I feel I need to say something, in light of Limbaugh telling conservatives to go vote for Hillary, and in light of what seems to be a steady stream of anti-Obama news coming from Glenn Reynolds.

Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for our country.

I strongly suspect that most readers of this blog would understand my feelings about the matter, if not agree with them. But I think it needs to be reviewed.

Regardless of policy, Hillary Clinton embodies the absolute worst qualities in a manager: closed minded certainty that she is always right, a fiery temper that frightens her subordinates, and an astonishing penchant for rank incompetence. During this campaign, she apparently insulated herself with frightened yes-women to such a degree that she had no idea that her campaign was running out of money until it was too late, and she had to loan her own money to the campaign; this after having spent some $175 million on her campaign up to that point (on who knows what). The fact that this occurred at all confirms that she really is the worst caricature of herself imaginable. She really hasn’t changed one iota since her disastrous health-care plan. And she would be a disaster for the country.

It is important to remember this because the Democratic nomination has not yet been decided. According to the math and the agreed upon rules, Obama should be the presumptive nominee by now. Yet he isn’t. And the reason why he isn’t is because observers assume that by hook or by crook, somehow the Clintons will find a way to steal the nomination. Whether it’s by one of a myriad of lawsuits they’re threatening, or by bribing super-delegates ala Tom Vilsack, or by some means not yet anticipated, Hillary will steal this nomination. As Christopher Hitchens put it in an interview:

HH: 20 seconds, who’s going to be the next president of the United States?

CH: Hillary Clinton.

HH: Oh…because of yesterday?

CH: No, no, I’ve feared it for a long time, and there’s something horrible and undefeatable about people who have no life except the worship of power.

HH: The Mummy is back.

CH: …people who don’t want the meeting to end, the people who just are unstoppable, who only have one focus, no humanity, no character, nothing but the worship of money and power. They win in the end.

Let’s review some of what they’ve already been done in pursuit of that power. Hillary Clinton injected race into the campaign in an attempt to win, appears to have released pictures of Barack Obama in traditional Somali attire to scare people out of voting for him, said Obama is not a Muslim “as far as I know”, had her surrogates run around mentioning cocaine at every available opportunity at the start of this campaign, didn’t take her name off the ballot in Michigan and Florida and even actively campaigned in Florida despite agreeing to DNC party rules about their exclusion, and now threatens to sue the DNC to include the results from those states, also threatens to sue Texas for allocating delegates according to its caucus results in addition to its primary results. She also refuses to release her records from her days as first lady, to substantiate her “35 years of experience” claim. And that’s just in this election cycle.

To become senator, Hillary used her husband’s muscle as President of the United States to get primary opponents to step aside so she could run uncontested and even had her husband pardon Latino terrorists in hopes of cashing in on Latino votes. Not to even begin to mention the host of financial scandals she and her husband have been involved with during this campaign and during her entire life, including (off the top of my head): Norman Hsu, Charlie Trie, Lippo Bank, making $100k overnight in cattle futures, campaign donations from Buddhist monks, and of course, her now infamous refusal to release her tax returns, which probably indicate that her husband has basically been in the employ of the Sultan of Dubai, who made them both millionaires (and built Clinton’s presidential library).

It would be incredibly naive to think that crossing party lines to vote for Hillary would assure a McCain presidency. All of those corrupting methods used to secure the nomination for Hillary would also be used against McCain in a general election, with the added hardship of a media machine who simply wouldn’t report on any of it because it’s a Democrat against a Republican, as opposed to a Democrat/Democrat race. Trying to get Hillary nominated to spoil the Democratic election is playing with fire. No, make that playing with fissile material. You should really put it down now and walk away.

And not just because Hillary might actually get elected under such a scenario. But because even if she didn’t, her effect upon the Democratic party is extremely corrupting. She endangers the health of the Democratic party and therefore the American two-party system itself. The American polity desperately needs candidates who can discuss issues rationally, and without demagoguery. Barack Obama and John McCain are clearly capable of that (well, McCain on a good day). But Hillary is not. Should Obama win or lose, his mere presence is a positive effect upon the Democrats, and thus upon the country. If you support McCain, Obama may be tougher to beat, but the campaign will lead America forward in its debate about the issues. No such thing will happen with a Hillary candidacy. A general election victory over Hillary will be an empty victory.

And should the Democrat get elected, which all trends would seem to indicate is a likely possibility, then America desperately needs a President who can keep his cool, maintain his wits, and above all else, be a consummate manager. Obama is that manager. Obama would be a President who would make nobody cringe or be embarrassed, even those who disagree with his policies. We’re overdue for a President like that. But even more importantly, we’re overdue for a choice between two candidates who espouse those positive qualities. To deny Americans that choice, to deny the Democrats a candidate of quality, prolongs our national sickness.

Put your country ahead of your party. If you live in Pennsylvania, you have until March 24th to register as a Democrat and vote for Obama. Be sure you do so.

Further Reading:
Peggy Noonan
Andrew Sullivan
Bob Krumm
Classical Values
(last two links via Glenn Reynolds)

Tags: Barack Obama, Glenn Reynolds, Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 3:09 pm and is filed under News & Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.