Last August, I wrote the post below, after the Logo Democratic Debate. But because of all of the local races we had, I felt it was more important that I focus on those and not what was happening nationally. With the Iowa caucuses tomorrow, now is the time.
The “question” did it for me. But I’ve been waffling on my support of Bill Richardson for president for a while now. Not because I don’t think he’s qualified, because I think he is. No, it has to do with his performance in the debates. Richardson’s resume is impressive. I still think he’s probably the one candidate that can appeal to the middle. But the guy still can’t string a sentence together and is unable to articulate a message, not to mention that his fundraising is lackluster. I expected more from him.
So I’m going with my number two. No, it isn’t Al Gore – because I don’t expect that he will enter the race. And neither is it John Edwards. I like his wife – hell, I wish she was the candidate. But there’s just something about John that I don’t like. Never have.
Ultimately, I will support the Democratic nominee. But for now, my support goes to…
I’ve read all the reports of why she can’t be elected. At the end of the day, though, I disagree with them. Hillary is a smart woman who knows what needs to be done – not only to win the nomination but to win the election. Will I disagree with her? Yes. But except for Dennis Kucinich, no one represents my views more closely than Hillary.
Below is her first campaign ad, one that I certainly identify with. I understand all too well what it is like to be invisible.
Hillary Clinton in 2008!
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
“See, this is why I’ve generally kept my criticisms of Hillary to myself.”
It’s a good rule of thumb, MB. I keep my personal opinions out of most primary discussions because even when I say nice things, I’m often just lumping myself in with crazy people who happen to hold concurrent opinions that they’ve rationalized with ridiculous arguments and conventional wisdom (wrongly applied) that they self-agrandizingly call “analysis” because they don’t actually know the difference between the words “analysis” and “hypothesis.” Raising Kaine is horrible about this linguistic rape of the scientific method (although Lowell is usually better than his readers).
As an example? I hope Mosquito won’t mind if I pick on this sentence: “If the Washington establishment Dems get their way and Hillary becomes the Democratic nominee[…]” I don’t know where the idea of this monolithic “establishment” comes from and who keeps perpetuating the idea. I suspect it’s that some people want someone to blame when things go the exact opposite way we would have liked or predicted (see Howards Dean and the 2004 nominating process, Phil Forgit and why it’s the DCCC’s fault). What I actually know for certain, however, is that Democrats who work in Washington, D.C. all harbor their own feelings about who they want to win. Most of the DC insiders I know who *are* pulling for Clinton only warmed up to her after 6 months of her candidacy. Most insiders are, if anything, more practical and pragmatic than the rest of us. You never hear an insider say anything that’s as frankly discourteous as “I look forward to your future support of Barack Obama.”
Some people apparently need a map and a compass so they can locate the thin line between “I respect your right to a differing opinion” and “I respect your right to be wrong.” God I hate primaries. Is it over yet?
Good points all around, Anonymous. Re: the DC crowd – but wouldn’t you say that these are people who were pre-disposed to Clinton, but hesitant to commit because they weren’t sure she could pull it off? That’s my read. The DC Edwards crowd is . . . hmm, how to describe? The sort of people that used to work for centrists like Daschle and now wish they’d swung a little harder? And Obama’s got an odd mix of optimists, gamblers, and straight up operators (tho’ everyone has some of those).
~
And on another point, I think I recall Ms. Paige inviting you to de-anonymize yourself (i.e., picking a unique identifier) some time ago. I’d like to second that. I can usually tell when it’s you writing, but it would still be nice to be a little surer in my assumptions when following a conversation with “anonymous.”
I’ve been quite obnoxious about who my choice for President is lately, and won’t mention his name again here, but I’ve always been adamant about the fact that I don’t dislike Hillary or any of the other Dems. I’ll fight tooth and nail to help my candidate win the nomination, but won’t hesitate to support whoever ultimately emerges as victorious on the other end of the selection circus.
There’s only one anonymous posting here, MB, and it’s me in all instances (even the one about the doll from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which I kind of regret in retrospect). It does occur to me, however, that I am usually the only person who realizes this is true. I’ll consider switching to something else…but I feel like there’s something simple and wonderfully true about using “anonymous” as a handle. My personality may come through in my writing style, but I’m not writing to be a personality. I don’t comment here because I feel like you should care one way or the other what I think about anything. I only hope that what I write will make other people think.
I would agree that the DC Hillary crowd was hesitant to commit because they weren’t sure she could pull it off. I do not necessarily agree that they were predisposed to support Hillary in the first place, however. I know a few people who were on Congressional staffs in the 90s who physically loathe the Clintons for a variety of reasons (predominantly because of their willingness to cooperate with House Republicans on matters where they could find common ground). You’re right, though, that they eventually came around because they were impressed to see that she’s running a very good race.
mb and anonymous, blah, blah, blah – your “analysis” and “hypothesis” are often long winded and boring!
Anyway, Obama is going to win the democratic nomination, Billary and Edwards just don’t connect with a majority of dem base. I am actually interested in Obama, I believe he can be persuaded to see the light and drawn closer to the right on certain issues.
I’m touched you got out your dictionary to follow along, rlewis.
My worst fear regarding Gov. Richardson was that he was qualified to be president, but not qualified to be a presidential candidate. We can always support the eventual nominee, but I think what first attracted you to Richardson has not gone away, it’s just obscured by the dog and pony show these hopefuls slog through every four years. The primary races and media campaigns have nothing to do with governing, yet they are what we use to decide who governs.
http://www.banquokdangerfield.blogspot.com
anonymous, have you actually read what you write? you act like you are the messiah. You must sit in front of a mirror and look at yourself all day.
I support him because I feel like he’s the most like me. – I seriously doubt you can remotely compare yourself to Obama. Wishful thinking!
Nice placement of the page jump, Vivian 😉 Having been out of the country for the majority of the last year or so, i have been spared much of this bloated 2-year-long campaign season. For this i am very thankful.
I have never considered the idea of local politics being more important than national, but i think you’re right in a lot ways. It is more important who is in charge of my city, my county, and my state, because these are the people who will be affecting my everyday life once i return to the States.
Thanks for opening my eyes to that. Thanks also for echoing the oft-repeated statement about Kucinich (it’s almost verbatim what Michael Moore said today). Such a shame that he is unelectable.
One last thing. I know i told you privately already, but reading your blog today brought it home again: this is a damn fine looking blog you have here. Gorgeous, actually.
Obama for President. Anonymous for Vice President.
rlewis, do you read what you write? You must spend all day in front of a camera licking yourself because you write with the thoughtfulness of an lolcat pic. “I can haz 0pini0n plz?? U can haz mai 0pini0n weth3r u laik it r n0t!!1” Which is sort of a fundamental difference, I think. I share my opinion, but I don’t need you to know definitively that it is actually mine, and I don’t need you to agree. You, meanwhile, have nothing to say and absolutely can’t stand the thought of people not hearing you say it in as insulting a manner as possible. It probably drives you nuts to know deep down that neither MB or myself could possibly give less of a damn what you think. And that’s the only reason I answer, rlewis. To remind you that you that your opinion of me or my writing style or whatever could not possibly matter less to me, while deep down, I know nothing angers you more than knowing that I think you’re meaningless.
With that in mind, here’s a lolpaul for people to enjoy. http://www.catsandbeer.com/uploads/2007/08/lolron_prez.jpg
Peter & looplyoo – come on in, the water’s fine 🙂
anon & MB – you guys rock. I appreciate your comments because y’all get the “disagree without being disagreeable” part.
david – good point.
Johnny – you can say Biden around here. No one’s going to bite your head off 😉
virginiadem – I look forward to your support of Hillary as well, along with the thousands of other Virginia supporters.
judyb12 – it’s always interesting to have another perspective. Two years of this is a long time. And thanks for the comments on the blog.
rlewis – stop the personal attacks. NOW. They have really gotten old.
Vivian,
Actually, there’s a possibility that in the primaries I’ll actually participate on the Republican side. I know; I’ll likely get tarred and feathered for making such a statement, however…
In the past, I have participated in both primaries — no not at the same time. I place my support more on the person than the party. I don’t remember what year it was, but at some point in the past I voted for McCain in a primary… and not the Republican candidate when the actual election came around.
I’ll just have to see how things have played out when we get to our primary day…
When is it?
Peter – the primary in VA is Feb 12. (And I voted for McCain in the 2000 primary so it’s not a problem on this blog 😉 )
VJP, I’m almost with you. I’ve been a Richardson fan for a long time, since he was my congressman in NM. Always impressed. But his debate performances (not really something I like to base a vote on, but oh, well) have been wickedly aweful! And kind of uncharacteristic, from what I’ve seen previously and in other forums (fora?).
But I’m still totally undecided. Was leaning for Clinton (I despise the way people call her Hillary when they don’t refer to any other candidate almost solely by their first name — no offense). Lately, Obama is making more sense to me (could just be familiarity because of the incessant exposure). Biden or Dodd would be the best actual leaders, probably, but just aren’t going to get the nod (sad state of affairs in modern politics).
And Edwards just doesn’t come off as sincere. Well, he comes off as sincere, but I just don’t think he is. And the good Dr. Tabor is very, very accurate in his comments. Edwards has made a fortune specifically ruining many good, honest physicians’ lives and then teaching others to do the same. I don’t really fault him for it as a lawyer, but I do as a presidential candidate.
And loopyloo – yes, some doctors don’t listen very well, but it doesn’t mean that they caused anyone’s cerebral palsy. While juries do return verdicts in the opposite direction, Edwards’ past practices (the one’s that have actually made it possible for him to run for president) have been dirty at best and dishonest in reality. I guess he was fighting for the little guy, though, like he says. Too bad there are a lot of good, honest, quality OB/Gyn’s out there who can’t get a medical license because of it.
Luckily, in VA there is a birth injury fund to avoid this kind of thing!
Anyhoo, I’m still at the coin flippin’ stage on the candidates. I bet it feels good to have come to a decision.