Issue #60
Last Update October 22, 2008
National Frontrunner by David Katz November 24, 2007 Hillary Clinton, the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, is also the favorite of Republicans. They have been touting her candidacy for almost two years now. What accounts for this? Two things: of all the Democrats in the race she is by far the most economically conservative, and she is the most beatable. Despite her considerable lead in the polls, she has the highest negatives of any of the Democratic candidates, especially among independents, and a legacy of hate amongst conservatives left over from her demonization during her husband's presidency.
The negatives come from four perceptions: she is too liberal, she is too conservative, she is a bumbler, and she has no real ideals or positions. How true are these perceptions?
-She is too liberal: The political center has moved so far right in recent years that Barry Goldwater might be accused of being too liberal nowadays. Compared to any Republican in the race, she is indeed liberal (although she is pretty close to Giuliani on most issues when he is being honest about them). Compared to most of the Democratic candidates, she is the leader of the Rockefeller wing of the Republican party. In her attempt not to look soft on terrorism, she voted for the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, the original wiretapping act (though not its current reauthorization), and the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which repealed habeas corpus, stripped detainees of judicial review, and authorized torture. Economically, she is a fan of outsourcing, privatization of governmental functions, and NAFTA. She has even backtracked a bit on women's issues. This is hardly a liberal record.
- She is too conservative. See above. In fairness, however, she has been a promoter of jobs for upstate New York, and has recently had a conversion on the road to, well not Damascus, but Baghdad. Nevertheless, although she may not be the favorite of liberal Democrats, they will certainly vote for her over any Republican in the general election.
-She is a bumbler. Of course, in comparison with President Bush, almost anyone is a combination of Einstein and Joe DiMaggio. Nevertheless, this reputation has some basis in fact, reaching back to the beginning of Bill Clinton's administration. Her incredible health care plan disaster, caused by an unwillingness to confront the HMO and insurance industries and thus the production of a plan so complicated it became an object of ridicule, arguably cost the Democrats both houses of Congress and subjected her husband to impeachment. Her skill at policy making has not improved, but her political skill has. Anyone who can make conservative upstate love her, as she has, and can put together a political team as skilled as hers should not be underestimated. The Republicans do so at their peril.
-She has no core beliefs that she is willing to fight for. This is probably the charge that disturbs Democrats the most, although it comforts Republicans. Her record in the Senate has been one of accommodation, rarely standing up to the Republican steamroller. She has not exactly been a profile in courage, and what’s worse, she has a tendency to repeat her mistakes if she perceives that there is political capital in doing so.
By and large, the negatives are justified. Are they disabling? By now, the American electorate is so fed up with President Bush, and so little enamored of the Republicans vying for the Presidential nomination, that Hillary will get by. Nevertheless, she is more vulnerable than her Democratic rivals. Why risk the election, especially since, even if she gets in, the country will have a Republican-lite as President.
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