DragonFlight

After being on the sorry end of smear politics for a very long time, one would think that Hillary Clinton would have gained a degree of empathy and understanding about how truly reprehensible and inexcusable such behavior is. Yet here she is, employing the same hypocrisy, nastiness and mean spirited “Me! Me! Me!” politics as those employed against herself and her husband. The terms bitch and monster have been used during the present campaign to describe her, and though saddened by such distasteful rhetoric, I’m starting to hope the shoe isn’t beginning to fit.

First, let’s get one thing straight. I am not a Republican. Once an Independent, I registered as a Democrat a long time ago, when I saw the GOP platform taken over by the religious right wing nutcases, and realized that the political battlefield had become quite polarized. There is almost nothing about the GOP that I like or respect. I believe the Republican Party has come to represent corruption, hypocrisy and slime, and everything I abhor in bad government. The present Bush/Cheney Administration is the worst example of this putridness imaginable. In my idealistic youth, I would never have imagined this beloved nation could so tragically have been taken over by a bunch of thugs in the White House who make the Al Capone mob seem like Cub Scouts by comparison. You couldn’t pay me enough to vote Republican at the present time. I wouldn’t be able to cleanse myself of the stench.

I was a big Bill Clinton fan. Though I learned he was flawed, who isn’t? I believe that all in all he did a decent job as President. We’ve had much worse.

I was brought up to be a liberal thinker, and have no objections to a woman being president. It’s a concept whose time has come. After all, the testosterone driven world of men, as demonstrated throughout history, is replete with a sort of insanity, as demonstrated by the continual predilection toward violence and war. Until recently, I had no qualms about Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman in that office. I think she is a smart, caring, and capable individual.

All that having been said, I am absolutely appalled by the quality and content of the current Hillary Clinton campaign, as are many others. I’ve spoken with other staunch Democrats who claim they wouldn’t vote for her in the national election because of her present behavior. I’m on the fence at the moment, but sorely tempted to agree.

I draw the line at sleaze and hypocrisy, the same reasons I’ve begun to truly dislike anything Republican. It’s a type of behavior that is no more appealing to me when coming from the left.

Recently, Hillary Clinton has accused Barack Obama of saying one thing in public and something else to a foreign government behind closed doors, an allegation which is, to the best of my knowledge, both unproven and unsubstantiated. Is she projecting? Her own opinions seem to vary with every change in direction of the political wind, and according to which audience in which state she may to talking to on any given day. This is not unusual for a politician, but the degree to which the nastiness has been cranked up against the other candidate in her own party is unacceptable.

Obama has vowed to not give in to the temptation to wage a dirty campaign, for which I respect him. However, this is something Clinton has obviously decided to ruthlessly take advantage of. She appears to suddenly believe that dirty politics is what the nation desires and needs, even though she has spoken out against it for almost two decades. And, no doubt if Obama rises up in any way to challenge her with a tit for tat performance, she will yell, “See, I told you! He is just another politician.”

Sorry Senator Clinton, you aren’t running in the Republican Party where the sheep follow the shepherd, and that type of behavior is encouraged. You are in the party of mostly independent, intelligent, and educated voters, and this sort of crap will not serve you, or the Democratic Party, in the long run. If you are really “about the country,” you would not be exhibiting behavior that is bound to hurt your own party. Don’t get too excited by winning small victories in politically challenged states like Texas and Ohio. Now that you are succumbing to the temptation to be nasty and insulting, you may find yourself in an uphill battle you will not survive.

Two years ago I didn’t even know who Barack Obama was. When later asked by people what I thought of him as a presidential candidate, I had to admit I didn’t know much about him, and could not answer the question. I’ve been learning a lot about the man just by observing him in the public forum and during the debates. This is how I “read” people, and get a feel for who they might be. I knew right from the start that the self-proclaimed cowboy from Texas was a loser, just by watching and listening to him. I’m still surprised more did not. Presently, I feel Barack Obama might be a winner, based on how he presents himself, how he thinks, and who he appears to be. I’ll learn even more by observing how he responds to the present Clinton onslaught against him. Unlike what some would have us believe, though experience is important, who a person is is even more important!

Using the same criteria, I am growing increasingly disenchanted with Hillary Clinton’s behavior, and wondering who she might really be. The politics of personal ambition are not nearly as attractive as straight talking, honesty and integrity. Viciously attacking a same party opponent, while praising an opposite party opponent, and to the detriment of your own party, is not a wise move. It’s the “I come first, and everyone else comes last” type of mentality. It’s what we’ve seen in the White House for seven long years now, and something which needs to end!

I see no need to list all the attacks Senator Clinton has been making against Senator Obama; most readers here are smart enough and informed enough to know what is being said. We’ve heard the Obama/Canada/NAFTA allegations, the infamous and quite juvenile 3:00 AM phone call ad, the Obama is a Christian if he says so comment, and the McCain and I have the qualifications to be the Commander-in-Chief while Obama has “only a speech” blather, as well as quite a few other derogatory anti-Obama remarks. Most people know in their own minds, and in their guts, what is real and what isn’t. They recognize self-aggrandizing rhetoric when they hear it, and “what ‘is’ is.” I’m simply stating my opinion so that others who are having similar feelings of unease about Hillary Clinton will know they are not alone.

Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are campaigning on the need for change. Thus far, aside from speeches, rhetoric, and promises, I see very little change in the tactics Hillary Clinton is employing. A few months ago I would have supported just about any one of the Democratic primary candidates, including the two who have survived the fray. A few months ago I was excited by the prospect of Hillary Clinton as a candidate, but now I think, not at any price.

Senator Clinton claims she is more electable against Senator McCain. I don’t see it, unless something changes. At this critical juncture, when the GOP might self-destruct after seven years of Bush et al, and is split over its own Presidential candidate, and at a time when it has appeared quite plausible that the Democrats could re-take the White House; the Democrats are in dire need of a candidate who will unite, not divide the party. The Republicans have believed for almost two years now that they can mobilize their base against Hillary Clinton in a national election. This may or may not be true, but what is true is that the present conflict in the Democratic Party could be the catalyst to make it a reality. Clinton attacking Obama’s qualifications, while praising McCain’s, and insisting that the Florida and Michigan delegates be assigned based on unofficial balloting, and vying for super delegates to interfere in the process, along with the negative campaigning, may just be the straw that breaks the Democratic back in the Democratic National Convention and 2008 election.

I can already visualize the GOP commercials that will be running during the national election – the actual videos of a Democrat demeaning another Democrat, a Democratic front-runner praising the qualifications of the Republican candidate, and the party eating itself alive.

Senator Clinton, please wake up to the reality of what you are doing, and make some changes while there is still time to turn things around. I'm hoping this is not the real you, but rather, that you are following some very bad advice.