Madame Senator Pothole
I mean that in a good way. The Washington Post has a piece on all the bacon that Hillary Clinton has brought to upstate New York. Some you might call pork, but some just seems like the kind of thing a good Senator does for the economically depressed parts of her state. Much of her success does stem from her connections:
When Lockheed Martin was bidding to bring the Marine One helicopter contract to Owego, N.Y., Clinton asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair to press the case with President Bush. To help Adirondack artisans sell their wares on the Internet, she called in eBay’s chief executive, Meg Whitman.
To chair New Jobs for New York, a charitable organization that Clinton created to lure companies upstate, she tapped Roger Altman, a Clinton administration official who is now a New York investment banker.
I thought this was about the best thing someone can say about a Senator in terms of taking care of constituents:
Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University and a student of Congress, said: “Very few senators approach the United States Senate with a plan the way Senator Clinton seems to have. Her career has really been a study in method.”
The idea of having a plan is something that I’ll come back to later — it’s something I’d like to see more of from all of our Congressmen and all of our Congressional candidates. Thus far, Maffei is the only one I’ve heard address this (and he hasn’t gone into as much detail as I’d like yet). A hand out here and a hand out here is not the answer; pork is not a plan.
Anyway, today we salute you, Senator Clinton. I won’t vote for you in the primary, but I appreciate the work you’ve done on behalf of the state of New York.
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You didn’t say why you won’t vote for her in the primary.
Won’t vote for Hillary in the primary?
This is really directed at all the comments that may come about Hillary the Presidential Candidate. Who cares.
The Democratic field is very strong. The real question is which of the Democratic candidates would you not vote favor in the face of any of the Republican candidates.
If you are a Democrat, I’d venture to say none.
We all should give kudos to Hillary for her dedication and effort of securing networking connections and resources for the Upstate NY economy.
Exile’s comment about not voting for Hillary in the Primary (which I plan to do as well) is diplomatic in its approach. Much better than this site turing into partisan royal rumble of who our next President should be. This will be a debate which will arrive when the time is right which I will predict when a top-tier candidate drops out whenever that may be.
The short answer is I like Obama and Edwards better.
The long answer is: (1) her support for the war, (2) her tendency to triangulate rather than lead (as with her support for that crazy anti-flag burning bill), and (3) her association with the Democratic Leadership Council whose active members range from the hypocritical (James Carville) to anti-Muslim bigots (Marshall Whitman).
I’d certainly vote for her over any of the Republicans in the general election, but she’s not my favorite Democratic candidate.
I didn’t want to say this in the main post, because there’s enough Hillary-bashing out there already and I wanted this post to highlight her accomplishments.
Thanks for clarifying. I like Obama and Edwards better at this point as well. Hillary is so smart but also so polarizing and she is falling into the trap of trying to please everyone. I am especially partial to Edwards because I’m also from North Carolina (can’t help it, I admit it :)), and I don’t know enough about Obama. I just feel that Edwards is not polarizing and he can bring in the Southern vote, something the Dems traditionally have needed in order to win. Obama needs to be a Southerner to gain more support there, as does Hillary, but both are midwesterners. Gore didn’t win Tennessee and the rest is history.
Technically, all we need to do is win Ohio, which Hillary would be almost certain to do. So I think she’d still win. I just don’t think she’d make the best president of the three.
Our political elites — on both sides — have too often drifted away from the needs of regular, working class Americans. Maybe that’s just an impression that Hillary gives, but from my perspective, Edwards and Obama connect better with regular, working class Americans. At some gut level, that’s how I see things, at least.
I say that not in terms of winning the election but in terms of getting the country behind a president who will fix our health care system and balance the budget.
It occurs to me that, of the three major Democratic candidates, Hillary has been “living in a bubble” the longest time*, which might explain (but not forgive) her being out of touch with ordinary folks. I think you can only spend so much time being a celebrity, surrounded by bodyguards and personal assistants, before it goes to your head. Even worse for her, she’s spent most of her adult life in ceremonial, “decorative” roles where, as long as she didn’t do or say anything outrageous, she was pretty well unaccountable.
*She went from being wife of the governor of Arkansas (12 years, with a 2 year gap) to First Lady (8 years) to U.S. Senator (6+ years). Compare this to Barack Obama’s career (8 years as a State Senator, 4+ years as a U.S. Senator) and John Edwards (6 years as U.S. Senator).