I have newfound respect for Hillary Clinton

[Neecy]

I was an Obama supporter from the beginning, and it wasn't out of a dislike for Hillary. I just believed we needed wholesale change in the direction of the country (jury is still out here...)

I just finished reading The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson. The book itself is outstanding; the authors not only covered the details of the various campaigns but followed individuals from focus groups throughout 2008 in order to understand the reasoning behind their choices, particularly among those who changed sides. The dynamics of the McCain campaign made for entertaining reading as well.

While the authors did an excellent job covering the McCain and Obama campaigns, the story of the Hillary campaign impressed me. Yes, she surrounded herself with a highly incompetent campaign team and they served her poorly. But, my god, what a strong woman she is. The book tells of a phone call between Hillary and her top aides the morning after the Iowa caucus. Her staff was stunned by the third place finish and had no advice to give her - in fact, most were silent throughout the call. Fine, Hillary said calmly. I'll do this myself. And she went on to win New Hampshire. Her staff continued to be grossly incompetent and probably lost the nomination for her by ignoring the caucus states but she stuck it out through pure willpower. Her intelligence and toughness came through on almost every page that dealt with the Democratic nomination battle.

I was one of those who, by late Spring of last year, was grousing for her to get out of the race. Now I'm glad she didn't. Not only did she make Obama a better GE candidate but she truly laid the groundwork for a woman to make a serious run for the presidency, probably more so than we realize. For that, we all owe her respect and thanks, no matter who we supported in the primaries.

[Taverner]

1. I've always liked Hillary

She's my favorite moderate

[endeavourniche]

2. Hillary

Hillary is absolutely fantastic! As long as there's something in it for Hillary.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. +1

:evilgrin:

[Submariner]

4. Oh Yum

:popcorn:

[ChicagoSuz219]

5. Hey, where'd you find my baby picture? LOL nt

[JuniperLea]

10. Pass it on over...

I brought beer!

[xultar]

9. That's not all fucking bad.

[JuniperLea]

11. As it is with most people...

Why should she be any different?

[placton]

6. I have oldfound respect for Hillary

and none left over for Obama (oops, did I say that out loud?)

[redqueen]

7. I thought this was going to be about her comment on the settlements. (nt)

[lukasahero]

8. Thank you for a well-written post

It's nice to see these on DU occasionally...

And thanks for the info on the book. I hadn't heard of it and look forward to picking it up.

I have always admired Hillary.

[damntexdem]

12. When she's elected in 2016, ...

I hope she appoints Barack to the SCOTUS.