Politics By Ordeal

What is this foolishness? Obama is pure and not a politician and Hillary is "tainted"?

Does anyone get to be a presidential candidate in our country without being a politician?

Does anyone run for political office -- a humiliating and exhilarating marathon -- without wanting power more than sleep?

Come on. Get real. You and I could never endure the punishment of debates, of columnists who don't fact-check, of swift-boaters, of dumb pundits and corrupt colleagues, without the lust for power being the overriding emotion in your life.

I do a book tour of six cities and come down with the flu -- and I'm pretty strong and healthy. I can hardly imagine what candidates go through. Yes, they fly on private jets. Yes, they don't take their shoes off at the airport, but they don't sleep either. I'm amazed they can even croak a coherent sentence.

I once did a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand with bronchitis and laryngitis. I caught it in Hong Kong, I think, and it lingered for three weeks. My voice barely functioned. But I spoke anyway. And I signed hundreds of books after every appearance. Once I got home, I took to my bed for two weeks. The jet lag was awful and the bronchitis turned into a resistant infection. No antibiotic worked. I was silenced for six weeks and my vocal chords still have their off days.

How do these candidates do it? I still can't understand. They must be bionic. By the end of a book tour, I'm so sick of answering questions about myself that I start to interview the journalists about what they like to do in their spare time -- skiing, sailing, snowboarding, golf? The intensity of being interviewed by hostile reporters is absolutely exhausting. No wonder people misspeak. It's amazing they don't throttle the press. And the public. By the time they get in office they must hate the public. Why do we put them through this torture? Shouldn't they be thinking about governance, coming up with new ideas for the commonweal rather than being flogged by the press?

This is no way to audition for "the most powerful job on earth." I doubt that the ordeal helps anyone -- neither the candidates nor the public.

And is it really the most powerful job on earth? The way our country is going -- with our deficit, our plunging dollar, our $100 oil, we are becoming a banana republic, ruled by corporations that deceive us and buy our politicians.

Where is this pure politician? In your dreams, folks, in your dreams.

Comments

[wmbear]

CROWDS SUCK ENERGY FROM ME...

Politicians suck energy from crowds. I think that's the basic difference­....

[splashy]

I bet you are right! Politicians are obviously extroverts. Extroverts get energy from being around people. To really hurt an extrovert, separate them from people. I would imagine that politicians are extreme extroverts, as are many performers that like live audiences.

On the other hand, introverts are drained by crowds. They can only deal with small groups or just one other person, or being alone for a while to recharge.

[ebbtide]

We ain't buying it. The Clintons, and I consider them both as running as a team, are destroying the party for their own personal gain.

The act in the debate last night, the poor me, it is so hard on me, is a ploy. I don't hear any other candidates trying to pull that shit. I have nevcer heard Obama pulling that shit of "how does he do it" crap. She chose to run. Thought she had it wrapped up and has totally proven that she is being run by nmot only Bill, but by the other advisors, to whom she pays millions to advise her wrongly.

Sorry, but this candidate, Hillary and her running mate Bill, have descended into the pit of despicable and slimy snakes. Who wants that?

Feminist supporter of Hillary, just because she is a woman, have their head in the sand because of their obsession with having a woman president. I am seventy years old, a mere four years older than you, Erica, and I do not want Hillary Clinton as my president---the main reason, her war vote and her attempts to gloss over it as if it makes no difference at all. And then she goes into a debate and expresses sympathy for all those wounded vets, when she was the one who voted to send them to Iraq!!!

Come on. By this time, you should know better than to keep pushing the Clintons, just so Hillary can become the first woman president. And who would be the vice president who will take a back seat to the talkative egotist, Bill? Heh some schlump of a panderer I would guess. You can bet
Bill will be delighted to become a third term president. And don['t think for one minute that she will be in charge.

She is not in charge of her husband, as we have seen in her campaign, she is not in charge of her campaign and spent money as if it were going out of style, and then had to "loan" five million to her own cam,paign and expect to be repaid with interest. LOL

Go wan. She is not capable, she simply memorizes data, spouts it out, and in incapabole of seeing the far vision those facts lead to.

She voted for the war,
Erica. Did you fully support the war of Bush as she did?

[handyallen1]

another hillary hater thats a woman as a hillary supporter and a man im completly puzzled by it it seems its more anti hillary than pro obama and if thats the case im voting green

[musicstreet]

You must think Michelle is going to stay at home and bake cookies. It's hilarious that Obama supporters think
he is in this race for any other reason besides personal gain and power, also destroying the Party in the process.
Obama and Michelle, the new co-Presidential running team. She will be just like Hillary was when Bill was President. And then, in 10 years, she will also run for the
Presidency. I hope she'll have a little more grace when it's her turn, than she has shown so far.

[evekendall]

"...destro­ying the party in the process." How so? Are you saying that by running for office he is destroying the party? Why would you not level the same charge at her?

[larryo]

"Does anyone run for political office -- a humiliating and exhilarating marathon -- without wanting power more than sleep?"

You know, you have written some pretty good stuff, Ms. Jong, but this post was not - this was stupid.

It will come as a great surprise to you, but some people get into politics to try to do some good in the world. Sen. Obama was a populist grass roots organizer in Chicago - do you think anyone takes on a job like that without some commitment? Did Hillary Rodham ever do any work like that of which you are aware? She was a Republican, as I understand it, until Bill got her stoned in the '60's.

Another thing: Whether you can endure touring or whether you can endure speaking engagements is not really relevant to anything, because you are not the yardstick by which we are all measured.

That's difficult for people who are utterly self-centered to countenance - that they are not the standard of perfection, measured against which everyone else is lesser - but, alas, it is true.

[musicstreet]

Larryo, Obama was a Muslim before he was a Catholic.
And he was a user of marijuana and cocaine. He did show his good judgement by not using heroin. So that's a plus.

[Steamboater]

It's sad about Hillary Clinton. The republicans ganged up on her because they didn't give a hoot about those without healthcare and those who have it and can't afford it. Now, there's a gang of democrats who find every evil intention in her political motives and beyond. She won't get the noination but this primary process has been so brutal, it just makes you not want to vote at all and makes you not give a damn about who wins--McCain or Obama. Obama has slyly played the plagerizm card nicely by equating it as trivial and those who support him wouldn't stop supporting him if he was found robbing a bank. Plagerism is using someone else's words without attribution, which is exactly what Obama did yet he hasn't the courage to admit it. Clinton called him on it and even the media perceives her as making an 'attack'. What a bunch of horseshit. Hillary Clinton is not a monster. She cares deeply about those left on the cusp of society and ouitside it. She cares about the poor and middle class and she's [assionate about it.
If Bill Clinton hadn't upstaged her, she might be in the lead by now. I blame him. He should have stayed out of the way and shut his mouth. His starring in this campaign only made a lot of people think that a Hillary presidency would be a co-presidency which was a great mistake.
You don't deal with dictators the way Obama has promised to do. Dictators like Raul Castro respect strength, not acquiecense. Hillary is right to lay down stepstones before any talks can take place. Obama just makes the likes of Castro laugh.
Obama's promise of bi-partisanship also pops a red flag. How in the world does he think he can get obstructionist republicans to work with democrats? DIdn't he see them walk out last week? Does he think republicans are going to go along with any gay rights legislation, with universal healthcare, with bringing the troops home from Iraq and ending that mess or voting for an Obama appointment to the Supreme Court who they perceive as supporting abortion rights? It's ridiculous and all empty proimises but hope, a theme Obama stoled from Bill Clinton, seems all that matters. We need a fighter, someone with passion and a backbniojnwho won't back down in the face of republican obsruction. That person is Hillary Clinton.

[MikeMidCity]

She claims she was duped into voting for the dimmest and dumbest of presidents to start an immoral and unjustified war of preemption.

Is that the fighter we need?

Is that the experience that we are suppose to need?

The woman is a cold, calloused and calculating politician who cast a vote for a war with an eye to an election.

SHAMELESS.

[evekendall]

We certainly don't need that kind of faulty judgment.

[mikeinvail]

Hit the spell check every now and then. It makes it easier to read and you don't look like you are typing when drunk.

[musicstreet]

Keep personally attacking others that don't agree with you. That does not make you look good.

[Moncar]

Could it be Senator Obama is simply the Zipless Candidate?

[lillianjane]

Please, he is attractive enough as it is, without your introducing this imagery. I need to keep a clear head.

[BuhbyeBarack]

Zipless? Ha ha..I don't think Larry Sinclair thinks so...BTW..­.let's see what happens after lie detector test he takes Tuesday...­he should be deposed under oath, and if he goes that far under threat of perjury and the story still holds up, all this talk about Barack winning anything except liar of the year is beyond premature.­..the fact is we have a slew of candidates who are not without skeletons in their closet, and Obama certainly is in that lot.

Also...Oba­ma caught in lie about military last night...

[gra8whit]

I feel for you. You're going to be very disappointed this year. As Hillary said, it's going to be okay. I've observed behavior like yours in neo-cons and conservatives over the last 7 years. Denial is a powerful mental force. I was a Clinton lover too. Bill saved millions. We'll have a quality female candidate for president one day, who will have gotten there on her own merits. Maybe another Ann Richards or Barbara Boxer, but Hillary is a flawed candidate and she doesn't possess Bill charisma. She was wrong about Iraq, she was wrong to hire those overpriced advisors, and she was wrong to abandon her liberal principals and becoming a Corporate Democrat.

[clevelandchick]

The fact is Erica, Hillary has run a really crappy campaign. She's listened to her consultants, all members of the old political guard of DC.

Their strategy was to show disdain for hope, change, the youth vote, and the grassroots. Their strategy was to engage in the old-style trash politics. It failed miserably.

How many people do you know that miss the days of Newt Gingerich with his rabid conservatives battling The Clintons, Carville and Begala? Except for maybe Carvill and Begala, most Americans are sick of it.

How many people do you think miss the Swift Boating of Democrats? Why the hell has Hillary's campaign gone to all of their high profile donors to ask for lots of money to launch a Swift Boating campaign against Obama in Texas and Ohio?

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/20/685308.aspx

Democrats do not like when Democrats act like sleazy Republicans. If her campaign launches this Swift Boat campaign, it will be her political death knell. She will lose not only the nomination but the respect of her party.

Hillary can't blame the media, misogynists or Clinton-haters for why her campaign has failed. She had the power to take a different path and chose not to.

[lillianjane]

clevelandchick, I usually just add an amen to your posts, but I disagree; although Hillary could have taken a different path, I can't discount the disgusting pundits and pervasive misogyny as factors. Not the sole problems, but definitely factors.

[clevelandchick]

I do not think the misogyny took her down. I think that's an excuse. That's not what is pissing off Democrats at the grassroots level.

I went to an Obama primary watch event and met many many local leaders who were completely pissed off on the tone of her campaign. Many who chose Obama over her for that reason. Local Dems need the grassroots to gain and stay in office. Their campaign made many dismissive commments against the grassroots and minorities.

I think trying to run a 90s campaign after Bush, Swift Boating yadda yadda is what did....whe­n Americans are worried about so much and all she has to say is "hope is cheap"?

Hillary definitely took the wrong path. You don't diss the grassroots after what they have been through the last eight years...be­cause the grassroots has grown exponentially with every outrage the Bushes have committed.

Instead of taking the side of the DLC in the battle of the grassroots vs the establishment she could have definitely told them...NO, this is what the people want and I'm going to work with them, not just tell them what I'm going to do.

Instead she said "Change you can Xerox". It's dismissive, it's condescending. She's telling the people they don't matter...s­he'll just take care of everything. We've had a Republican doing that for the last 8 years. The people are engaged, it was her opportunity to engage with the people and she let her consultants sway her the other way.

[BuhbyeBarack]

Who runs Barack's campaign???

Ex-Clinton­istas...en­d of discussion.

[splashy]

Have you taken a look at Obama's advisers? One was a major player in taking down universal health care in the 90's, another wants to privatize Social Security, and another wants to kill most social programs.

Sounds oh so Repub to me.

[Iimbalayo]

Nepotism, and cronyism will prevail with a Clinton win! She believes it's her marriage right to be president. 3 decades of Clinton and Bush rule, the US is truley a 3rd world nation now!

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Those are consequences--not causes--of the decline of the U. S. The cause lies somewhere in the 'reptile brain' of the U.S. electorate distracted, yea, driver by peripheral "problems" like abortion (Where else in the world is it a problem?), "gay marriage" (....of consequence to a small minority..­.!), prayer in schools, the PLIGHT of ILLEGAL ALIENS (Extant law requires their departure!), out of proportional revenge for "9.11," flag-burni­ng/waving, whilst ISSUES of national solvency, abuse of the environment, NO energy policy fly over the heads of VOTERS....­.

MOST Americans couldn't care less about "national affairs" as long as the price of motor fuels, i.e., gasoline, was stable or in decline! ...and the PR-driven apparatchniks in Washington/New York have know this for decades!!!

Rather than THINK and ACT, Americans want to hand their plight over to yet another PSEUDO-SAVIOUR like the godhead Obama, much less HRC! Obama is incapable of even CHANGING his rhetoric..­..much less the catastrophic course the U.S. has chosen for itself....­.

[deminmo]

advocate,
Some folks worry about the economy in context
of "free trade" capitalist changes, like in
Chile, Argentina and other countries.
We think about the real reason for going to and
staying in Iraq which is the privatization of
oil by US oil companies, along with other
"shock doctrine" changes.
I worry about which person elected President
will take the US in the same direction.
Most of all, I worry whether we will even see an
election.

[Iimbalayo]

Nepotism, and cronyism will prevail with a Clinton win! She believes it's her marriage right to be president. 3 decades of Clinton and Bush rule, the US is truley a 3rd world nation now!

[Latina4Obama]

Dear Ms. Jong,

If you're too tired to fly around the world, please send me the tickets.

Rich folks really have it hard.

[mansky]

Too bad she's not feeling well. But I'll bet she has health insurance! Why won't these commentators address the issues of real people.

Good post, Latina4Obama.

[splashy]

The problem is that Obama will NOT bring us universal health care. He isn't shooting for that, and it will not happen unless he does.

In fact, one of his advisers is a major player that took down universal health care in the 90's. Another wants to privatize Social Security, which will kill it.

[PaulKelly]

Dear Ms. Latina4obama,
If you can't afford your own tickets please don't mock those who can. Find your own success. Poor folks really choose to have it hard.

[evekendall]

"Poor folks really choose to have it hard."

What a swell person you must be.

[Beowoof]

Yea, the pains of the upper class don't seem to fly with the rest of us(if you'll excuse the pun).

[QueenCeleste]

I was thinking exactly that last night as I watched the debate. How do they keep from getting ill, and keep their voices? I get hoarse after a night out just talking with friends!

[shockedNawed]

Ms. Jong, hope you get to read this:

You are a magnificent, sensible and humane writer. I also hope all your future book tours are less strenuous. Stay well.

BTW: I often wonder how these candidates manage with the non-stop travelling, and non-stop babbling; it must be that they are concentrated on that target they aim for at the end.

Ultimately, their inner strength must come from the thrill of imagining themselves the victor, and they're immune to the pain of getting there.

[marcialart]

Dear Erica, my quarrel with your essay "PATRIARCHY 1000; CLINTON 0" was its title, as much as its argument. In what way is Hillary Clinton NOT a member of the patriarchy? She's bought into the existing power structure and ruling elite as thoroughly as Margaret Thatcher did, and (heaven forfend) the artistic genius Leni Reifenstahl did under Hitler. You don't have to be a white man to be a member of the patriarchy. I'm not thrilled or persuaded by either candidate, but Obama at least makes noises about resisting the dominant paradigm and that seems the basis of his appeal. His may also be the cleverest, most Machiavellian strategy of all the candidates as he's clearly tapped into the desire of a depressed, demoralized populace for a Messianic leader. This sounds a lot like the sitution Germany was in in the 30's.

BTW, Erica, when you talk about your post-book tour flu, jet lag, and consequent collapse, are you complaining or boasting?

[BuhbyeBarack]

By definition, PATRIARCHY refers to MEN...

Don't argue with Erica on this, for you and all the others who try will lose...BIG­TIME!

WHY is Obama getting so much support among men???

THINK IT OVER...the­n reassess your foolish criticism of Ms. Jong, always brilliant.

[splashy]

Well said! Men at this time will NOT as a group vote for a woman, just like they did not want to give women the vote at all. Black men got the vote a full 70 years before women did, and it was only when women stopped working at anything in masses and started demonstrating that the men finally gave them the vote.

I figure that the chances are high, unless women band together and make it happen, that we will have to have men of several races/creeds before we get a woman in the presidency.

Pretty pathetic.

[wrabbitt]

I guess that if the electoral college didn't exist there would be no way to hide the true results of the election. Our antiquated election system needs to be removed with all the life members of congress. When performance dictates pay raises they will be granted. But, to get a raise by NOT even being there to vote? Who thought this up? must be the same people who let lobbyists bribery become legal.

[elkabong]

Many of us vote for the message as much or more than we vote on the purity of the candidates.

Barack's winning message, it seems to me, is 'get involved or the lobbyists will do it for you'.

Hillary's losing message is 'she'll handle it'.

[clevelandchick]

elkabong -

Your last sentence nails it. I don't want a Democratic president that fancies themself "The Decider" anymore than I wanted a Republican one.

[LarBear]

elkabong..­. To LATE..
Excelon, the largest nuclear operator in the United States helped bankroll Obama's Campaign into the US Senate after he watered down a Bill to REQUIRE Nuclear Power Plant Operators to report leaks... (Like the 2 or more LEAKS in Obama's Home State they failed to report to the State) Obama's Campaign Manager is a former Excelon Public Relations Consultant­... Obama's watered down Bill died in Committee.­..
So, #1 = Obama already IS a Washington DC Insider/ Divider/ Gamer...
MSNBC spins stories like it is Obama Election Headquarte­rs... G.E. is MSNBC "parent" Company...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/23/business/main1746883.shtml
AP) Hitachi Ltd.(Hitac­hi bought out Westinghouse) and Connecticut-based General Electric have been tapped to build two nuclear reactors in the U.S. in a $5.2 billion project that underlines how soaring oil prices are boosting global interest in nuclear power.
The deal, confirmed by Hitachi on Friday for reactors outside Houston, for American power supplier NRG Energy Inc., is also likely to help the Japanese electronics and power plant manufacturer compete better against rivals.
General Electric's Nuclear-Powered Returns http://www.forbes.com/2001/05/18/0518ge.html
#2 = Racist? Obama ran Ads, that there is only ONE AMERICA... So, who/ what is a "Black American, African American, or Black Person"? Upon Death does a "Black Spirit, or Black Soul" depart??? The Obama's played to race, skin color, as well as Race Card accusation against the Clinton's.­.. Which "America" is Michelle referring to???
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.
#3 = A very slick Politician who clearly played underdog against the fabled Clinton Political Machine... Obama has inspired a hostile divide in Democrats as Politics as Usual, chooses sides... Preaches Hope, Dream and Change, while practicing deception.­..
The Traveling Obamarama, Gospel, Snake Oil, Magic Elixir, and Amurrican Revival Show! It's Magic in a Bottle my Friends... Wooooooooo­oWeeeeeeee­ee....

[splashy]

I read about that recently. That's another problem with Obama, he's FOR more nuclear power plants.

[CitizenE]

Eyes on prize, please. They're both politicians. So is John McCain. So what?
The real question is who will be able to do the most to undo not only in fact but toxins in the national outlook the past 4 decades of conservative blarney that has penetrated the American psyche and left it in its current state of affairs. Perhaps Ms. Jong is correct, and if so, everything is hopeless, and why vote at all, or why not write in Ralph Nader? No matter what people think of Obama now, the proof will be in the pudding. If Dems want him, then more power to him. Same goes for Clinton. Let's take whichever with a grain of salt, help him or her get elected, and hold her or his feet to the fire when the time comes.