I'm voting for Obama today, but I think those supporters of Obama who have demonized Hillary are naive, childish fawns who still believe that "politician" and "authentic" can be used in the same sentence. And I do not trust the cult of personality rising around him among these folks. Hillary 20 years ago was every bit as committed and full of hope -- if not more so -- as Obama today. What she's done is learn the game, make the hard decisions, and worked her ass off.
But I see Hillary as a tragic figure, worthy of Shakespeare. I think that her years in the trenches have made her and her circle of trusted advisers incapable of breaking out of the toxic boxes the right put them in during the Clinton years. It sucks, and it's not her fault, but she's so deep in to the history of toxicity between the baby boomers on the left and the baby boomers on the right that she will never be free of it all.
Somewhere inside her, though, there is a little girl who dreamed of being the first woman president, a smart young woman who cared about children's rights and who worked on their behalf, an ambitious young feminist who wanted to make the world a better place, an intellectual who devoured policyspeak and became on expert on many things. Vote for Obama yes, but don't carry malice for Hillary. It's misplaced and unbecoming, and believe me when I say that your golden hero too shall fall, will roll in the mud of the Potomac, and will leave you disappointed and shaking your head.
It's what politicians do. And we revere them at our own risk.
Caveat emptor, all you Obama True Believers. And spare some slack for Hillary Rodham.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Misagreeing with my kid...
... yup, despite Allie's fervent support for Hil, I've finally decided to pull the lever for Obama.
The bottom line: he's WAY more likely to beat McCain in a general election than Hillary is. As much as I love my daughter's innate wisdom, this is a political call. Here's a nicely put argument from my pal James about the electability issue:
"Obama is more electable. That's not something everyone agrees on, of course, but there are two big reasons I think so, and they both have to do with voter turn-out: 1. He's bringing in far more "new voters" than Hillary. There's no reason this wouldn't continue into a general election. 2. There is so much animosity against Hillary Clinton on the Right that her candidacy could well propel conservatives to the polls just to vote against her."
I think he's right. Young people, poor people, African-Americans, all will turn out in droves to vote for Obama and many will stay home for Hillary. And against America's favorite warm and fuzzy right-wing uncle, we're gonna need all the turnout we can get. I feel sad for Hillary, but I gotta go not with my gut (as everyone thinks we should) but with the realpolitik of electability.
In the end, I thought the "realpolitik" vote was for Hillary, the idealistic one for Obama. And I didn't trust the idealism. It was only when I saw that the realpolitik vote is for Obama that I decided to pull the lever for him. As for his lofty feel-good speeches and the "Yes We Can" video, that's just packaging, and while I love a good package as much as the next fella (no pun intended), I'm way past believing in politicians. I want the Democratic Party to win, I want the coattail effect of the presidential ticket to be as good as possible at the state and local levels, and I want the regulatory agencies and courts stocked by a Democratic administration. That administration will be headed by an evil hypocrite regardless of its name being Obama or Hillary, because ALL POLITICIANS ARE EVIL HYPOCRITES. I just want to slay the freaking Republicans. Period.
The bottom line: he's WAY more likely to beat McCain in a general election than Hillary is. As much as I love my daughter's innate wisdom, this is a political call. Here's a nicely put argument from my pal James about the electability issue:
"Obama is more electable. That's not something everyone agrees on, of course, but there are two big reasons I think so, and they both have to do with voter turn-out: 1. He's bringing in far more "new voters" than Hillary. There's no reason this wouldn't continue into a general election. 2. There is so much animosity against Hillary Clinton on the Right that her candidacy could well propel conservatives to the polls just to vote against her."
I think he's right. Young people, poor people, African-Americans, all will turn out in droves to vote for Obama and many will stay home for Hillary. And against America's favorite warm and fuzzy right-wing uncle, we're gonna need all the turnout we can get. I feel sad for Hillary, but I gotta go not with my gut (as everyone thinks we should) but with the realpolitik of electability.
In the end, I thought the "realpolitik" vote was for Hillary, the idealistic one for Obama. And I didn't trust the idealism. It was only when I saw that the realpolitik vote is for Obama that I decided to pull the lever for him. As for his lofty feel-good speeches and the "Yes We Can" video, that's just packaging, and while I love a good package as much as the next fella (no pun intended), I'm way past believing in politicians. I want the Democratic Party to win, I want the coattail effect of the presidential ticket to be as good as possible at the state and local levels, and I want the regulatory agencies and courts stocked by a Democratic administration. That administration will be headed by an evil hypocrite regardless of its name being Obama or Hillary, because ALL POLITICIANS ARE EVIL HYPOCRITES. I just want to slay the freaking Republicans. Period.
Presidential politics, kid-style
Lifelong lefty Daddy can’t decide who to vote for today, torn between inspiring symbolism and hard-knocks realpolitik. But 5-year-old daughter Allie has been dead-set since she was 4 and a half. “I vote for Hillary,” she has maintained right throughout, “because I want a GIRL President!”
We were driving past Prospect Park on an unseasonably warm winter afternoon a couple months back, when we saw a little mini-rally for Hillary. A bigger kid, maybe 8 or 9, was there with her mother, holding up a red, white and blue Hillary sign. I pointed it out to Allie, who peered from the confines of her car seat.
“Are there any other girls besides Hillary running for President?” she asked logically. Her mother and I said “No, just Hillary.” Allie’s response was even more logical: “THAT’S DUMB!”
We explained to her that the person running against Hillary was Barack Obama, and that we liked him too. Allie held firm to her pro-Clinton stance. We shot each other a glance that said: Shall we go down the road of race here? We did, basically because Allie had already seen the movie musical of “Hairspray,” which sparked a long chat about how some mean people had treated brown people very badly in our country and how hard it has been for brown people to be free. (Allie talks about color, literally, not race, and she refers to people as being either peach or brown.)
So there in the car we started explaining that her beloved Hillary would indeed be the first girl president, and that would be awesome. But the other person running for president against her, Barack Obama, would be the first brown president and that would be really great too. And, more importantly, we said, we like both of them. They are both nice people.
“Oh,” she said. “That’s good.”
But she never switched her vote.
This weekend, on the eve of the big primary, her six-year-old friend Bryn called. The batteries on the phone’s handsets were dead, so Allie and Bryn had to use speakerphone. We wound up glad they did.
Bryn: “This morning I went with my Mommy around the block knocking on people’s doors to tell them to vote for Barack Obama.”
Allie: “I’m voting for Hillary because she’ll be the first girl president!”
Bryn (confused): “What?”
Allie: “Hillary is the first girl president.”
Bryn: “What’s a squirrel president?” (I am not making this up.)
Allie (laughing): “Not SQUIRREL president, GIRL president!!!”
Bryn (laughing too): “Oh, yeah. Well I told my Mommy and Daddy I want Hillary. But they disagree with me.”
Allie: “They misagree with you?”
Bryn: “Yeah, they like Barack Obama. But I want Hillary Clinton.”
Their teleconference on presidential politics was instructive, and maybe even inspiring. I just may have to do a write-in vote. For the squirrel.
We were driving past Prospect Park on an unseasonably warm winter afternoon a couple months back, when we saw a little mini-rally for Hillary. A bigger kid, maybe 8 or 9, was there with her mother, holding up a red, white and blue Hillary sign. I pointed it out to Allie, who peered from the confines of her car seat.
“Are there any other girls besides Hillary running for President?” she asked logically. Her mother and I said “No, just Hillary.” Allie’s response was even more logical: “THAT’S DUMB!”
We explained to her that the person running against Hillary was Barack Obama, and that we liked him too. Allie held firm to her pro-Clinton stance. We shot each other a glance that said: Shall we go down the road of race here? We did, basically because Allie had already seen the movie musical of “Hairspray,” which sparked a long chat about how some mean people had treated brown people very badly in our country and how hard it has been for brown people to be free. (Allie talks about color, literally, not race, and she refers to people as being either peach or brown.)
So there in the car we started explaining that her beloved Hillary would indeed be the first girl president, and that would be awesome. But the other person running for president against her, Barack Obama, would be the first brown president and that would be really great too. And, more importantly, we said, we like both of them. They are both nice people.
“Oh,” she said. “That’s good.”
But she never switched her vote.
This weekend, on the eve of the big primary, her six-year-old friend Bryn called. The batteries on the phone’s handsets were dead, so Allie and Bryn had to use speakerphone. We wound up glad they did.
Bryn: “This morning I went with my Mommy around the block knocking on people’s doors to tell them to vote for Barack Obama.”
Allie: “I’m voting for Hillary because she’ll be the first girl president!”
Bryn (confused): “What?”
Allie: “Hillary is the first girl president.”
Bryn: “What’s a squirrel president?” (I am not making this up.)
Allie (laughing): “Not SQUIRREL president, GIRL president!!!”
Bryn (laughing too): “Oh, yeah. Well I told my Mommy and Daddy I want Hillary. But they disagree with me.”
Allie: “They misagree with you?”
Bryn: “Yeah, they like Barack Obama. But I want Hillary Clinton.”
Their teleconference on presidential politics was instructive, and maybe even inspiring. I just may have to do a write-in vote. For the squirrel.
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