Despite Flaws, Hillary is a Formidable Candidate
By Carol Devine-Molin (11/19/07)
Even a casual observer of the political scene understands that a significant ideological divide has developed over the past forty years in this nation. Proof positive is that fifty percent of Americans absolutely refuse to vote for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, under any circumstances. The most polarizing national figure in America represents both the scourge of socialism and profound political corruption, and come hell or high water, this fifty percent crowd is not going to vote for her. In fact, they're appalled by the prospect of another round of the "Clinton years". What comes to mind are myriad scandals, parsing of words, national security incompetence and media propagandists that continually propped-up the Clintons.
Dare I say the obvious? Hillary Clinton, as Senator of New York, has been a mediocrity. Her real claim to fame is that she’s a “Clinton”, albeit the one without the charisma. More to the point, she and her husband run the Clinton-Democrat Party, and it’s obvious that she intends to milk that power-perch for everything it’s worth. However, in the real world, Hillary still needs to address key questions: What are her outstanding accomplishments? What makes her worthy of holding the executive office of the presidency? Let’s stipulate that promising a boatload of government goodies to the citizenry is rather troubling in this current fiscal environment. Americans are already deeply worried about rising taxes and our nation’s dire debt.
Moreover, Hillary Clinton is not going to capture the remaining fifty percent pool of “possible votes” in its entirety. Well, you might ask, what is the Clinton strategy to win in 2008? Answer: Revert to the Clinton playbook written by the master politico himself, Bill Clinton. Simply put, depress the anti-Hillary vote by whatever means possible, and find a third party candidate that will siphon off Republican votes. Lou Dobbs perhaps? Can the Democrats pull off a victory under these circumstances? You betcha. They did it before, and they can do it again. Hillary and Bill are an adroit political team, arguably the best of this generation. They operate like the Borg Continuum – When up against incoming fire, they methodically make the necessary adjustments and press on.
Let’s further examine the political landscape: Conservative Republicans and Liberal Democrats have opposing views on the role of government, with differing political cultures and social mores. It’s now abundantly clear that the factions are locked in a fierce struggle, which is not conducive to compromise. Conservatives oppose the liberal embrace of: Big Government, ever-escalating taxes and redistribution of wealth, usurping of local control, judicial activism and judicial fiat that stymies and circumvents the legislative branch, political correctness, Orwellian tactics, "ends justifies the means" mentality, blatant propaganda (particularly that being propagated by the liberal mainstream media), thwarting of our national security, and systematic assaults upon traditional values. Ideologically, Hillary fits in nicely among her liberal Democrat cohorts despite their attempts to re-brand themselves as “progressives”.
It’s important to note that Democrats rarely proffer solutions or take the initiative in problem solving, because then they would have to accept some responsibility for outcomes and risk alienating certain constituency. It’s so much easier to be the eternal critics that keep clubbing the Republicans every time they float a new proposal. That being said, heaven knows, Democrats diligently avoid being pinned down on any particular stance – In fact, Democrats consider their array of machinations on any given issue the “art of nuance”. Oh, silly me, I thought it was plain old obfuscation and equivocation. So whatever you do, remember, don’t pin down a liberal elite or you’ll incur their wrath. That’s precisely why the Clinton camp is so angry with debate host Tim Russert who cornered Senator Clinton on the issue of drivers’ licenses for illegals. How dare Russert expect a straightforward answer to a simple question!
Hillary came off poorly at that debate, providing conflicting responses. Afterwards, Hillary continued to flip-flop, saying “yes” she was for illegals having licenses, and, later, saying “no”, she was against it. To the average person (the average peon from her perspective), it was laughable. Apparently, Hillary ultimately calculated that since approximately 77 percent of the American public was against drivers’ licenses for illegals, she should acquiesce to that position. But it makes you wonder if Hillary has any core values, and, if so, why she’s unwilling to share said values at the debate forums. Interestingly, Spitzer decided to drop his plan for licensing illegals at roughly the same time Hillary declared against it. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that someone from the Clinton camp had a little talk with New York Governor Elliot Spitzer so that Hillary and Spitzer would be in sync.
If Senator Clinton wishes to become president, it would behoove her to understand the prevailing American mindset. The middle class, that she professes to care so much about, possesses something that’s in fairly short supply among liberal elites: It’s known as common sense. As to illegal immigration, most Americans understand that: a) it’s unacceptable for illegal aliens and their American employers to be violating the law, b) it’s unfair to the millions of people around the globe that abide by our lawful immigration policies and patiently wait their turn to enter the US, c) it’s very detrimental for our society to be importing this level of poverty and crime, and, d) it’s patently unfair to foist higher taxes upon average Americans so that businesses can have access to cheap labor. According to the acclaimed Heritage Foundation, illegal aliens are generating only one tax dollar for every three tax dollars that they’re costing American taxpayers.
Most Americans intuitively grasp the power of incentives. That being said, they want our government to do away with the “magnets” or incentives that attract illegal aliens.
(Printer friendly version) Email: Carol Devine-Molin
