Benny's World

Friday, August 04, 2006

Will there be a Backflip from the Junior NY Senator?

I liked Hillary Clinton at first when she was campaigning with her husband, and I thought it was neat that she and Tipper got along so well at the time.

But over time, I felt she overstepped her role as First Lady. No, I didn't expect her to stay in the kitchen and bake cookies, as she stated she didn't want to do either in 1992. But I thought the health care proposal she made in front of Congress and did a poor job in defending it, alienated so many people that the Class of 1994 was voted in. And we're in a mess today, thanks to their inebriation of power. And that would come to haunt her husband.

Moreover, Vince Foster's death still left me wondering why he wanted to commit suicide.

I was sorry to see that Bill Clinton wasted his political capital having to defend himself regarding an affair with a WH intern. Be that as it may, he was impeached. To me, it was dumb to be impeached for a small lie, compared to what we read in Rep. John Conyers' report that was posted earlier today on the Huffington Post (hat-tip to Mardee) about the statues broken by Bush. If it weren't for JRE's defense speech for President Clinton, I'm not so certain he would have been acquitted. And Hillary would not be in the Senate today. She would have had to wait until this year to make a run for the Senate, if the voters were still willing.

Yesterday, she made statements to Rumsfeld about mis-managing the war. And they were true. Yet, there was no questioning that suggested oversight and demanding accountability about the senseless war in Iraq.

But the real problem was that her words were so scripted, and she left out something she really thought, which was to call on Rummy's resignation, but she did so later in an obscure interview with someone from the AP. When this was the question posed for the second call-in segment of this morning's Washington Journal on C-SPAN, most of the callers (on all 3 lines) had unkind words about her, and most supported Rummy staying in, or admitting that it would unlike the President to "choose to accept Rumsfeld's resignation", as she was quoted in that AP piece.

Today Media Matters reported that on Monday's Hardball show, that Hillary would have to do a backflip on her position on Iraq if she wanted to gain traction for a run in 2008. The day before, on the Chris Matthews Show, she was considered unauthentic, as reported on the OAC blog, and JRE was considered to be more geniune.

Thus, I believe that even if she does the backflip, it will not be perceived as geniune. She would choose some kind of language that wouldn't say she was sorry or "I was wrong." Her ego is too large for that, in my view, and there are other voters who think she's not real either.

To tie this together, Bill Clinton was OK as a President and our economy was better during his administration. But due to his impeachment, he is a liability to Hillary as much as an asset in fundraising. But I think most Dems are tired of pols who are "in bed" (pun intended as to follow Bill's sin) with special interest groups, and certainly Hillary is in that category with Rupert Murdoch, whereas JRE is not.

It's time to have a person be in charge of our country who will be honest and caring about our people, and will help heal the wounds here and abroad.







That person is John Reid Edwards.









(photo credit: Chris OTR, via Flickr)

Check out the report about the WakeUp Wal-Mart rally I posted on OAC blog today. JRE definitely brings people together. Paul Blank from the Tour de WUW gets it.

Tags: John Edwards, JRE, Hillary Clinton, Chris Matthews Show, reversal of political position (backflip), Iraq war, authenticity, President 2008 race, One America Committee, Benny's World

2 Comments:

  • I was listening to the clips Of Hillary grilling the Secretary of Defense. I tend to agree that it sounded too scripted. Years ago, I was at Politics and Prose in DC to hear Anna Davaere Smith get interviewed. She talked about how she doesn't try to imitate the tone of voices as much as she does inflections and rhythms. She said that of any public person she'd ever seen, Bill Clinton had the most fascinating and varied voice inflection, she had ever encountered. He knew how to go loud and soft, how to speed it up, go rhythmic, etc. when trying to make a point in a speech or in person.

    His wife doesn't seem to have that gift. Actually, very few people do. On the other hand, I'm not sure a politician's instrument is the reason we should or shouldn't vote for someone. AT this point, I prefer Edwards to Hillary, myself. If you're taking pulses on these things.

    By Blogger Chancelucky, at 3:25 PM  

  • Hi Chancelucky,

    My understanding about Bill Clinton's speaking ability took quite a bit of practice. When he was voted out of office after one term as governor, he worked with professionals to improve his speaking.

    Actually, I think Hillary is a good speaker, but it's not from the heart, as JRE's is. Someone on the Daily Kos mentioned that they hadn't seen anyone like Edwards who could speak with conviction as well as have an optimistic tone at the same time.

    Do you find the JRE buzz a useful digest?

    Thanks for stopping by. Benny

    By Blogger benny06, at 4:25 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home