Got your attention, didn't I? But it's true. It's very simple: If you have some liability, some weakness, you need something powerful to cancel it out. You need goodwill, or humor, or exceptional intelligence. Hillary has at least 2 weaknesses: Her husband President Clinton, and her own unpleasant disposition, magnified by her impressive talent for pathological dishonesty and evasion. In short, people don't like her. People vote for people they like. We might say that the voting public has no good reason to like or trust someone, but if they do, they do. The American people are capable of overlooking a lot if they like you. Bill Clinton committed a felony while in office; did it matter? Nope. The people generally acted like it was the Republicans' fault that we even heard about it.
Reagan could have easily gotten impeached for Iran-Contra; doesn't matter. We liked him.
George W. Bush flat-out lied to us about their use of waterboarding; it won't matter. He'll be more fondly remembered than Clinton. Likability.
I recall in 2008, Hillary had a mildly unexpected primary win in Nevada, I think. I watched her speech. Everybody who wins has a line that touts the growing base of their appeal. They do it to energize supporters, and convince the differently committed that the train is leaving, so to speak. Hillary said something like, "And our coalition includes Republicans who've seen the light." I've never had such a negative reaction to a line, ever. It was tone-deaf. Here she was, trying to suggest that she's going to win, but essentially calling voters she'll need idiots for not supporting her earlier. She acts like she is a gift to the American people, and not the other way around.
I understand that all politicians have huge egos. It comes with the game. But you've got to be able to feign humility believably. She can't. At all. You can't win like that.
Let me say that the people do not resign themselves to their presidents, ordinarily. There has to be a large segment of people who wants to vote for someone. Tell me, which groups of people would find Hillary Clinton compelling that would not also find any other Democrat compelling? I don't see her overcoming the visceral dislike of Republicans. I don't see how she can own Obama's record without being torpedoed by it. (Benghazi, anyone?) She doesn't talk like a president; rooms don't crackle when she enters; she has power, but it's inertia, not the power of individuality.
I said Obama would be president a solid 2 years before the election. You can feel presidents coming, if you pay attention. It's a little more Student Council-ish than we'd like, but it's reality. The game of politics is distinct from the work of governing. Hillary doesn't have "it," and she never really did. Let's be real: if the "front-runner" gets beat by a freshman senator with no real accomplishments whatsoever, how fresh will she seem this time?
Reagan could have easily gotten impeached for Iran-Contra; doesn't matter. We liked him.
George W. Bush flat-out lied to us about their use of waterboarding; it won't matter. He'll be more fondly remembered than Clinton. Likability.
I recall in 2008, Hillary had a mildly unexpected primary win in Nevada, I think. I watched her speech. Everybody who wins has a line that touts the growing base of their appeal. They do it to energize supporters, and convince the differently committed that the train is leaving, so to speak. Hillary said something like, "And our coalition includes Republicans who've seen the light." I've never had such a negative reaction to a line, ever. It was tone-deaf. Here she was, trying to suggest that she's going to win, but essentially calling voters she'll need idiots for not supporting her earlier. She acts like she is a gift to the American people, and not the other way around.
I understand that all politicians have huge egos. It comes with the game. But you've got to be able to feign humility believably. She can't. At all. You can't win like that.
Let me say that the people do not resign themselves to their presidents, ordinarily. There has to be a large segment of people who wants to vote for someone. Tell me, which groups of people would find Hillary Clinton compelling that would not also find any other Democrat compelling? I don't see her overcoming the visceral dislike of Republicans. I don't see how she can own Obama's record without being torpedoed by it. (Benghazi, anyone?) She doesn't talk like a president; rooms don't crackle when she enters; she has power, but it's inertia, not the power of individuality.
I said Obama would be president a solid 2 years before the election. You can feel presidents coming, if you pay attention. It's a little more Student Council-ish than we'd like, but it's reality. The game of politics is distinct from the work of governing. Hillary doesn't have "it," and she never really did. Let's be real: if the "front-runner" gets beat by a freshman senator with no real accomplishments whatsoever, how fresh will she seem this time?
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