April 14 2008

One of Barack Obama's handicaps in his push to be President of the United States is the fact that he has two Republican opponents, John McCain and Hillary Clinton. No doubt eyebrows will shoot up in surprise when I call Clinton a Republican.  While it's unlikely that she shares all of McCain's political views, she has been acting as a de facto Republican fifth column within the Democratic Party. Because of the ferocity of her attacks on Obama, Senator McCain doesn't need to bother hurling his own barbs. Instead, he gets to tour the country, looking like a statesman while he reminds people endlessly of his heroism in Vietnam.

All right, but Clinton and Obama are competing for the Democratic candidacy, are they not?  Isn't it expected that Hillary will try to beat Barack?  Yes, but not in the way she is going about doing so.  It's hard to imagine that the shrill, finger pointing Clinton of today is the same person who hugged Obama at a political debate, vowed to wage a respectful campaign and told everyone how proud she was to be in the same contest with a man of his stature. Of couse, that was before she began losing.

So, how should Hillary be behaving?  Well, for example, when the flap started about Obama's pastor Reverend White, Clinton could have said to the media, "Obama's pastor isn't running for President.  Barack and I are the candidates.  Let's talk about the issues."   When this latest thing about the word "bitter" started, Clinton could have refrained from calling her opponent "elitist". Instead, she could have said, "That's not the word I would have used, but it's just a word.  Barack is a fine candidate, but let me tell you why I'm an even better one."

Unfortunately for Clinton, taking the high road like that hasn't worked for her. Obama has a way of charming delegates that she can't match.  She and her husband Bill believe in winning by any means necessary, so personal attacks on Obama become the obvious fallback strategy. These tactics may well work and that's when Hillary will become a full fledged Republican.

The result will be Obama with his campaign derailed and his reputation in tatters. Despite talk of the Democratic Party coming together after a candidate has been selected, Obamas supporters will probably stay home on election day rather than vote for the woman who ambushed their hero.  Undecided voters may well be so sickened by Clinton's behaviour that they will turn to statesmanlike war hero John McCain. The result for America will be four more years of the Bush Administration under a different name. Hillary will have won her candidacy but will have destroyed the Democratic Party.  If the Republicans were paying her, she could do no better.

Do you agree?   I'd like to know your opinion.

George

P.S. Visit my website at www.checkmatefiction.com for some free fiction.