I've been holding off on writing on Hillary Clinton's candidacy for a simple reason. With so much to write about, where do I start? Her history as a political force in the US goes back to 1992 with her husband's election as president and her ascent to being the First Lady of the country. As her husband left office, she was beginning her own political career, being elected as senator for the state of New York, a clear case of carpetbagging if there ever was one. Now, as we have all predicted, she has launched for own bid for the presidency.
It would be senseless to try and recount Hillary's track record in public life, beginning as First Lady and then as a senator. The Health Care Plan, the White Water Law Firm scandal, the White House Travel Office, Vince Foster, the efforts to discredit all of the women in Bill's life, the charges of "vast right-wing conspiracy" when the Lewinsky scandal broke, the pardons her husband gave to imprisoned members of the New York Hasidic Jewish community in New York-that led that community to vote Democratic (for Hillary) for the first time in recent memory, etc. Anyone who doesn't know about this woman's history (as well as her husband's) probably should vote for Paris Hilton as a write-in in 2008. The fact remains that nobody is neutral on Hillary. You either love her or hate her. Every poll that I've seen suggests to me that 40-45% of the electorate would crawl out of their deathbeds to vote against her. Hard to overcome, unless, of course, you call out all the prison inmates, convicted felons, illegal immigrants and cemetery residents to vote for her.
But seriously, let's be honest. Watch this woman on TV. Pay attention to her body language, her non-verbal communication, and facial expressions. Does this woman really project sincerity to you? No. What she projects is insincerity, arrogance, ruthlessness and blind ambition to reach the pinnacle of political power at any cost, quite reminiscent of the evil queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Watch the way she answers open-ended questions with a long monologue, eyes shifting all over the horizon. She is obviously making it up as she goes along. Of course, she has her true believers, but they know what Hillary is. They don't care about her character and veracity because they are counting on her to carry out their desired liberal policies once she is in the White House. If she has to shift to the center in the election to garner independent voters, well..., they understand.
At this stage, notwithstanding the challenge from Barack Obama, most observers concede that Hillary will win the Democratic nomination, in spite of her back and forth record on the Iraq War, which has cost her support from the left. Many observers think that given the public's disenchantment with George Bush and the Republicans over the war and their waffling on illegal immigration, Hillary will likely win it all in a general election. Maybe I am naive, but I still can't bring myself to believe that the majority of the American voters would vote to make Mrs. Clinton president. I could be wrong- her husband won two elections in spite of the fact that we all knew he was lacking in character. We know that Hillary is also lacking in character. Hopefully, in 2008, character will count.
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