When I wrote about what Dick Morris said about Hillary Clinton’s bullying, us-versus-them political tactics back in September, there was a bit of a negative reaction. Morris is biased, unreliable, even a kook, some said. True, but was he right?
A refresher:
Hillary emphatically comes from the “us versus them” school of American politics. Like Richard Nixon, the politician she so closely resembles, she sees the world in extraordinarily simple terms: there are those who agree with her and support her and then there’s the rest of the world. Those who don’t agree with her are bunched together and known collectively as “the enemy” — that vast right wing conspiracy that must be vilified, beaten, and destroyed … whatever it takes.
After watching the Clintons slinging mud balls made of race and gender about for the last couple of weeks I submit to you that Morris was dead on in his assessment of the Clintons. In fact, the only trick Dick missed was Slick Bill Clinton’s red-faced, disdain-laced tirades against his wife’s opponent, a man who, when considered solely as a person, is head-and-shoulders above either Clinton. In peacetime there would be no question about who the better president would be; only on national security would a Clinton White House be distinctly stronger. Happily for Hillary, we are embroiled in a 2 front war and she’ll win the Dems’ nod because of it.
Now Morris has this to say about the race that the Clintons’ tag-team, ultra-spiteful tactics have shaped:
The massive outpouring of criticism of the Clintons for their tactics in South Carolina is withering fire which may take a serious toll among Hillary’s voters. Caroline Kennedy’s invocation of her father in endorsing Obama seems right on the money. Ted Kennedy’s support for him legitimizes white backing for the Illinois Senator and could have a big impact.
The Clintons were banking on a silent invocation of racial division stemming from a massive Obama win in South Carolina among black voters and a last place finish among whites. Their hopes were that whites would note the racial split in South Carolina and react by voting for Clinton.
But this racial divisiveness can only take place in the dark, out of sight. With the glare of Obama’s idealism shining on the dialogue, conscience comes into play and the American electorate may overcome the divisiveness of the Clintons.
As it stands today an Obama nomination lessens the likelihood of a Republican being elected president. Even so I can’t help but hope that the Clintons are turned back in the primaries. I recognize Obama’s naivety vis-a-vis foreign policy and the likelihood his presidency would cost me thousands of $$$ in extra taxes, but the self-righteous, self-serving arrogance that Bill Clinton displayed on the campaign trail very nearly makes rejecting the Clintons a national imperative.
We shouldn’t have to endure that man’s despoiling presence in the White House again, not when we have so many better options to choose from. This fact is not lost on prominent Democrats like the Kennedy’s, who endorsed Senator Obama today.
If only we weren’t at war. But we are and so I have to stand by earlier statements that Hillary Clinton is, if a Democrat must be elected president, the best choice.
Talk about holding one’s nose while voting. Conservatives will have it easy if John McCain is the Republican nominee.