We have all heard and read about the Clintons seemingly forever. We were, as a country, mesmerized by the first 'man from Hope'. We watched as this former Arkansas governor simply overwhelmed the opposition. He had all the right moves. He seemed sincere. He was, unknown to us at the time, a bit of a scoundrel. He became our president for eight years. He built the most vaunted political 'machine' of its time, and that machine ultimately helped to put the former first lady into the U.S. Senate as a New Yorker which was a stretch. The definition of carpetbagger had to be stretched to accommodate her.
Senator Hillary Clinton was watched as she did her work in the Senate. She was mentioned early on as the prospective first woman candidate for the presidency. It seemed to be her destiny. The press couldn't seem to get enough of her. And, as it was written, she assumed the mantle and joined the race amid the flourishes that accompany the 'next coming' of a politician.
And now, there seems to be a burn-out factor that she is having greater and greater difficulty overcoming. Peggy Noonan writes, in her piece 'Confidence or Derangement' about the problems that have beset this campaign. If you've not read it, I would encourage you to do so. I am, admittedly, a big Noonan fan.
Barack Obama is a politician's politician. His rhetorical gift has propelled him into the stratosphere of political approval. His fans are truly fanatical. He has just begun to make his actual positions known and yet he is virtually the next Democrat candidate for President. His speeches have inspired without educating. He has refused to debate his now sole opponent, as is customary for the leading candidate to refuse until forced into such debates. It has been difficult to determine his real positions on a range of important subjects. Those positions are beginning to be fleshed out, but the decision has nearly been made, so the facts don't seem to matter that much.
It is doubtful, at best, that his actual positions will change any of his supporters' opinion about where their vote should go. This has become a frightening political season for me quite frankly. I do not recall such enthusiastic support about any candidate from any party in the past without having been able to get at the substance of the person. Albeit, when candidates camouflage their real thoughts and simply parrot what they know the masses want to hear, we're unable to glean insight into the real person. But this somehow feels different to me.
It feels like the election could simply turn on a phrase. And, that, even in politics, seems dangerously shallow to me. Obama is the most liberal of the liberals. He is, as I stated earlier, seemingly a socialist/populist. Whatever is wrong can be fixed by government. Corporations make too much money, so we'll force them to spend those profits as we, the government, deem they ought be spent. And, if they refuse to buckle, we'll simply take the money away from them.
This has the vague sound of Venezuela and Hugo Chavez.
