I know the Clinton family pretty well and can speak very highly of her and her capabilities. Unfortunately for her, she adopted the Bill/DLC approach to politics. And I told her that in 2000 when she ran for the Senate.
During the 2000 election I attended a Hillary fundraiser in Chicago for a small group of Democratic elites. I asked her whether she really supported the death penalty and her answer was pretty telling. She said that she did. In my opinion, grass roots liberals do not support the death penalty nor do any humane societies. I was disappointed with her answer and did not then grasp the significance of her answer.
Bill Clinton had a retarded person executed in Arkansas in 1992. He actually left his campaign briefly to show his DLC strategy. The DLC strategy which he helped found was to mimic the Republicans on the death penalty and national security issues whether you believed in that or not. Can you imagine a Democrat supporting a position just to be elected? I could not at the time but I have since learned the disaster that this has caused for the Democratic Party.
Selecting Bill Clinton to be the standard bearer for the DLC was perfect. He was the best at arguing for stuff he himself did not believe in. And like many lawyers chooses to parse words for his own benefit. That was good for him in 1992 and 1996 especially since he had Ross Perrault peeling off votes from papa Bush and Dole. However, during the Clinton years, the DLC strategy caused the collapse of the Democratic majority which started in 1933.
Last Sunday on This Week with George S, George Will made a comment about how Bill Clinton's political skills were essentially an urban myth. I generally do not agree with Will except for his passion about the Chicago Cubs. However, in this case he is dead on. And I have said this for years to my DLC advocates. You may win a few elections by saying things you don't believe in. But, as it was with Bill and the DLC, insincerity is no longer a good political strategy.
That is why Hillary's case is so unfortunate. I have suggested to her and others in her inner circle that she cannot be her husband. He is a rock star and his popularity emanates from that phenomenon. She is a hard working, intelligent, and capable political candidate. Unfortunately she drank too much of her husband's Kool-Aid without understanding the consequences. She could not pull off the insincerity game that some men can get away with. There is a real gender difference in this area between men and women. Men may be hunters and women may be gatherers. But men are great at denying and women are more into self denial. They have to be to live with the men that lie to them frequently. This may be an over generalization, but it is particularly true for Hillary.
Hillary's vote for the Iraq war was bad enough. Her denying that she made a mistake was the one that most Democrats cannot forget. And Hillary got her denial advice from Bill who is the champion of deniers. Had she fessed up to her responsibility for that vote, she would be the nominee. However, she continued to take the advice from Bill's group in her campaign. They are still living in the 90s thinking that Bill and the DLC are running. In my heart I know that she is a sincere ethical person who would never have supported the Iraq war but for Bill's advice and the advice of people like Madeline Albright. And I also think that she is a humanitarian who would not have supported the death penalty.
The lesson in all this is that you have to be true to yourself and your own beliefs to do anything in life and especially politics. The old Abraham Lincoln quote (happy BD Abe) still is applicable regarding fooling the people. It is also a lesson in being true to oneself. As I wrote in previous posts, the real Hillary Clinton is the best qualified to be president in 2008. Unfortunately for her and America, her husband has dominated their marriage to her detriment. Sometimes you have to say no even to your own spouse. However, the good news here is that the DLC is dead. May they not rest in peace.