First things first. It is beyond tragic that in a country with more than 300 million people, we cannot field better presidential hopefuls than our current pack of mediocrities (at best). There are a few rather obvious explanations…
- 24/7 news coverage, tied into Team D or Team R
- Similar to the method of reaching the top of a big company, the best road to the presidency is to not to do anything substantive, except create buzz about yourself
- People are emotional and tribalistic and will tend to support candidates for anything but rational reasons
- Voters are conditioned to accept the lesser of two evils as a real choice
As has been aptly demonstrated since the election of Jimmy Carter, and in accordance with the Marxist notion of emphasizing the process over the results, there is little doubt that we are obsessed with the campaign, and care little about the actual presidency. Certainly, there will be partisan complaints during a presidency, but most of it is directed toward having the opposing side win next time.
None of this will change until we impose strict term limits at all levels, and third parties appear—based not on fringe characters, but rather on establishment types breaking away, exactly the way the GOP was started. With that in mind, we can still have some fun.
Fans of Hillary Clinton are making much of her “comeback” victory in New Hampshire. Well OK, she did win, although not by that much. Besides, the word “comeback” implies a former champ coming back to form after defeats. Since she was never champ of anything except over-hyping herself, the term does not seem appropriate.
But there was more in play here. In the Iowa caucus format, preferences were made known in a public forum, not a secret ballot. Perhaps we had a double dose of the Dinkins effect going on, whereby on a poll or in public, voters do not want to seem racist, so will voice support of the Black candidate—but in actuality will vote otherwise. Add to this the possibility that many in New Hampshire assumed Obama had it made, and crossed-over to vote for McCain.
Finally, never forget Hillary’s core supporters: angry old white women. They may TALK about the great Barack Obama, but their prime motivation is self-hatred, and a revenge to be carried out by Hillary. The vast majority of them have kids, of course, but wish they would have only had abortions, presumably so they could fulfill their destiny as hippie chicks. If you think I’m wrong about this, talk to a Leftie white woman over 60 and prepare to be shocked.
One huge irony here is that Obama is arguably more pro-abortion than Hillary.
As an Illinois state senator, he was against legislation intended to protect babies who survived late-term abortions because he did not want to concede—as he explained in a cold-blooded speech on the Illinois Senate floor—that these babies, fully outside their mothers’ wombs, with their hearts beating and lungs heaving, were in fact “persons.” “Persons,” you see, are guaranteed equal protection of the law under the 14th Amendment.
And then he lied about the whole thing afterward.
So, if abortion is the key issue here—and it most assuredly is—it is still more important for this contingent to have the standard-bearer be one of their own. Don’t gloss over the irrationality of buying into identity politics, yet being pro-abortion when you’re post-menopause, but it all fits in with this same group being the biggest fans of The Vagina Monologues, as well. There’s a good reason people outside the cohort hate baby boomers.
With the Clintons, people say that Hillary is Bill without the charm, and they’re right. For Bill, his weaknesses were his strengths: His philandering, parsing words to defend himself, being impeached, and repeatedly lying. This calculus only works for Hillary with the angry old white women (AOWW).
Despite her startling 50% unlikability rating, the AOWW cohort adores her weakness as a woman wronged in a loveless marriage obviously arranged to advance the careers of both, and that she has a miserable personality and is physically unattractive.
Finally, it should be clear that even at the top of Team D, they hate the Clintons. There is simply no way a popular president would have been impeached, and notice how gleefully Kerry threw his support to Obama in a twofer—sabotaging Hillary and stabbing old running mate Edwards in the back at the same time.
Fun, fun, fun.