Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Tenacity of a Clinton

You have to admit it, but Hillary Clinton is tenacious. Having been written off twice during this campaign season, she's still in the race after winning 3 out of 4 primaries yesterday.

Clearly Obama made some errors last week that hurt him, even so when you remember how far behind he was just a couple of weeks ago in Texas and Ohio, you have to admit that Obama shows an impressive ability to mobilize people. Republicans, having secured their candidate can just watch the Democrats anihilate each other. This is unfortunate. Hillary turned the election to a greater degree of meanness that clearly worked in the elections yesterday.

One thing I want to get off my chest, is irritation at Hillary's claim to having foreign policy experience. There is no indication that Hillary had anything to do as first lady with foreign affairs other than meeting individuals as first lady. There is no indication that she attended National Security Council meetings, discussed foreign affairs with Bill's appointees or anything that would lead one to conclude that she was a foreign policy expert. In fact, her vote to authorize the War in Iraq showed more political astuteness than foreign policy astuteness.

I am supporting Obama because I believe that Hillary cannot win in the General Election. If she gains the nomination, I will pull for her, not that my vote in this reddest state will do any good. But Hillary like Bush, is not a uniter, but a divider. She seeks to get just enough support to gain power, not to try to unite people in a common cause of turning this country around.

We have a candidate in Obama who can win in November. But with the forestalled nomination process, I think both Democrats harm our nation's chances of electing a much needed Democrat to the Presidency of the United States.

8 comments:

rmwarnick said...

Of course, Hillary could have bolstered her foreign policy cred by reading the Iraq NIE before voting to authorize another war in October 2002. But she didn't. I think Biden was the only 2008 presidential candidate who did.

Obi wan liberali said...

Michael, I also worry about a protracted battle. One thing Hillary has shown, is a willingness to stop at nothing if it will increase her chances to get elected.

Richard, you make a good point. However, even if she had read the Iraq NIE, if she had accepted it without asking some hard questions, she very well may have gone along with it. My understanding is that the NIE used pretty much cherry-picked intelligence to support an already agreed upon conclusion.

The Iraq NIE was a sad document, where our professional intelligence community was used to create propaganda for war, rather than an honest assessment based upon the best available evidence.

just-commenting said...

I agree with you on Hillary's lack of foreign policy experience, despite her claim of 35 years. I retired after more than 35 years as a physician, and have been married throughout that time. I do not think that any reasonable person would feel that my wife's having lived with me for all those years would in any way qualify her to practice medicine.

In fact, my wife even shared the same bed all those years, something that probably didn't happen with Hillary and Bill, unless it was a threesome.

I am annoyed by her apparent sense of entitlement and how she feels that Obama is presumptuous to even think that he he could usurp "her" position.

Obi wan liberali said...

Good points JC. How much foreign policy experience would we give to Pat Nixon, Barbara Bush, Rosalyn Carter, Betty Ford, etal?

For all I know, in a crisis, the Secretary of Defense just might ask for Bill.

One thing about Hillary, is that she's shown that she will do or say anything to get the nomination. In the end, she'd rather have John McCain, than Barak Obama. That way she could run against him in four years.

I'm beginning to conclude, that Hillary is about Hillary. She is tough, determined and ambitious. I would hate to be her direct report.

Salt H2O said...

Forget foreign policy, no need to worry about economic experience Hillary will win because she is sneaky.

Those Clintons, they've a sneaky lot, and slippery- they have tricks and favors and connections...and super delegates.

Obi wan liberali said...

Good points Salt H20. She is indeed sneaky, and highly motivated. Hopefully our Republic has better options than her or McCain.

Mark E. Towner said...

What's with the picture of the Keni River? I lived in Alaska from 1994 to 2000. We spent many fine hours on the Keni river. My youngest daughter and her husband live in Eagle River and looking for a Cabin by Keni Lake.

Captain Mark

Obi wan liberali said...

Captain Mark

I attended a "Fraud and Loss" conference in Anchorage one summer and decided to take a float trip down the Kenai river. It was a beautiful trip, but despite the gallon of skeeter repellant I used, Alaska's state bird still got the better of me.