Why is the GOP so scared of Hillary Clinton?
Top Republicans are already attacking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Depending on who you talk to, Hillary is either too "angry" to win (RNC chair Ken Mehlman) or too "brittle" (Karl Rove). So the GOP strategy is clear -- smear Hillary early so that the front-running Dem never even gets near her party's nomination.
It's a brilliant plan, except for one thing -- Republicans should be praying that Hillary is the Democratic nominee. In fact, the only people who should be terrified by that prospect are the Democrats themselves. And I write this as a party loyalist who would love to see us take back the White House after two straight humiliating losses. (That's right, I said "losses." The 2000 election wasn't stolen; all Al Gore had to do was win his home state -- HIS HOME STATE! -- and he'd have been President. Gee, you think maybe he shouldn't have hired his daughter to run his campaign?)
It breaks my heart to think the Democrats might be stupid enough to nominate Hillary. But then again, it doesn't really surprise me. Going down this road should finally finish the job Dem bigwig Bob Shrum has been working toward all these years -- driving the party into political extinction. (Memo to Bob: Back Hillary this time, and you can lose your ninth straight Presidential election.)
Those Democratic true believers who consider Hillary a viable national candidate should ask themselves a simple question: Do you really think America is ready to elect a woman president?
Perhaps I should re-phrase that. Do you really think a country of gun- and Jesus-loving red staters will, in a time of war, elect the skirt-wearing lesser half of the most despised political couple in American history? A McGovern-Dukakis ticket would have a better shot, and given how much the DNC loves a tired old re-tread candidate -- witness the name John Kerry still being bandied about -- don't think for a second those guys have been ruled out.
Hillary is the most polarizing political figure of our time -- and that's just among Democrats. I live on the west side of Los Angeles, and we're about as blue state as you can get. My friends are all tree-hugging Prius drivers whose idea of a sexy candidate is Dennis Kucinich. To us, the Upper West Side of Manhattan has gotten just a little too reactionary.
Even so, only about half my friends say they'd vote for Hillary. Sure, those who love her, love her. But most of us just see a disingenuous, win-at-all costs, me-first, power-hungry flip-flopper. She's Bill without the warmth, charm, charisma or common touch. He even got the good hair. And if Hillary is this divisive among loyal Democrats, just think how she'll play in all those Midwest states where the only guy they hate more than Charles Darwin is Bill Clinton.
If Hillary does win the Democratic nomination, any Republican in America could beat her. All the GOP would have to do is run someone with a pulse, which pretty much rules out Bill Frist. (His long-distance diagnosis that Terri Schiavo "seems to respond to visual stimuli" certainly wasn't made while she was watching one of his speeches.)
With Hillary on the ticket, the GOP attack ads write themselves. You can already hear the South Carolina whisper campaign starting up: "That Hillary went to an all-girls college in the 1960s, if you know what I mean..." (And while we're on the subject, if America ever does elect a woman president, she won't be a member of the Soft On Defense Party. It's the Nixon in China thing -- our first female commander-in-chief will have to be a tough-as-nails Republican with a hardcore military background. You know, a real butt-kicking chick with some street cred in the heartland, like Condi Rice. Or maybe Lindy Englund.)
Even worse, a Hillary nomination pretty much does Karl Rove's job for him. Remember how hard he worked in 2004 to make gay marriage a leading campaign theme, just because he knew it would get out the evangelical vote? Well, to that constituency, candidate Hillary is a walking, talking picture of Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger dragging their only son into a Greenwich Village bathhouse on a burning American flag.
Given the other problems the GOP has right now -- Iraq, Jack Abramoff, being tethered to a charmless clown with a 33% approval rating as midterm elections approach -- a prospective Hillary candidacy is the one bright spot on their horizon. So if I were a Republican leader, I'd keep my mouth shut on this issue. Or better yet, start telling everyone that Hillary is the one Democrat who really scares me.
And if I were a Democratic leader, I'd get off the Hillary train and start backing one of the many exciting candidates with national name recognition who are waiting in the party's wings. You know, like... well... Evan Bayh??????
So I guess Hillary is all we've got. Well, don't worry. I'm sure she and Bob Shrum can pull this thing off.