documented.

I think it's just wishful thinking that the issues and events which we base our support on in our own Democratic primary are all we need to sell our candidate to the masses. No matter how much we complain (and we certainly will) there will be no end to the baseless, inflammatory attacks on our nominee from the right-wing. The debates we're having over our two Democrats in our primary will, likely, not be the focus of debate in the general with the republican nominee. Our candidate will need the ability (and will) to go after the republican jugular. I don't think that can be achieved at the same time we're 'reaching out' to their defectors for support.

I think that, despite the concerns over the economy, as bad as it is, republicans will look to shift the debate to 'national security.' In that debate, McCain would be the strongest opponent, because of his record of military service. That service isn't unassailable, but it does present a dilemma for our candidates because of their lack of military experience. Anyone who doesn't think this will be a major issue in the campaign need to refer themselves to past presidential elections.

Folks can certainly point to Bill Clinton as an effective foil to the argument that a non-military nominee can't get elected. But, it shouldn't be forgotten that Al Gore provided his military service as a balance to all that.

Certainly Obama could choose a running mate with a military background, but I really don't expect this. I don't believe so, because the tone of his campaign doesn't seem to crave that military weight. I'm not sure it would suit his progressive stances to bend to some military figure as a political partner. I could be wrong.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, seems primed to fight a traditional, left-of -center Democratic campaign against the republican nominee. Call it triangulation, and you wouldn't be far off. But, I challenge anyone to demonstrate any overwhelming support for a purely progressive candidate this election season, even among our own primary voters.

Remember, this is about who I believe has the best chance of defeating the republican candidate, not what my dream ticket would look like. I've already been handed my hat on that score. If the figures and dynamics of this campaign stay the same, this will be a traditional republican/Democrat contest; complete with all of the hooks and brickbats.

That's why I'm leaning strongly to supporting Hillary Clinton as our nominee. Leaning, I suppose, because I'm still reeling from the distillation of our votes into support for these two who are left. They both represent aspects of our party values and party principles which deserve support, and, in some cases, praise. I don't view these two Democrats (and their views and positions) as a significant departure from the makeup of the majority of our elected Democrats, as a whole. And, despite some glaring differences in some key votes and on some key issues, they have remarkably similar records.

Yet, I believe Hillary Clinton is the aggressive, determined candidate we need to defeat republicans in the fall. I believe she has presented her positions and proposals with skill and a forcefulness which we will need to counter the coming onslaught from the opposition. There is no love lost between the right-wing and Clinton. There will be no question, after the republican nominee presents their extreme platform to counter our progressive one, just how much Clinton and her positions and platform are aligned with our party's values and principles. And, I believe, there is no one better equipped to elevate that message against the republicans' agenda than Hillary Clinton because of her experience in defending against a constant culture of republican attacks on her family and because of her demonstrated ability to keep our issues and concerns at the forefront of her defenses.

I don't think Clinton can do this alone, however. I think she needs a running mate who has some military experience to counter the republican nominee, especially if that nominee is McCain. That partner for Clinton, I think, should be Wesley Clark. The former NATO commander under Bill Clinton is a close friend and confidant of their family and would present Hillary's candidacy in a respectful, forceful light. There would be no contest over national security with either McCain or Romney with Clark in the wings to take the heat from the inevitable republican "surrender' rhetoric and direct fire back into the opposition. Clark would also attract a good number of progressives who were drawn to his campaign because of his forceful opposition to the Iraq occupation.

So, it's Clinton/Clark in '08 for my new, pragmatic choice in this election (I've really done myself in here at DU with this, I think) to go with the exit of my last ideal pick(s). Have at it.