To all you Hillary Clinton supporters out there: I mean that title in the least disparaging way possible. I like the Junior Senator from New York a lot. She is a good Democrat, and I'm proud she's in my party. But she cannot be our nominee for President. I'm sorry, but it's true.
I just turned 24 last week, and it got me to thinking about the presidents under whose terms I'd lived. I was born in 1983, which sadly put me in the middle of the Reagan years ('83 - '89), then Bush Sr. ('89 - '93), Bill Clinton ('93 - '01), and finally the current nightmare ('01 - present). If anybody's keeping score, that means I've lived roughly 77 percent of my life under either a Bush or a Clinton. If we elect Hillary Clinton and she serves two terms, that percentage will be 82.
How can we claim we want change if we allow that to happen?
If that line of thinking seems self-referential, well, it is, but I'm trying to prove a point. If Hillary Clinton serves just one term, it will be 24 years under either a Bush or Clinton, nearly a quarter of a century. As much as Sen. Clinton would like to us to believe it isn’t, a vote for her is a vote for the same shit, but with a different name.
I am not foolish enough to say that Sen. Clinton is no better than a Republican, and if she is the nominee, I won’t bitch or complain. I’ll do my duty as a Democrat and work to see her elected. I will be behind her 100 percent, but when it comes time for me to punch her name in the voting booth, I will grit my teeth.
This kind of incestuousness is exactly what put us in the mess we’re in today; politics by family connection. It also seems to me that this political cycle, we can do something truly special.
We have a rich field of candidates this year. Bill Richardson is perhaps this country’s most accomplished diplomat. After eight years of the current adolescent, the world would talk to a man who could restore our friendships and our standing in the international community. He’s admittedly a dark horse, and I don’t think he’ll win the nomination, but if by some miracle he did, I would proudly march into that booth and punch my ticket.
I’m not sure how I feel about Sen. Barack Obama. He’s coming to my area on Saturday so I’ll see what I think after that. I do like his rhetorical style. So far, I see nothing wrong with him. Even if he is not my favorite candidate, I would be pleased to vote for him in the general, knowing that he is at least not a Bush or a Clinton.
I think I’m pretty firmly in the Edwards camp. We’ve seen by the election of Jim Webb and Jon Tester that the American people are thirsty for populism, and Edwards is going to quench it. In short, I agree with his policy proposals the most. I’m going to work my ass off to see that he gets the nomination.
Still, regardless of how their policies stack up against one another, all three have one thing going for them that Hillary does not—their names are neither Bush nor Clinton.
The "Third Way" is not going to cut it anymore, if it ever did. We need to have a new way. If not, we may as well just strike the 22nd Amendment and let Bill ride out the clock.
To close, please consider my youngest sister. 2008 will be the first year she is able to vote, and she’s very excited. To date, she’s lived 100 percent of her life under either a Bush or Clinton. Let’s try to give her something new.