First things first, I'm not a Hillary hater, nor would I throw myself in front of a truck for her. I like the lady, I really do. She was my first lady here in Arkansas where she did a lot of good work for the state, especially focusing on education and children's issues, I'll always thank her for that. She was a great first lady, who got drug through more than anyone should ever have to go through, yet she rose above it all to be elected as one of the nation's most effective senators. All of that is truly admirable. However, as of late I'm finding myself rather unenthused with her.
It's not because she's leaping to the right (those claims are greatly exaggerated and seem to be fueled in part by people like Bill O'Reilly and Zell Miller), as far as I can tell she really isn't doing too radical of a posturing job. She supports a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning (so did her husband), supports civil unions (which is now the moderate position), offered a little straight talk on abortion, and refused to back the calls for a firm time table on Iraq (though she did back the Levin/Reede proposal). I really don't see that as qualifying her as a Joe Lieberman like some people seem to do. Nor am I entirely convinced she can't win. She's a smart and tough woman, and when she ran in New York she ran everywhere, something I wish could be said for some past Dem presidential timber. Yeah she's polarizing (not that I can find any reason why she should be, mind you), but I don't think that naturally means she'd lose.
Hillary's real problem is simple. She became the front runner way too soon. As early as 2003, the Fox pinheads were floating the idea of a 2004 Hillary run. Throughout the 2004 race, she loomed in the background, and no one ever doubted that if Kerry failed (resisting the urge for a smart alack comment) she'd step in for the 2008 race. After the inevitable happened, Hillary was taken to be the definate front runner, with most of the brainless punditry and a lot of people across the country generally agreeing she'd be the Dems nominee in a walk.
But things change. No one backed off because of her presence. Fiengold had his moment in the sun when he called for the time table and censuring Bush. Warner began to loom on the horizon. Former Clinton allies like Bayh, Richardson, and Clark refused to back out of the race. Kerry was preparing for Clinton vs. Kerry from day one, while Edwards was running strong in the early contests, and now Barack Obama has risen like a leviathan to challenge her stardom. It was no longer Hillary's in a walk. The "moderates" and conservatives in the party were complaining that she was too liberal. The liberals began to complain that she was too moderate. And all the while the media was casting her as something of an ambitious, cold, calculating vulture, something that all politicians probably are to some extent or another (but you notice they never cast that role for men, kinda like blacks being looters while whites find food in the devastation, hmmm....but I'm getting off topic).
Hillary's problem now is that she seemed to be a queen on the way to a coronation. That would work great for her if she were a Republican. But Democrats have a nasty habit of fighting tooth and nail and letting democracy decide the candidate, rather than the big money guys. Now, as other candidates jump in and the media grows tired of waiting for her, and her massive cash advantage has been squandered (which I hold against her-she was running against a joke for heaven's sake), her star has dimmed.
But it can all be salvaged. Before I go any further, I'm not Hillary's guy, trust me. My vote is still hanging out there, fluttering somewhere between Obama and Clark at the moment. This is just an idea.
What Hillary needs to revive herself is an agressive grassroots campaign. She needs to declare her candidacy ASAP and immediately go on some sort of listening tour, reaching out from the early primaries to some far off states, even places she won't win, like Idaho or Texas, turning her campaign into a real fifty state strategy. She needs to bring all kinds of voices and faces into this campaign, not isolating herself in a bubble like Kerry did, but rather surrounding herself with ordinary Americans from all walks of life. It'd be a difficult race to be sure, but an aggressive grassroots campaign would reinvent Hillary in a way that no amount of spin doctors and consultants ever could. Yeah, the media would eye it with suspicion and cynicsm, but so what, they always do and nobody listens to them anymore. A fifty-state, grassroots strategy would strengthen Hillary, taking her from the queen walking on red carpet to someone fighting in the trenches for ordinary Americans, and strengthening her hand in the general election the way Gore's sudden turn to populism revived his campaign back in 2000. It's the best way foward, for her or any candidate.