Hillary is state’s bona fide national candidate
So what is Hillary Clinton up to? She’s moving to the right as fast as her legs will carry her. She’s strong on defense, she supported the war in Iraq, her husband Bill is carrying on what appears to be a political love affair with Papa Bush, and she is seeking conciliation on the abortion issue.
The polls are all over the place. While Hillary continues to be the person most Democrats want to see as their next presidential candidate, some New York polls suggest that New Yorkers want her to run for the Senate and to stay there, rather than consider a run for President. It doesn’t really matter - from where I sit, Hillary seems to be running for president and nothing will stop her.
The Clintons have been president and they want to live in the White House again. Who knows why some New Yorkers don’t want her to run for president? Some might want her closer to home. They have a proprietary interest in her. She now belongs to New York and they don’t want her to get away. Some of them watched the spiteful and vengeful way in which the Republicans went for her and Bill Clinton. They care about her and don’t want to see her face the same shameful treatment that she and her husband faced when they were in the White House. Some New Yorkers simply don’t think she can win. They are so dispirited about the country’s current political orientation that they want someone, anyone, who can just win. The problem is that there is no one on the horizon who can do that, and Hillary keeps topping the polls.
Of course, none of this matters. She’s running. These Clinton people can endure shots that would kill anyone else. No matter how many times they get hit on the jaw, they just stand there. Bill Clinton was only the second president to be impeached in the House and he walked away with his head held high and one of the highest popularity ratings in the history of the presidency.
Bill won the presidency by robbing the Republicans of their key issues. Now Hillary is doing exactly the same thing. It’s as if she was in a Republican candy store, saying, “Hmmmm, I think I’ll have one of these and some of those and some of the red stuff over there.” The woman is picking their pockets before their very eyes. She’s triangulating. The elephants know she’s doing it and they are scared to death of her. It’s just a matter of history repeating itself.
First things first. Hillary must win her New York Senate seat and win it big. You can be sure that Republicans are trying to find someone who can run and rough her up. The bigger her win, the greater her presidential momentum. There are at least two prominent “Stop Hillary” web sites being mounted now to raise money. The big problem is finding a candidate. All kinds of people are surfacing. Rudy Giuliani won’t do it, no percentage. He’s leading in all the presidential polls, why should he risk being destroyed by Hillary in a Senate race? Even though he is ahead of her in the polls he’d be a fool to take the risk. In fact, the two of them may well meet in the big presidential race two years later. The Republicans reportedly are looking for a top Hispanic candidate to divide that crucial vote. The thinking seems to be that if Hillary could be portrayed as being anti-Hispanic, that could be decisive in the presidential race. That would be so transparent that it could actually backfire.
Of course, there will be subtle - or not so subtle – attempts to portray Clinton as a feminist extremist, but I have interviewed her and know that won’t work. In fact, her theme song ought to be “Stand By Your Man.” No one will forget how she stood up to the Republicans when they were after Bill.
To me, it’s a slam dunk. John Kerry wants to run again, but he’s had his shot. If Hillary wants it, she will get the chance. Sooner or later, this country is going to elect a woman president. It is astounding that it hasn’t happened yet. If it is going to happen in my lifetime, it will be Hillary who does it. With Bill at her side, a conservative agenda that robs the Republicans of issues and a strong Senate win, she is on her way. I trust her enough to know that if the Clintons return to the White House, they will put this country back on the high road. It would appear that New York may finally have a bona fide presidential candidate.



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- posted by Raymond @ 5/16/2005 09:52:00 AM