I haven't written my weekly update yet but I wanted to get this out. I'm sure others have written about Making the Case... for Hillary Clinton. By Sean Wilentz but it needs to be read by all Dems.
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/...
About Sean Wilentz by DemocratSinceBirth at DU
"Wilentz took his B.A. at Columbia University in 1972, before earning another B.A. at Oxford University on a Kellett Fellowship and his Ph.D. at Yale University. His historical scholarship has focused mainly on the early years of the American republic. His major study to date, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln,
Read on for some tidbits from the fellow who wrote "The Worst President in History?," for Rolling Stone.
received the Bancroft Prize in 2006 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His first book, Chants Democratic, won several awards, including the Beveridge Award from the American Historical Association. A contributing editor at The New Republic, Wilentz writes widely on music and the arts as well as history and politics, and has received a Grammy nomination and, from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a Deems Taylor Award for musical commentary. He is the historian-in-residence of bobdylan.com, the official Bob Dylan web site."
So why Hillary?
I think Hillary is important because the election really is the culmination of what's been a 40 year struggle for the Democrats to rediscover who they are. A 40-year struggle against what we'll call Nixon-slash-Reaganism. And, simply put, she's in the best position to be a president. Which is to say, she understands how American politics works. She understands the trajectory of American political history for the last 40 years because she's lived it in a way that the others haven't, really. She's seen it at all levels, from Arkansas to Capitol Hill. The country needs someone who can take us beyond this struggle--this long, long fight we've been having.
So you don't find Obama's meta-arguments against "politics as usual" particularly convincing?
You cannot have a president who doesn't like politics. You will not get anything done. Period. I happen to love American politics. I think American politics is wonderful. I can understand why people don't. But one of the problems in America is that politics has been so soured, people try to be above it all. It's like Adlai Stevenson. In some ways, Barack reminds me of Stevenson.
What about the cold, calculating stereotype?
It's a stereotype. I mean, calculating--I'm all for calculating. What's wrong with calculating? She's called an opportunist. That's good! I'm for opportunity. You see an opportunity and you take it. She's not an opportunist in the sense that she's corrupt. But my generation--and this is the reason for the rise of the independents and so forth--was so turned off to politics that everybody became Adlai Stevenson. This is not good. You need a leader who's going to restore a sense of Democratic politics.
This interview is a must read for Hillary supporters and those honestly wondering why we are supporting this woman.
Full Andrew Romano interview at Newsweek