Bad but true: the blogosphere has not, and will not, oppose Hillary Clinton.
By blogosphere, I don't mean the rank-and-file (like me), who are overwhelmingly opposed to her. I mean those bloggers lucky enough to have a prominent forum; among the bloggerati, anti-Hillary Hunter is a rare exception, as is the intrepid David Sirota. Virtually all other elite bloggers, even those of populist bent like Ezra Klein, don't think a Hillary nomination would be bad for the party.
Which is to say that on this not-minor matter--we're talking about who will lead the party--the netroots don't have representative spokespeople. Yeah, yeah, I know, I could start my own blog, but for the length of this primary, the blogospheric powers that be are fixed, and they're not saying what is obvious to most of us: Hillary Clinton is too corporate, too hawkish, too Washington to be a good nominee.
What gives? Why are the elite bloggers letting us down?
There's no one reason, of course. Some buy the lie that all the leading candidates are the same. (Who can forget Chris Bowers's astounding claim?) Others have more reasonable reasons: they want to see a woman in the White House or think her mastery of health care policy bodes well for reform.
But having read a good chunk of the blogospheric commentary on the primary, I know the main reason that a-listers are open to Hillary: they're afraid of the Right. To listen to a-listers is to believe that the Right is so powerful and masterful that we should nominate Hillary, because she and only she has the requisite toughness. Only she will hit back and hit first. Only she understands how to fight the Right. Stoller:
Democratic primary voters don't really have a choice, since Clinton's the only candidate who actually understands how crazy the right-wing really is.
Such a view exaggerrates the importance of tactics and discounts the importance of message--it's the logical reaction to the illogic of ascribing omipotence to Bush's Rovian machine--but it's prevalent in the sphere. Take this endorsement from Tom Watson, who's so turned on by Hillary's meanness that he's willing to accept her hawkishness. He's not looking to elect a nominee; he wants to hire a hitman. Or woman.
Three years ago, I had one overriding reason for hoping Clinton would run for President: hability to win as a progressive Democrat.
I have to admit that it sounded crazy to many I sounded out on the possibility. Doesn't the right-wing despise her? Isn't she polarizing? Aren't people sick of the Clintons and their baggage?
But I believed then - and frankly, I've been rewarded in that belief - that Senator Clinton was tough enough, and mean enough, and organized enough to deal with what had become the snarling monster in our midst: the conservative smear machine, the ministry of disinformation that has infected the Republican Party. I saw what happened to John Kerry, an accomplished enough liberal Senator from Massachusetts.
Ah, yes, swiftboating. We all remember Kerry's limp response to the lies about his military record. Few of us, though, recall his devotion to "free" trade, which cost him Ohio and the presidency. My point is not that the Right isn't disgusting: it's that we shouldn't be so scared of it that we sacrifice our principles. That is, we shouldn't be so scared of the GOP establishment that we embrace the Democratic establishment.
The power of Hillary's political machine is probably overstated: what to make of a campaign that didn't forsee that her vote for Kyl-Lieberman would be a problem? She's running a thoroughly cautious and conventonal campaign, a hollow vessel that will sink as soon as its shiny exterior is punctured. But I'll accept for the purposes of this post that she presides over the best political machine in this business; this advantage won't compensate for her lack of boldness and her inability to draw clear distinctions.
We have a chance to nominate a progressive president. (My choice is Edwards, but that's a discussion for another thread.) If we don't, if we elect Hillary Clinton instead, the blogosphere will be complict. And when Hillary governs as the corporate centrist that she is, elite bloggers will be the first to complain.
Won't get fooled again? Ha.