August 15, 2007

CLINTON: Just Win Baby

In an ideal world, Hillary Clinton would not be the netroots first choice in the Dem field. In the real world where the GOP has controlled the WH for the past eight years, Clinton's proven political prowess has earned her enough respect in the community to make her an acceptable nominee. At MyDD, Big Tent Democrat explains:

"Hillary has earned my respect the past six months. ... First and foremost, to date, Hillary has proven herself the most proficient politician in the race. ... Let's stop pretending that Hillary is a secret Republican operative. You merely come across, to me at least, as a blithering fool. Let's stop pretending that the fact that [John] Edwards and [Barack] Obama do not take money directly from lobbyists but do take money from spouses and CEOs and hedge fund managers means something substantively. ... Hillary's political performance the last six months has been exceptionally good. She has reaffirmed her progressive bona fides on issue after issue and neutralized her potential weaknesses with smoothness and aplomb. She rarely makes mistakes. Her performances at the debates have been first rate. She has become a top notch politician."

TPM Cafe's MJ Rosenberg notices that, whatever other faults she may have, "she make Republicans lose it!" Rosenberg tracks WH reaction to Clinton's first campaign ad attacking Pres. Bush and comments: "She drives Republicans nuts. She causes them to lose their sh*t. And, when they attack her as they did this week, she causes pretty much all Democrats to want to rally behind her.I think that is because, although not all of us are Hillary fans, we know that the Republicans despise her because she's an "uppity woman", a liberal, a "sixties" person, a symbol of the diversity that is the Democratic party."

Andrew Sullivan, however, is turned off by her political skills: "So why my continued - almost violent - fear of her as president? The answer, I think, is about character. ... The character issue is really about having a president I can trust, whose words are connected to what he or she actually believes, and a president who can move us past the hideous and growing polarization of the past two decades. The words that come out of Clinton's mouth are like round, honed pebbles on a beach of public relations and focus groups. ... But as long as there is a viable alternative - Obama - there's still hope for something better."

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 15, 2007 12:54 PM