Thread: The Clinton Albatross

The Clinton Albatross
By Victor Davis Hanson
Thursday, December 20, 2007

If polls are accurate, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s once-sure bid for the Democratic presidential nomination is now not so sure. Her wide lead vanished without warning in Iowa and New Hampshire — and maybe elsewhere as well.

Was it due to her waffling on issues like the Iraq war and driver’s licenses for illegal aliens? Or was her campaign too smug — like that of similarly sputtering Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani — assuming she should be coronated by the polls and media rather than having to fight for the nomination tooth and nail?

Or is it just that her upbeat, confident rival, Barack Obama — with a little help from Oprah — is surging as he bests her in back-and-forth quips?

Hillary’s campaign is so stalled that her advisers have tried dredging up Obama’s kindergarten essays and his admitted drug use. And now they’re resorting to flying in Bill Clinton to save the day. Some polls and conventional wisdom suggest he may yet restore his wife’s fortunes.

But Bill’s not exactly a fireman. He may instead throw gasoline on the fire.

First, his vote-getting abilities are suspect. He never won 50 percent of the vote in a presidential election. That fact and the embarrassment of his impeachment were why Vice President Al Gore kept him away from his 2000 campaign. True, Bill’s presence is said to resonate with African-American voters, but most may prefer Obama anyway, as polls now show in South Carolina.

[b]Second, Bill Clinton often comes across as a narcissist. He talks the longest and loudest about himself. It is almost impossible for first-person Bill to praise Hillary without adding, “When I was presidentâ€

I can't see Democrats wanting Hillary or Obama if illegal is going to mean legal on there watch.

I have feared that Obama was going to be a force since his speech at the Democratic convention some years ago.

Immediately after the speech, all the pundits almost verbatim, called him 'Presidential material'.

He's got some powerful backing from somewhere and it's not all Oprah.

We always here about how upset Republicans are with the GOP, but I can tell you my husband and I both 30 year Democrats are definately not going to vote Democrat this year. There are still a few good Democrats like Dorgan, but most of them stink.

I have a feeling that the Democrat Party is in for a big surprise if they are counting on Democrats voting party line. There are a lot of people like us that haven't changed to Independant yet so that we can vote in the Primaries.