Websters defines "politics" as follows:
pol·i·tics (n)
the art or science of government; the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy; the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
Notice how many times was the phrase "art or science" used in the above definition. Why? Because politics is an art. It is a science. And when you practice that art or science enough, it becomes a skill. The most skilled politicians are those that can guide and influence governmental policy. The most skilled politicians are those that win elections.
I want universal health care.
I want to end the Iraq War and redeploy our troops to fight Al Queda wherever they may be, so that maybe, after 7 long years, we might finally bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
I want equality for all citizens, whether they be white, black, brown, yellow or red, man or woman, gay or straight, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or Atheist.
I want a government that invests in and protects its people rather than multi-billion dollar corporations.
I want a government that invests in alternative energy rather than oil and coal.
I want a government that cherishes our privacy rather than invading it.
I say I want these things and many more, but I, as a human being and as an American citizen, need my government to do these things.
Thus, I shall require a skilled politician. Indeed, if we really want to see our changes we desire enacted, we all require skilled politicians.
Many here rail against the system. Against the establishment. Against our two party system of government. Against politics in general. In these rantings and ravings I always see a fundamental lack of understanding, willful or not, of how our current system of government works, and more fundamentally, how our politics works. For example, many here and elsewhere wanted to impeach President Bush and the Dark Lord, Dick Cheney. Many still do.
But when asked how we were to convince 17 Republican senators to convict Bush and Cheney and remove them from office when said senators could not even muster the courage to vote against Bush and Cheney with respect to the Iraq War, the only answer was that if we made the case for impeachment, we would convince them.
To me, that is like me asking a fellow Eagles fan how my beloved Birds were going to beat the New England Patriots, and the fellow fan answering only "by scoring touchdowns."
In both cases, I am left responding "Well, yes, obviously, but how?"
The biggest Catch-22 most well intentioned and passionate liberal and progressive activists have to confront if they truly desire change and reform is that in order to achieve change and reform in governmental policy, they have to embrace the system. They have to practice politics. And yes, they have to work within the system.
Indeed, this has been a basic message from Markos and others with respect to changing the Democratic Party to make it not only more responsive to our wants and needs, but also more progressive and courageous. In order to do that, we had to become the party. We have to join our local party committees. We have to run for office ourselves. We have to run against establishment Democrats who remain unresponsive to our voices and unwilling to fight in party primaries. And we cannot give up at the first, second or even third setback or disappointment. We have to keep fighting within the party to change the party.
The next Democratic President must hit the ground running. And he or she must be successful. There will be no Honeymoon. There will be no grace period. There will be no learning curve. There will be no allowance for mistakes. The next President must be competent and intelligent.
All of the Democratic candidates are superb. From Joe Biden's knowlegdge and straight talk to John Edwards' passion and devotion to the inspiration I feel in listening to Barack Obama, all of candidates would make fine Presidents.
I can support many candidates for President and I have. I have supported Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in working to get them on the ballot and donating to their campaigns.
But I can only vote for one.
And in the end, after finally deciding that I owed it to our party to choose between the frontrunners (after initially saying that I would vote for Biden in Delaware's early primary), the decision came down to who could work best within the system to achieve the change we all want.
And that candidate is Hillary Clinton.
The Des Moines Register said it best in their endorsement:
The job requires a president who not only understands the changes needed to move the country forward but also possesses the discipline and skill to navigate the reality of the resistant Washington power structure to get things done.
Barack Obama will be an excellent President one day, perhaps in 2016. Indeed, I hope and pray that Hillary chooses him to be Vice President. As much as I am inspired by his message, I am not confident he is ready to hit the ground running. Indeed, I suspect his first couple years in office would mirror Bill Clinton's during 1993 and 1994. Barack will suffer missteps as Bill Clinton did. Bill Clinton was able to overcome them and go on to have a very successful presidency. So too could Barack. But the difference between now and then is that now we really cannot afford those missteps due to inexperience.
John Edwards' potential presidency will never have a chance. His harsh anti-corporate and anti-lobbyist campaign rhetoric, while brilliant in wooing the more liberal, progressive and anti-establishment among us, will instead make all of Washington his enemy from day one. Indeed, I believe his Presidency would mirror Jimmy Carter's in terms of success. The Outsider Jimmy Carter had to fight against establishment Washington his whole Presidency and he failed. So too will Edwards. We all like his message. We all want our government to work for the people rather than for the corporations. But in order to work for the people the government will have to work with the corporations and the lobbyists. That is a fundamental thing that Edwards and his supporters who rail against corporations and big business and lobbyists always forget. Indeed, how do they expect to change anything once elected if they make enemies of the very implements of change.
Like it or not, business and corporations and lobbyists are a fact of life in Washington and in America. America is a capitalist country. Money will always be a motivating factor and a door opener. To achieve reform of our government, the next President will have to at the very least neutralize said corporations, businesses and lobbyists, not make enemies of them.
Hillary Clinton can work within the system. Many of you view that as a negative. I don't. I want things to get done. And to get things done, like it or not we have to work with and within the establishment.