About Hillary...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

I like Hillary Clinton. And if, by some strange miracle, she wins the nomination, I will vote for her, donate money to her, work for her, and basically do everything I'm capable of doing in order to ensure that she kicks the crap out of that wretched, warmongering, psychotic asshole, John McCain. And I think, or at least I used to think, that she would make a very good President, despite my reservations about her hawkish foreign policy. And up until very recently I have trusted her even more than my preferred candidate to govern properly as an executive. That time is over and gone. This is why:

I hate Hillary's campaign. Democrats, including myself, DO NOT LIKE IT when one of their candidates engages in a McCarthy-esque, racially tinged smear-fest against another Democrat. Please stop making excuses. Please stop blaming everyone and everything under the sun - the caucus process, the DNC, the media, the rich, the minorities, the urbanites, the young, etc... for her failure. Her campaign is not just a small part of the problem - her campaign IS the problem. And boy is it a big fucking problem. Hillary is (almost certainly) going to lose this contest not because of who she is, or what she believes, or how she has achieved what she has achieved.

Hillary is going to lose because her campaign is disgusting.

Hillary is going to lose because she has managed to piss off people like me, who by all rights should be her natural supporters. Her campaign has gone to great lengths to try to instill in the American consciousness the idea that Barack Obama is a black supremacist, America-hating, sixties-radical-sympathizing Manchurian candidate. And the excuse that is given over and over again by her and her supporters is that "this is what the Republicans will do to him in the general!"

No fucking shit.

I fully expect whatever the Republicans do to Obama in the general to be ten times worse than the worst Clinton's campaign has dished out. A black liberal running for president? No fucking shit the Republicans are going to pile on like a bunch of crazy inbreds hollering that The Bad Man is going to Destroy The Country. I expect that of them. I expect nothing less, really. What I, and a lot of other Democrats DO NOT EXPECT is to have that kind of fear mongering CONDONED, SUPPORTED, and ENCOURAGED by a member of our own party.

I do not expect politicians to fight clean. I do not expect the Clintons, of all people, to take the high road. Part of the reason I love them, or used to love them, is that they are willing to fight the dirty fight. But this has gone too far. The Clintons are fast becoming that which they despise. They are no longer simply taking a page from the Republican playbook, they are legitimizing the entire Republican worldview and encouraging it. I am horrified by what their campaign has become. I had extremely high expectations for Hillary when she announced she was running. If there is one person, I thought, who can change the trajectory of our political discourse, it's her. I still wish it was her, but it isn't. My only consolation is the knowledge that she is losing because of the way her campaign has behaved. May this serve as a lesson to any other Democrat who wants to run for office: Don't shit where you eat.

[NJmaverick]

1. Ultimately Hillary is in charge of and responsible for her campaign

So how can you seperate the person from her campaign?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. I'm trying to be optimistic.

I think she has received some really bad advice, and has lost sight of what's really important.

I don't know how much longer I can be optimistic.

[NJmaverick]

4. Isn't it extremely important for a President to be able to tell bad advice from good?

[roseBudd]

21. and to have the moral compass and the foresight to look beyond Nov. & her own ambitions?

[Kittycat]

2. Her Campaign is a Glimpse of her Presidency

It's a window in to what we can expect from her as a leader. And frankly - I'm sick of Republican/Neocon Politics.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. I think we can all agree that we're sick of neoconservatives.

I still don't believe Hillary is really a neocon, despite her rhetoric, but her rhetoric is pretty disturbing anyway.

[Kittycat]

24. One word - Obliterate.

If for a second you doubt that word... IWR, Kyl/Lieberman & Clusterbombs.

[Triana]

5. K & Effing R - she WILL RUN THIS COUNTRY as she's run her campaign...

...we've had EIGHT YEARS of that shit.

NO MORE.

They can put her ass on the "Democratic" ballot if they want. She will not get my vote.

I WANT CHANGE, NOT a Republican.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. You're completely missing the point.

John McCain is Dubya with competence. Regardless of how bad you think Hillary might be, a McCain Presidency will be an absolute fucking disaster. It is something to be avoided at all costs. Even if that means putting aside your disgust and voting for (or better, working for) Hillary if by some miracle she gets the nomination.

[Triana]

9. I'm sorry but I see little difference between the three of them except

Hillary AND McCain are W with competence.

Either one of them (Hillary or McCain) will net us the same type of "leadership" in this country, IMO.

Hillary will not get my vote.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

10. I have only one response to people who think this way:

The Supreme Court. McCain is ultraconservative on judicial nominations. He should be opposed for this, if for no other reason.

[Triana]

14. I have no indication that Hillary won't do the same. She is conservative

I figure she will put conservatives/constructionists/corporatists on the SC.

Futhermore, the SC is now a politicized institution since 2001. No matter who is (s)elected I don't expect that will change very quickly, regardless, ESPECIALLY if the Pres is a conservative and Hillary is certainly that. The manner in which she runs her campaign and the loyalty to her corporate lobbyists will dictate who/how she selects nominees to the SC.

Bleah.

With all due respect, that argument won't change my mind.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

15. John McCain was a big-time fan of Robert Bork.

I'm sorry, but there's just no comparison on judicial appointments. You simply cannot argue in good faith that Hillary would appoint strict constructionists, which is what John McCain has repeatedly said he will do. There is nothing in Hillary's record to suggest that she would do the same, regardless of how conservative she may be on some issues.

[Catherina]

6. K&R That last paragraph is a jewel n/t

[corkhead]

7. "they are legitimizing the entire Republican worldview and encouraging it."

and fucking how!

Recommended

[Yurovsky]

11. Great post. My sentiments exactly.

Trying to excuse behavior that, at least for Democrats/liberals/progressives, should be INEXCUSABLE, well, she can count me out.

Hopefully all members of this party will learn from her failed run and resolve to never stoop to this level.

[BklynChick]

13. But isn't she in charge of and responsible for her campaign?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

19. Sure she is.

I'm not making her out to be some poor, defenseless person in all of this. On the other hand, I don't believe that she's the monster some here are making her out to be. As far as I'm concerned she ran a nasty campaign and is now suffering the consequences.

[roseBudd]

22. She knoows full well what she is doing, her blind ambition & her "I'm all that" attitude drive her

Hillary is a legend in her own mind if she thinks only she can do what this country needs. The 3 coequal branches of government are the only thing that can do what this country needs. POTUS has a veto pen. POTUS does not just "fix everything" on Day 1.

[Lucky 13]

16. I too am, in theory, in one of her key demographics.

30+ gay female, white, lower-middle class.

I do not drive a Prius. I do not wear Birkenstocks. I do not drink lattes. I am not a hippy. And I'm about as snarky and cynical as they come - not normally one to believe in grandiose talk of HOPE and CHANGE.

I initially was a John Edwards supporter and, after he left, I supported Hillary for a brief time. But she and her campaign have made it impossible for me to override my conscience and vote for her over Obama. The more I see from her, the more his words ring true: We need to completely change how we do politics. We need to decide who we are as Democrats. Are we the nasty, race-baiting, slanderous, lying politicians - NO BETTER than Republicans? Or do we want to reclaim the moral high ground? Do we want to do things differently. Do we want to base all of our decisions and policy on TRUTH or SPIN?

She completely alienated me from her campaign, but Obama has won my support based on his own merits and ideas. He's precisely what we need to move our country forward. She's precisely what we need to move our country backwards. He inspires hope. She inspires nausea.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

17. I happen to think that Obama is a deeply flawed candidate.

However, I also believe that we are a party in crisis. I believe that we, as a party, a group of individuals, and as a political movement have failed - utterly FAILED to achieve our stated goals. I believe that is why the Republicans have been able to attract so many votes from the 80s up until now. I do not expect Obama to be our savior. I do not expect him to "lead us out of the wilderness" or any other hyperbolic crap. But at least he's a step in the right direction. LEADERSHIP is what it's about, and he is a leader... Much like I thought Hillary was, until she decided to play the Republicans' game on their own terms.

[DMorgan]

23. Great Post! Thanks nt

[TragedyandHope]

18. K&R

Hillary started out with a broken strategy based on mistaken assumptions and a sense of entitlement. When that failed on Super Tuesday, she and her advisors made a conscious decision to run with a scorched earth campaign of fear and hate. Why? Because they thought they simply couldn't win on the issues or Hillary's character.

Who knows what would have happened if she had made a different choice at that critical moment? No one can say, but one thing is certain: Hillary is fully responsible for the situation she is in today.

[roseBudd]

20. I was ambivalent towards her but fearful that she would help GOP GOTV until...

kitchen sink. I am still convinced all of her negative qualities, and most especially her dishonesty quotient which came about especially after Snipergate make her an extremely poor bet for the GE. Her conduct since kitchen sink began has caused me to despise her.

Life is not fair and the fact that Obama ran a better campaign, attracted more money, hired better people, has more charisma AND WON MORE PRIMARY CONTESTS by bigger margins racking up more pledged delegates does not give Hillary the license to do what she is doing simply because her political talents are not as good. Hillary is playing dirty pool.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

25. She's doing what she has to do.

I don't like it, but neither will I condemn her for it. She's a politician, and a damn good one, but she has crossed the line for me. I don't like McCarthyism, and I don't like her campaign.