Waaaaay before Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton declared their Presidential ambitions for 2008, there was a lot of speculation that they were running despite their denials. I thought at the time, "Hillary - Barack - don't do it!"
I didn't think either one of them would make a bad President - in fact, I've usually liked what Hillary has done as my Senator, and I didn't have much of an opinion about Barack except that he gave a kick-ass speech - but I just felt that the country was not ready for a black or female President. As is often the case, I feel I was right AND wrong at the same time.
What the country was not ready for was a black President, a female President...and eight more years of the Clintons.
We can all see how ugly this campaign has become. I do think a lot of it has been fueled by the traditional media, whose antipathy to the Clintons is psychopathic in nature; but let's face it, this country is very far from healing the self-inflicted racial wounds of slavery. Barack's overabundance of melanin has not passed unnoticed by the press, and I would need a database bigger than the NSA to document all the misogynistic labels the punditry has slapped on Senator Clinton.
A lot of the problems, however, have come directly from Bill Clinton himself. His role in his wife's campaign has surely been (kindly stated) a mixed bag. He is such a giant figure in Democratic history; beloved both by most Americans and party faithful, he was one of the most popular presidents in recent history. Sadly, we remember the bad things as well; the constant innuendos and sexual scandals; the far-too-friendly corporate policies; and the definition of "is." Had Hillary waited one more term in office, she could possibly have run for President in 2012 or even 2016, when another Democratic President would served as a buffer between the somewhat unappetizing dynastic idea of Bush-Clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton-Clinton. Perhaps Chelsea could run against Jeb in 2016! [shudder]
I understand that right now, due to the presence of SuperDelegates, it may be impossible to determine who the nominee will be until after the Democratic convention. I wonder if it's possible that John Edwards could be nominated even if he doesn't win a single primary?
If Bill Clinton continues to have a strong and negative effect on his wife's campaign, and if America is not ready to vote for an extra-tan Senator whose biggest assets are his speech-making abilities and Oprah Winfrey, I believe it could indeed happen.
It was too soon.
I didn't think either one of them would make a bad President - in fact, I've usually liked what Hillary has done as my Senator, and I didn't have much of an opinion about Barack except that he gave a kick-ass speech - but I just felt that the country was not ready for a black or female President. As is often the case, I feel I was right AND wrong at the same time.
What the country was not ready for was a black President, a female President...and eight more years of the Clintons.
We can all see how ugly this campaign has become. I do think a lot of it has been fueled by the traditional media, whose antipathy to the Clintons is psychopathic in nature; but let's face it, this country is very far from healing the self-inflicted racial wounds of slavery. Barack's overabundance of melanin has not passed unnoticed by the press, and I would need a database bigger than the NSA to document all the misogynistic labels the punditry has slapped on Senator Clinton.
A lot of the problems, however, have come directly from Bill Clinton himself. His role in his wife's campaign has surely been (kindly stated) a mixed bag. He is such a giant figure in Democratic history; beloved both by most Americans and party faithful, he was one of the most popular presidents in recent history. Sadly, we remember the bad things as well; the constant innuendos and sexual scandals; the far-too-friendly corporate policies; and the definition of "is." Had Hillary waited one more term in office, she could possibly have run for President in 2012 or even 2016, when another Democratic President would served as a buffer between the somewhat unappetizing dynastic idea of Bush-Clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton-Clinton. Perhaps Chelsea could run against Jeb in 2016! [shudder]
I understand that right now, due to the presence of SuperDelegates, it may be impossible to determine who the nominee will be until after the Democratic convention. I wonder if it's possible that John Edwards could be nominated even if he doesn't win a single primary?
If Bill Clinton continues to have a strong and negative effect on his wife's campaign, and if America is not ready to vote for an extra-tan Senator whose biggest assets are his speech-making abilities and Oprah Winfrey, I believe it could indeed happen.
It was too soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment