Hillary Clinton's "negatives" started going up at exactly the same time she began throwing the "kitchen sink" at her Democratic opponent, Barack Obama. The Svengalis in her campaign, Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson, thought it advantageous to treat Obama as if he were a Republican while at the same time "triangulating" against him by heaping praise on John McCain, appearing on Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, and most recently, genuflecting to the odious Richard Mellon Scaife (who Keith Olbermann accurately depicts as Mr. Burns from The Simpsons). Nothing turns off the Democratic Party's base more quickly than hearing Hillary smear Obama while she sidles up to right-wing extremists.
With its desperate tactics and negative tone the Clinton campaign only succeeded in casting doubts about Hillary's trustworthiness. Holding court with Richard Mellon Scaife, who savaged the Clintons throughout the 1990s, is like John Kerry giving a big sloppy kiss to John O'Neill and "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." It speaks volumes about Hillary's Machiavellian side.
Hillary wants to use Florida and Michigan to shoehorn her way into the nomination. But why did Florida and Michigan buck the Democratic Party leadership and jump ahead of other states without the DNC's approval? And why should Florida and Michigan now be rewarded for their past shoddy treatment of the party? The sensible thing to do is to simply divide up their delegations proportionately between the candidates based on their percentages of the popular vote after the last primary.
Go ahead and run Hillary. Be just like "Rocky Balboa" -- a contender -- and regale us all with your tenacity and winning spirit. Just stop the underhanded attacks against your fellow Democrat. Just stop with the "Change you can Xerox," and "I wouldn't choose Pastor Wright," and "As far as know," and call off your Ferraros and Carvilles. As your husband said the other day: "Chill out."
Ronald Reagan had what he called his 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican." It seemed to have worked pretty well for him and his party. Can't Hillary simply adopt a Democratic version of this idea?