Hillary the Tormenting Candidate

From my years as a political activist, there are ultimately two main questions to be asked about a candidate: (i) are they electable, and (ii) will they further the best interests of the majority of Americans.   Liking the candidate on a personal level is fine and good, but we are not electing someone with whom we would most want to be sitting down and sharing a beer with or chatting with over drinks at a cocktail party.   Which brings me to Hillary Clinton.  As a column in the New York Times points out, Hillary (and Bill Clinton) have lots of negative baggage they bring with them.  But when the two questions noted above are asked, of the current declared candidates, she's the only one that seemingly gets a yest answer on both points.  The GOP clown car clearly stands for the 1% and those who want the USA to become a racists theocracy.  Of the other candidates on the Democrat side, I don't thank any are electable.  Thus, while one may have to hold their nose and vote, voting for Hillary may be your best option.  Here are column highlights:

 I’ve been running into people even more put off by the Clintons than the nefarious operatives in the “vast right wing conspiracy” ever were.  They’re called Democrats.

I had breakfast with one last week. I’d quote him directly, but The Times doesn’t permit profanity.

He’s furious at Hillary and Bill, because they’ve once again created all these ugly, obvious messes that they could and should have avoided. He’s disgusted, because he has come to believe that they’re tainted.

He’s also resolute: He’s voting — even rooting — for Hillary.

Party loyalty motivates him. On top of which, he’s worried about the Supreme Court and how a Republican president might pack it.

And he keeps hearing the voices of little girls in his life who have asked him whether a woman can be president of the United States in reality, not just on some TV show.

He wants them to see: Yes, she can.

So here he stands, or rather squirms, exhilarated by what Hillary embodies and repelled by what she represents, wanting to see her take the oath and wanting never to lay eyes on her and Bill again, determined that they reclaim the White House and despairing of the muddy road there and the certain muck beyond. He’s a riot of warring emotions, a paradox with a pulse. The Clintons will do that to a person.

And it’s different from politics as usual. It’s politics as a peculiar form of psychological torture, because the Clintons have a way — it’s their trademark — of being the best, most exciting vessel for people’s hopes even as they make those people feel icky about their investment in the couple.

Just ask Democrats who were in Congress during Bill’s impeachment. Many fought to save his presidency, and thus gave the requisite interviews and said the right words, all the while roiling with outrage over the selfish, reckless manner in which he’d put his and the party’s agenda at risk.

It’s never as simple and humdrum as being for or against the Clintons. And while countless other politicians force supporters to make special allowances, stomach imperfections and come to terms with a tangle of good and bad, few do so on the Clintons’ operatic scale.

[V]oting for her [Hillary] may require of many Democrats what voting for him [Nixon] did of many Republicans, which is the suppression of profound misgivings. Thomas said that in 1968, people backing Nixon often felt that “there really wasn’t any other choice.” At least for the nomination, he was inevitable.  As is she . . . .

At some point over the last year Democrats placed just about all of their chips on Hillary, reassured by the depth of her experience, aware of how much money she could raise, and inspired by what a perfect sequel to Barack Obama she’d be. He broke the color barrier. Now she’d shatter the glass ceiling that she put all those cracks in.

Perhaps my views may change.  One of the husband's well heeled clients has talked of hosting an event for Hillary and we may get to meet her if the event comes to pass.  Maybe Hillary will wow me in a way I don't expect.  I like the Democrat quoted at the outset of the column am very worried about what a Republican president would do to the Supreme Court.  That alone argues for making sure Hillary is elected.