2 posts tagged “hrc”

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The latest political dust-up

Mar 8, 2008
2 comments

The Union of Amalgamated Monsters (UAM) is protesting to the Democratic National Committee about some of the recent heated political rhetoric.

They say that describing Hillary Clinton as a "monster ... who would do anything to win the nomination" is giving monsters a bad name!

As an alternative, they would prefer that her campaign be characterized as a "freak show," since Clinton is throwing her considerable weight behind the Republican nominee, John McCain.

However, the National Association of Freaks (NAF) doesn't like that! Real freaks, they say, hold to much higher standards of political integrity.

Hillary Clinton "endorses" Republican John McCain for President

Mar 6, 2008
4 comments

If there are any Voxers out there who don't follow a lot of current political developments (some of my best friends don't) you might be surprised to learn that HRC is heaping praise on the Republican presidential candidate--supposedly a partisan rival--in her effort to best front-runner Barack Obama. It isn't clear to me why she is doing this, but her actions seem based on a desire for personal aggrandizement rather than any desire to achieve a Democratic victory in November.

She praises McCain as being qualified to be commander-in-chief by a "lifetime of experience"--and also makes the same claim for herself. That he, and she too, have crossed some "threshold" that means they are sufficiently prepared to be our commander-in-chief.

Well . . .

McCain certainly DOES have major-league Washington experience. He has been a member of Congress since 1982. He isn't a Washington DC lightweight in the same sense that George Bush was upon his election: the latter entered politics in 1994, at the state level.

But the issue is whether this considerable experience and most particularly his current positions reflect any real of wisdom--or, in this nation with a government of, by, and for the people, respect for the the popular will. Mostly he is pledged to carry on pretty much the policies of the Bush administration.

Really, though, HRC is much more like Obama in regard to "experience" than she is like Senator McCain. She has served in the Senate since 2000 (and Obama since 2004). McCain thus has 18 years of seniority over her; she has just four years over Obama. That is not much, especially in an institution where getting major responsibility tends to take several terms in office.

Her efforts as the wife of a governor and then president's wife are hardly impressive, either. Her major "accomplishment" was a hugely important failure, the unsuccessful attempt to help formulate a 1993-94 proposal for national health care reform--which brought great scorn upon her personally, and took the issue off the national "agenda" for a decade. In my view, the main reason we haven't had significant legislative action in this area is because of her shortcomings as a policy-planner and the contrasting political skill of health reform's many well-funded adversaries.

Since then, she has confined her attention mostly to relatively small, symbolic matters affecting health, children, or women. Possibly, on this basis, she might be well considered for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, a post currently held by Michael O. Leavitt. But there is nothing in her resume that would suggest that she would be a good choice for the presidency or is qualified to deal with military or international relations crises. Or really, major domestic issues, either.

And there is much about her that is a huge cause for concern! Doesn't the inability to mount a successful primary campaign against someone who is, indeed--as she emphasizes--really something of a political neophyte suggest a considerable lack of political saavy? How could she possibly beat the Republican candidate when she can't even gain a lead over Obama?

How can we think she could pass meaningful health care reform now when she showed so clearly she was not up to the immense challenge the last time? Or deal with any other serious national challenge?

But now most especially--what kind of political skill is she showing by praising the partisan opposition?

Not much. I would think that the cooler heads in the Democratic leadership would be trying hard to rein her in. And It is not surprising that some observers have concluded that she is a psychological as well as political catastrophe.

And I guess I am coming to that view, too.

These are sad times.

Still, how about a McCain-Clinton ticket? Bill has emphasized what great friends the two are. Why not make it official?