Thursday, June 12, 2003
AS MUCH AS I DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS
I will make a few comments on Hillary Clinton ( or Hillary ! as she was known during her senate campaign). She will run for president next year or in 2008 under the constraints of being a known quantity. Opinions on her character are essentially set in the public mind, the oft-used phrase is " polarizing figure" applies and she will follow a Nixonian strategy in that race. Richard Nixon, another basically unpopular candidate with a paranoid personality that caused viscerally hostile reactions, overcame tremendous odds to win the presidency with a minority of the vote. It's a pattern Hillary needs to follow because for every true-believer behind her there's another person in the electorate who simply hates her guts and a vast middle ground that is bone-weary of the scandals and Clinton-wars of the 1990's. Her room for political manuvering is limited by her high and enduring negatives.
First we will get a " New Hillary " - we are seeing some of that now with her book promotion - older, wiser and more capable of poking fun at her own foibles who will chuckle about her days as the lightning rod of 1600 Pennsylvania avenue. Then the campaign will emphasize HRC's statesmanship as a senator and first lady while pushing proposals that sound bold but politically speaking will be surprisingly middle-of-the road in tone. When the crazies on the Right come out with predictably frantic and excessive personal attacks, she'll be taking the high road. Even so, barring a three-way race or an exceptionally weak GOP opponent, I don't believe that Hillary Clinton is all that electable so look for liberal donors to be quietly throwing some big money ( and the media a large spotlight) at any political figure who seems capable of splitting the Republican vote.
¶ 1:28 PM
I will make a few comments on Hillary Clinton ( or Hillary ! as she was known during her senate campaign). She will run for president next year or in 2008 under the constraints of being a known quantity. Opinions on her character are essentially set in the public mind, the oft-used phrase is " polarizing figure" applies and she will follow a Nixonian strategy in that race. Richard Nixon, another basically unpopular candidate with a paranoid personality that caused viscerally hostile reactions, overcame tremendous odds to win the presidency with a minority of the vote. It's a pattern Hillary needs to follow because for every true-believer behind her there's another person in the electorate who simply hates her guts and a vast middle ground that is bone-weary of the scandals and Clinton-wars of the 1990's. Her room for political manuvering is limited by her high and enduring negatives.
First we will get a " New Hillary " - we are seeing some of that now with her book promotion - older, wiser and more capable of poking fun at her own foibles who will chuckle about her days as the lightning rod of 1600 Pennsylvania avenue. Then the campaign will emphasize HRC's statesmanship as a senator and first lady while pushing proposals that sound bold but politically speaking will be surprisingly middle-of-the road in tone. When the crazies on the Right come out with predictably frantic and excessive personal attacks, she'll be taking the high road. Even so, barring a three-way race or an exceptionally weak GOP opponent, I don't believe that Hillary Clinton is all that electable so look for liberal donors to be quietly throwing some big money ( and the media a large spotlight) at any political figure who seems capable of splitting the Republican vote.
¶ 1:28 PM
