Thursday, June 14, 2007

Democratic Party Primary Cancelled (Millions Given to Charity)


Democrats should cancel their primary for lack of interest and put the money toward their favorite charities. There’s no drama in the Democratic “contest”. The only thing Democrats have to look forward to is the pageantry of the nominating convention. Hilary Clinton is a person and a politician, but more than that, she is an idea that most Democrats will find irresistible.

It’s way too early to be quoting polls, says the conventional wisdom, but the polls showing Hilary moving far in front of Barak Obama will not change. Candidate John Edwards, meanwhile, is slipping into a virtual oblivion after a series of personal difficulties, missteps, and development of a clumsy campaign strategy. Obama’s numbers may rise a bit again but they are just as certain to fall back to earth. Barak Obama is a popular and attractive candidate who also benefits from Democratic party fatuousness, as does Hilary. But Democrats want to win so badly that they have already internalized the idea that all roads lead to Hilary.

Hilary’s lock on winning the Democratic nomination isn’t so much a testimony to her capabilities as a leader as it is to a lack of competition. Edwards might fill the bill for Father of the Year but, in all other respects, he’s the epitome of a well-groomed campaign package designed to attract lots of voters who may enjoy looking at him and don’t mind that he offers little else. Other “serious” Democrats are looking in another direction, toward Barak if not toward Hilary, but Obama’s lack of experience and youth will work against him in a post 9-11 world. The “young” image would be a positive had not the Islamist fanatics changed our worldview by demolishing part of the Pentagon and all of the World Trade Center. Where is Joe Biden in all of this? Biden may be the most capable and most experienced of all in the Democratic group but he speaks too glibly, appears too slick, does not “represent change”, and is given to embarrassing gaffes like his motor-mouthed insult of Indian bagel shop owners. Clearly, Joe Biden has his sights set on being the Vice-Presidential candidate.

Hilary Clinton will have an uphill fight to win the presidency and her chances will not be extinguished by the untimely publication of two new biographies about the ambitious political activist from Arkansas and Senator from New York. "Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," was written by New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta. "A Woman in Charge," was written by Carl Bernstein, one of the famous Watergate reporters. The only positive news one can find in the publication of the two new biographies is that everyone feels that they already “know” Hilary and won’t read the books. According to one reviewer, the books do contain some new information (about how Hilary wire-tapped some of Bill’s enemies, for example) and reinforce some old information about her bungled management of the Clinton health care initiative long ago. Apparently, she managed to insult friendly Democrats like Bill Bradley who attempted to make adjustments to her plan.

Still, the American presidential elections represent the highest ideals of our democracy. It would be un-American and unpatriotic to say, before the convention, that Hilary Clinton is the Democratic Party candidate for president in the year 2008. The Democratic nomination process will have to be played out in spite of its boring and unmelodious tune. The saddest thing is that the Democratic Party has tilted away from capable and experienced leaders like Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, a candidate who could pull moderate voters away from the Republican Party and possibly assure victory rather than the triumph of an eight-year-old resentment.

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