Choosing Our Next President

Peering across the ruins on the political battle field one does not see a pretty scene. Year of partisan politics's and loose leadership have left the field strewn with victims; some of these people deserve their fate others probably don't.

Hillary Clinton is a case in point. Clearly and ambitious women, Hilary is often described as being strident and cold. Politically, she is divisive. For various reasons, she is either loved or hated, with very few in the undecided category. She got the reputation for being a person who would do anything to get ahead, by not divorcing her meandering husband when he got caught with his pants down in the company of a White House Intern. She also tried and failed, as the first lady, to organize and legislate the first major health care reform in this country since Medicare.

In the first case, her loyalty was challenged by right wing "Christians" who taut the divorce rate in this country as one of the reasons for our moral demise. Let me note here that right wing Christians are selective in their application of morality, since many of their leaders and representatives have been caught in similar or worse circumstances. Suffice to say if Hillary Clinton had chosen to divorce the sitting President of the United States, she would have been equally vilified. The horns of that dilemma are wide and tips are sharp.

Her opponents don't like her because she is not an in-the--kitchen woman and does not bow with unqualified reverence to the ole boy establishment. The press and more importantly her constituents give her high marks as a Senator from New York State. The predictions of her inability to get along with the opposition being dashed, she now suffers from getting along to well with the enemy in a horribly partisan arena.

Representative of Bill and Hillary Clinton's two for one Presidency was the Health Care fiasco. Granted her tactics were suspect, but building support for a democratic bill of this magnitude with a ardently opposed republican controlled legislature would have been difficult if not impossible. And that may have been Hillary's first big lesson in Washington politics. You can be right, health care still needs an overhaul, but overreaching without building a consensus is folly and half a loaf is better than none. She took some great idea's and unwittingly turned them into fodder for late night comedians and right wing pundents.

Hillary Clinton could be a fine President and Leader of the Free World. She could turn around the terrible aftermath of the worst president we have ever had in a shorter time than almost any candidate we have running, except one. (I intend to clarify this in another blog soon) To redirect this country from an over reaction to world terrorism and redirect the fight from a unilateral contest to a true coalition of the free world and to face directly the horrible results of the so-called free trade global economy and mend the infrastructure here at home, she would need the support of the congress. If she got a mandate of 60% of the vote she might scare the republicans into being more the loyal opposition instead of ardent obstructionists, but that scenario is unlikely.

What is more likely is she would win by a slim margin and have to depend on what is so far a demonstrably weak democratic leadership and more embattled and cornered republican minority, that never showed the ability to lead even when they had the power, to work with and that spells disaster.

I like Hillary Clinton. She is to me a good leader. She has good ideas and she has showed she can work with others and get things done. The world will be a better place after four years of Clinton even though the poor woman is going to have to spend most of that time cleaning up after her predecessor.

The irony of seeing George Bush standing in the door of the White House giving back the keys to the Clinton's might be worth giving her a chance.