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Hillary will be the nominee. It's inevitable. No matter what we here on the "fringes" might believe about her policy positions, it's obvious that most of America seems to think she'd make a fine President. How can we argue with corporate America, several different unions, and such shining progressive voices as David Brock and Bruce Bartlett?
Nevermind that they're Republicans. :eyes:
Bruce Bartlett, who writes for the National Review (a fine progressive media outlet--not really), says she's a "Democratic we can live with).
Yeah, that's what we want. A Democrat the Republicans can "live with."
Can I get a woo-hoo?
And, no, I don't think a Hillary nomination will get the Republicans to rush out and vote en masse for the Republican candidate. As things stand, they're getting a lukewarm reception at best as it is. Even with Hillary flying high in the polls.
The question we should be asking ourselves that, if she's the candidate the Republicans can "live with," is she a candidate WE can live with?
Let's hope so. Because she's the one we're getting.
It was pointed out to me that she comes across as "liberal on social issues" and more "conservative on foreign policy and trade issues." And, when you take into consideration that the vast majority of Americans (even Democrats) aren't necessarily the political wonks WE happen to be--insisting on being up-to-date with the latest issues, causes, and arguments, that is--she really has a mass appeal that some of us might not be able to understand.
She's a known quantity. There are few Dems, and, let's face it, few Americans in general, who aren't looking back on the nineties with a distinct sense of nostalgia. Putting aside NAFTA and the Defense Of Marriage Act and the Don't Ask Don't Tell military policy, and the media deregulation that has completely skewed (and screwed) the political dialogue in this country, it wasn't a bad time for us as a nation.
We were respected, we had a generally thriving economy (even though the whole dot-com bubble was a fortituous accident for the Clinton administration), and we ended up with a budget surplus for a change.
And let's set aside the whole War On Drugs escalation that happened under Clinton, particularly where even MORE cannabis users were prosecuted during that administration than the previous one, even though Bill himself stated after he was out of office that he thought it should be legalized.
I guess that's just politics. Too bad so many American families had to suffer for it.
The fact is, we could do a LOT worse than Hillary Clinton. Just take a peek over the fence. Even the Republicans aren't all that thrilled by their potential candidates. What we're facing over here is NOTHING compared to what THEY'RE facing. They couldn't get charged up about their candidates if they were hooked up to a defibrilator pushing 300 jules through their tiny little hearts.
McCain's pandering is blatant. Ghouliani is prompting Dobson's crew to consider running a third party candidate (I'm sure the new Theocrat party go over like a lead balloon), and the most religous of their candidates is from a sect all too many Christians still view as little more than a crazy cult.
So Hillary isn't our dream candidate. Big whoop. The way things are set up, the only Dem with any chance anymore has to play by DLC rules. That may sting, but it sure seems to be true.
So what to do? Well, let's see how this all shakes out. I'm pretty sure we're going to end up with a woman in the White House. A socially liberal woman, at least. Someone who won't appoint another TheoNazi to the Supreme Court. Someone who might actually surround herself with competent people instead of pinheaded sycophants.
And if we REALLY take the issues seriously, we start small and build up, the way the Republicans have been doing for the past twenty to thirty years. We work to take the party over from the inside, just as the nutcases did on THAT side of the aisle. It'll take work, it'll take dedication, and it will take patience.
But we've seen how it can work. And, as a bonus, we know that what we're fighting for in this case is actually what the majority WANTS. We won't be trying to pander to a 30% minority while trying to hide it from everyone else. The more momentum we gather, the stronger we'll become.
So, yeah...I'll vote for Hillary if she becomes the candidate. Because we could do a LOT worse. And, at the very least, it might give us some breathing space to start building a true progressive coalition to take on the established and entrenched interests currently running things.
So let's have no more talk of slamming the door on the party. If it's our party, we have to take responsibility for fixing it.
If it's not, what the hell are we doing here?
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