| Just recently an internal memo at Clinton HQ was released that advocated skipping the Iowa caucus, in favor of a stronger showing in NH and on Super Tuesday in Febuary. As that WaPo article notes, the campaign is not following this strategy, they called it just one persons opinion and unsolicited at that.
Regardless, this is not really what concerns me about this memo. The notion that a front runner stacked to the ceiling with DLC dough has staffers that think this way is a little off-putting. Moreover, the article said that this was conceived as a possible solution to Sen. Clinton's lame poll showing in Iowa.
I won't be supporting Hillary Clinton in the primary. Unlike many Americans, I don't hate her for being a weird, strong first lady, or for standing by her husband whose office shenanigans coupled with a ridiculous response from Congress cost this country a lot of clout, in the eyes of the American people. I think that her war on video games is an asanine waste of public time and money.
But this news really troubles me for two reasons: First, America is at a juncture right now, a low point, and what we really need is someone who will actually start to mend the fissures between us. This is particularly true of the Democratic party, thanks largely to Hillary, Bill, and their DLC cronies. That aside, Hillary does not strike me as the kind of leader who will unite us or who can bring us back from the brink where George W. Bush will surely leave us. This memo means that some of the people who surround the Clinton campaign think that poor performance in the polls is a good time for triage. It isn't. Now, I know that it is not fair to hold Clinton ultimately accountable for every little stupid thing that her staff does or thinks, but the folks you surround yourself with give a good indication of what kind of leader you will be.
This leads to the second troubling point: Hillary is a poll watcher and listener. I am not a huge fan of George W. Bush's personal link to God method of directing this country, but I do appreciate that he does not handcuff himself to whatever some moron with a phone tells him a majority believes. We already have a branch of government that is designed to reflect the people in a better way than the President possibly can. Surprise, surprise that branch is a check on the President's power. A truly great American President will set a course for the future and take the American people farther than they thought it was possible to go. That is good leadership. That Ari Berman piece I linked above is long but it is worth your time to check it out, specifically if you are having trouble deciding in this primary, like many of us.
I will probably write more on the Democratic primary in the coming weeks, hopefully with a more positive bent than these few thoughts. I wish that I didn't have to write about this so early, but what are you going to do? |
