The Canute Factor

[bain_sidhe]

King Canute gets a bad rap in the public consciousness. Most people, if they know anything about him at all, think he's the crazy king that tried to order the tide not to come in.

Well, yes, he did that, but it was to prove a point to his flattering courtiers: that he wasn't all powerful. They kept telling him that he could do anything he wanted to, so he had his throne taken to the beach, and sat there, ordering the tide not to come in, as the water lapped about his feet.

What's this got to do with GD: Primaries, you ask? Well, I've had my Canute moment in the last couple of days.

I have said all along that I support both of the remaining candidates; that they both had strengths and weaknesses so evenly balanced in my mind that I could not chose between them... and that whether I chose or not didn't matter, because my sole and singular goal was to get a Democrat in the White House in the next election.

Sadly, I've come to believe that my goal is not obtainable with Hillary as the nominee.

Why?

The press. That infamous MSM we like to rail against. They were never in her corner in the first place, but at least they were moderately respectful as they expressed oh-so-reasonable doubts about her and/or promoted their subtle anti-Hillary arguments. Now they have actively turned against her. They have abandoned subtlety, not to mention respect, and openly sneer at her.

Meanwhile, the press continues its fangrrl swoon over the Manly, Masterful Maverick McCain (TM). They seem to like Obama, at least. So while they may not give him a free ride (their corporate masters still prefer Manly, Masterful Maverick McCain (TM), after all), at least they might not savage him during the general. Thus, on such thin gruel, rest my hopes for a Democratic victory in the general election.

I have serious doubts about Obama's chances as well. I don't think that it's racist to point out that there are, in fact, a lot of closet racists in this country, and they may, in fact, when we get to the state-by-state electoral college, make the difference. It was primarily this that kept me from jumping on board the Obama bandwagon. But at least we won't be fighting the press's hostility on top of the racist impulses that are all too near the surface in some of my fellow 'murkins.

And I must confess, while my head was being all clear-eyed and calculating, my heart was always pulling for Hillary. I want to see a woman president in my lifetime, and I very much believe that I won't, if it isn't Hillary. There is no other woman on the political scene that has the kind of advantages that let Hillary get even this far. The thinly veiled sexism of much of the coverage of Hillary convinces me that, without the name recognition, "machine" and public familiarity (and yes, public affection) that Hillary had, no other woman will be "allowed" to get beyond the early rounds of any foreseeable future presidential primary.

I can not begin to describe how painful and infuriating it is to me that in America, "democracy" has come to mean that we are only allowed to nominate/elect the candidates that The Press likes.

But there it is. The Canute Factor. I can not order this tide to turn, no matter how much I want it to.

[Andy823]

1. I too would like to see

A woman president someday, but the right woman not the wrong woman. Sadly from what I have see so far, Hillary is "NOT" the right woman.

[bain_sidhe]

2. You can say "not this woman"

Or you can say, "not this time." It all boils down to the same thing, in my mind: "Not ever." (Or, at least, not in my lifetime, which is the same thing to me.)

I still think that Hillary would be a good president. On that we'll just have to disagree.

[Johnny__Motown]

4. A woman who does not need to run on her husband's accomplishments with her husband's

discarded political machine might have a chance.

She is a fatally flawed candidate, always was.


Her negatives were always to high to be viable. Her 48% negative 37% positive in yesterday's WSJ/MSNBC poll demonstrates that fact. (not that one poll is definitive, her negatives have always been to high)

[bain_sidhe]

5. I know she was flawed

That's why I wasn't on her bandwagon either. I just didn't think it was fatal. At least, not until the press started mocking her, and bringing up old baggage.

I believed, and continue to believe, that she'd be a good president. I also believed, and continue to believe, that Obama would be a good president.

The goal is getting them into the oval office so that can do their "good president" thing. That was where I was stuck. They both have "flaws" and/or negatives that can, and will, be exploited by the pubbies. The point I was trying to make with this post is that in one case (Clinton's) the press seems to be helping the pubbies do that exploitation, and in the other case (Obama's), they're not.

Yet. It may happen in the general, but it just seems less likely to happen with Obama than it does with Clinton.

[bain_sidhe]

3. Sigh

One kick, just in case anybody didn't see this, then I'll "let it sink" like the troll post it is, apparently.