Every day it seems Hilary Clinton moves further to the right--particularly in the field of foreign and military policy (perhaps they are now one and the same). She has made her peace with Murdock, wooed the military industrial-complex, consistently engaged in belligerent pronouncements towards the enemy de jour and so on. No one could mistake her for a progressive yet so many progressives do support her and she looks sure to get the nomination not just because she is ahead in the polls but because she has covered all the bases and is playing out a strategy to win--in fact, given the current political climate it is the only strategy that can win. No progressive candidate can win the Presidential election for the Democrats. Don't complain about Clinton's front-runner candidacy--complain about the fact that progressives are almost completely helpless in the face of those who understand what political power really is.
Sure, if asked, Democrats might even be more likely to vote for Edwards if they went by his positions. And yes, the American public, hopelessly ignorant thought they are, are to the left of both the mainstream Democrats and Republicans. But what we forget is that the whip hand in America is held by the corporate elite who will, through their propaganda organs (aka mainstream media), destroy, through time-honed techniques, any candidate that hints at a progressive agenda--that's just a fact of life that we are all going to have to live with until progressives can find a way to garner real political power and influence. It ain't going to come from blogs and not from voting--it comes through amassing real power both through organizing a cohesive and disciplined united front with its own economic institutions. But that is a subject for another diary.
My point is that Hilary Clinton, because she understands power, knows how to amass power and could build enormous political capital. I don't sense she is a malevolent person--hungry for power she clearly is but nothing like what may be the the destructive and almost nihilistic malevolence we have experienced in the Bush/Cheney years. It will take a very strong leader to heal this country and begin to move us away from fascism. I believe Hilary is the only person who has build the alliances that can at least bring some sense of the public good to the table.
Why not the other candidates? Though nearly all the other candidates are more to my liking in terms of what they actually propose--they cannot make peace with the current power structure if they espouse progressive politicies. This oligarchy knows how to destroy reputations--they have carefully studied every weak point in the collective psyche and have through creative use of social psychology and propaganda been able to veto any politician that doesn't make obeisance to certain core principles known as "Washington Conventional Wisdom". In my opinion that is why Albert Gore refuses to run--they would crucify him. That is why Congress won't seriously pursue corruption and malfeasance in this administration, let alone seriously try to stop the war, because they have been told time after time by senior editors and pundits that they will be crucified on the cross of "betraying the troops" by the mainstream media.
We need the Presidency to at least neutralize the oligarchs that run the country/world. Right now the Presidency is the only institutions that could act as a Tribune for the people--Congress is hopelessly corrupt and weak, and the courts are stacked with Republican judges. Hilary Clinton is a player a real pro who takes positions in order to garner power. She doesn't really "believe" in half of what she says as should be obvious--she's playing the game of building alliances and negotiating with enemies. None of the other candidates have either the resources, alliances, or disposition to try to accomplish what she can do. She knows the lay of the land so that she knows where to apply pressure and where to back off. If you compare her to Edwards, for example, he would always be an outsider and if he chose to fight would get his ass kicked, like Jimmy Carter. You have to have to understand Washington really well in order to rule--that means knowing where the bodies are buried, who to blackmail, who to kick, who to woo, who to kiss and not tell and so on. Hilary has got all that.
Even if someone like Edwards or Obama were to win--what then? You think all those forces that have been engorged on what Naomi Klein calls "disaster capitalism" will go away and say "oh, you've won square and fair, so we'll just get out of the way". Sorry that won't happen. I've lived in the DC area most of my life and I guarantee you those people don't fuck around.
**Update** I realized I needed to add that I don't plan on voting for HC in the primaries and, in fact, recommend that others vote for the candidate of their choice in order to make a statement to the Dem Party. I don't "support" Hilary, just respect here and think she would do a good job.