Last evening before the debate, I stopped by the Senator Hillary Clinton staff conference room. They get it. "Politics of hope" was the phrase of the day. Hillary will not only repair and reverse the damages of the Bush regime but, more important, she will lead all of us to build an America for the 21st Century.
General Wes Clark stopped by the conference room sporting a bright, sharp blue button with Veterans for Hillary. The general unofficially rolled out the Veterans for Hillary organization. Quite a few military veterans were in the crowd and at least one other Veteran for Hillary button. I asked several veterans why they attended the debate and why they supported Hillary. Their general comments can be summed up as the country needs steady solid leadership and the military needs time to heal. They saw Hillary as the ONLY candidate able to satisfy those goals. I asked about Rudy and they only laughed. One older gentleman from New York City said: "Yeah, right." I knew what he meant. Several times, I heard that Rudy could not take care of his troops (New York City firemen) last time what makes you think he would take care of the military this time?
Thanks to her opponents, Hillary established herself as THE remedy for the Bush poisoning affecting the country. Since when did simple answers with zero nuance become a sign of strength? Since when did strong simple statements like: "There will be no combat troops in Iraq when I become president" actually demonstrate wisdom and strength? Isn't this how our country began this journey to perdition we seem embarked upon? Bush's certainty and stubbornness, so often praised by fundamentalist conservatives as "strong leadership," is clearly not a substitute for wisdom and real leadership. Thank goodness Hillary demonstrates LEADERSHIP AND WISDOM -- no preaching, no certainty, but a plan for the future. She understands that reality changes and the actions required do also. She clearly repudiated the Bush regime's assertion that they "make their own reality." Last night when the other candidates criticized Hillary's refusal to reply with simple answers unaffected by reality, those candidates seemed to acknowledge that they accepted Bush's substitution of stubbornness for leadership and wisdom.
More than most, military and veterans understand the dangers of weak leadership operating in a false reality. I suspect that is why we will be seeing more military and veterans supporting Hillary. Now where do I get one of those buttons....
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