NPR yesterday reported that Hillary Clinton continues to register in the high negatives when the American people are asked if they support her for President in 2008. Apparently, 52% of people surveyed have a negative view of Senator Clinton. This is hardly enough to win an election and goes without saying that winning any sort of reasonable mandate from the electorate is going to be damn near impossible. Those who dislike Hillary don't just slightly dislike her--they STRONGLY dislike her.
Yet, my candidate, Barack Obama, trails Senator Clinton by 20 points in the last Newsweek poll.
Democrats have their best chance in years to capture the Executive Branch and make significant strides in their majority in the legislative branch. Yet, they continue to endorse candidates who are either wet noodles or polarizing figures. Let's face it. Dukakis. Gore. Kerry. When did an inspiring candidate suddenly become arbitrary in politics?
No matter how much money the Clinton campaign sinks into reforming her image or attempting to amuse us with a campaign video that spoofs the Sopranos, Hillary is not a charismatic candidate. She comes across as aloof, cold, and distant. Her stump speeches put me to sleep and I just can't trust her. I see her as robotic and beholden to poll numbers rather than her actual convictions.
The GOP is in tatters. Scandal, high gasoline prices, and lest we forget, Iraq, have weakened the Republican party substantially over the past few years. The mere fact that a thrice-divorced, pro-choice, dubiously moral Republican is running at the head of the pack is further evidence of this.
I support Barack Obama as a candidate because he is everything Clinton is not. Where Clinton is often an underwhelming public speaker, Obama oozes charm. Where Senator Clinton seems to read her answers from a prepared script, Obama has the ability to speak fluently off the cuff. The challenge to both candidates is a lack of experience. Yet somehow in this country, it has been proven that nothing makes us more squeamish in times of crisis than to elect a Washington insider. Politics is a dirty business and always has been and it's difficult if not impossible to not prevent the stain of corruption.
America has a habit of electing Republicans who are party insiders and Democrats who stand contrary to the status quo. 2008 has the potential to be a realigning election, but I do not see Hillary Clinton riding in to power. We are still months from the first primary and even farther from November 2008 and I fully admit that I could be totally wrong, but I don't think I will be proven to be so.
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