When I started my foray into presidential politics back in February 2007, my intent was to work hard to ensure that Barack Obama made a strong case for being picked for the VP position on the ticket. It was, after all, HRC that was to be the nominee. We have been told this since she ascended to the Senate. Pundits being pundits, I presume, but such loose chatter never hurts an ambitious politician.
What surprised me, as I began to hover in "activist circles", was how anti-Clinton many dems were. Ya, I was pissed with Bill for the perjury, but Hillary had done nothing wrong. Right?
I was always a faithful follower of politics, but was never in the "know." Watching MTP, This Week and McLaughlin Group regularly made me the "smartie pants" at all the parties with the LIV crowds. I was proud that I was such a "good citizen." During the Bush years, I would read from the "Book of Bill" to counter the RINOs that I would run into around these parts. The legend of Bill Clinton was strong and phrases like, "when Clinton lied, no one died" would cut through the the faux patriotism fronted by your average Bushy. The "liberal press" had provided an ample supply of "us v. them", "us good, them bad", "fight the vast right wing conspiracy" mantras that could be wielded in heated rhetorical battle.
Then I joined up with people that knew more than the political fodder fed to the "chattering class."
My journey over the last year has brought me to a very strange place. I will truly lament the nomination of Hillary Clinton. Of course, it is clear that Senator Clinton is a better choice for America then Sen. McCain. Unfortunately, I will be back to the same ol "less worse" choice that seems to dominate 2 party politics.
I don't know for sure, why Obama entered the race. It seemed abrupt, but he kept speaking of the "fierce urgency of now." I am positive that Obama possesses this sense of "urgency" and have just lately, come to realize, how he came to possess it.
There are other risks Mrs. Clinton faces going forward. She is not a natural politician, and Mr. Obama is. She does not have a gift for public speaking. He does. And there are legions of Democratic officeholders, former officeholders and party officials who have something less than a rosy view of Bill Clinton’s presidency and its aftermath. They aren’t interested in a restoration.
At a rally Sunday in Virginia Beach, Senator Obama said, "Keep in mind, we had Bill Clinton as president when, in ’94, we lost the House, we lost the Senate, we lost governorships, we lost state houses."
While they are not anxious to talk about it publicly, many Democrats still speak bitterly in private about the damage inflicted on the party during the tumultuous Clinton White House years, including the loss of the presidency to George W. Bush.