I really enjoyed alegre's recent diary, in which she makes a great point: that, underneath that poll-tested, carefully-managed and driven persona of La Clinton, there lies the beating heart of a good person, deeply and passionately committed to making the world a better place. I have long been disgusted with the abuse heaped on Hillary by the right-wing, and she is someone who embodies the ability to rise above nasty treatment and rough times with class. Truly, I do HEART Hillary. But my feelings aside, I ask myself, is she the right person to lead us?
I am 42 years old, people, which means that I have lived under republican rule for most of my adult life. The brief Clinton interlude was deeply unsatisfying, since my joy at Bill's inauguration was killed two years later when the Repubs took the House (decisively and, seemingly, forever), and the next six years were basically an exercize in political damage control, that brought us, among other such abominations, DOMA. I have managed to nurture my liberal political aspirations despite all that, and through the last horrible eight years, and even through the very disappointing last year of Democratic capitulation on just about everything they promised. Bottom line: I'm one liberal who is tired of losing. Given the forces which have prevailed against us, "triangulation" has just meant a slower march to the right.
Now, finally, due to the MASSIVE screw-ups of Bush and friends, we have the chance not just to "win" but to actually seize power. And, to borrow a meme I picked up at Redstate - I don't want, in this our long-awaited moment of power, to make deals with the right. I want to BEAT THEM, and for them to lose badly enough that we can finally correct some of the deep social and political problems that undermine our greatness. Assuming Hillary can win, is another 4 or eight years of triangulation really worth all this effort?
One very unfair argument against Barack Obama is that he hasn't done anything, just talked. Hogwash, people! How do you think he won in Iowa? He MOBILIZED the masses. Grassroots, person-to-person, he has built a street-level organization that has EMPOWERED his people with a mandate for change. Hello? Is this NOT exactly what we've all been talking about - the need to build our political base from the ground up, 50 state strategy and all that? BEsides giving great speeches, he is building a VOTING constituency to support his objectives, the first of which obviously has to be to get elected.
And is it not a breath of fresh air, after a year of having Hillary (God bless her!) forced down our throats as the 'presumptive frontrunner' by the press (both the right-wing press, which hungers for a Hillary candidacy like a junkie hungers for smack, and the supposedly "liberal" press which we all know is a joke) and the Party Establishment...to see PEOPLE POWER in action and to show everyone that WE will choose our nominee, thank you very much. Barack Obama deserves credit for putting in the hard work to make that happen, so don't condescend and tell me that I'm swept up in his rhetoric. I recognize a DOER, a MOVER, when I see one, and that is how he has won my heart. (Frankly, I think his speaking is overrated. I think his wife - and certainly Bill Clinton in his day - are better.)
Remember way back when, when the left loved Hillary? Seems like a long time ago! Partly we're to blame, cause I think our love for her was a protective instinct inspired by the hateful way she was treated by people like Rush Limbaugh. Republicans loathe her, and that was good enough for me. Except it isn't. Hillary may claim (truthfully) that she's passionate about our issues, but can anyone seriously disagree that she has used the last eight years to effect an extreme makeover, political personna edition? And hasn't the essence of that make over been to try and seem "acceptable" to the right, reasonable, or to cover her ass on every side of an issue? Flag burning amendment, anyone? Newt Gingrich? War? Assuming she could get elected President...when her back is against the wall as we try to repeal DOMA, or establish Universal Health Care, is she REALLY going to STAND UP for us? Or are we going to get more Pelosi-Reid style deal-making and whining about how we don't have ENOUGH of a majority to actually do what we want Sorry, I'm a hungry, frustrated liberal, and I want more than that.
And I can have more. And I will get off my ass and earn it, even if that means getting up at 4:30 AM to post a diary! And this is just the beginning of all that he has inspired me to do. I will be talking to everyone I know to inspire them as Barack has inspired me. I love you Hillary, but Barack has shown me a better way to win change. There will be phone-banking, and door knocking, involved. That's what Barack has been talking about, and what we need to do to really win the changes we so desire. I'm not conceding half the battlefield to scrap over 1 percent change. I'm thinking big, and ready to act.