Stepping Aside to Help the Party

In a message dated 11/19/2006 1:43:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, Hubmaster writes:
Hillary Clinton is a terrifically talented politician. She has demonstrated her skill by winning in New York State, an almost impossible task in a land that has been Balkanized by its diverse perspectives and points of view.

Nevertheless, despite overwhelming respect for her intelligence, talents and insights, I hope that she chooses to make her first priority a Democratic win rather than personal stardom.

Why am I saying that?

Because I believe that no what Hillary does she cannot change the perceptions of her held by a majority of the voting public. To put it bluntly, Hillary is a polarizing force. If she were put up against John McCain, the American people would undoubtedly vote in John McCain.

Whatever their views about McCain, he is still remembered as the “war hero,” the man who survived five years of pain for his country.

Hillary, on the other hand, will always be viewed as the woman who wouldn’t stand by her man or bake cookies; or the woman who voted for the War and always avoided the serious issues of our time. In short, a politician who was so conscious of her prior political "gaffs," that she bent over backwards to seem politically correct at the expense of her credibility..

Such perceptions change glacially if at all.

Hillary needs to recognize this and to step aside in order to give another candidate with a better chance to win the opportunity to emerge and rise in the firmament, a candidate that carries little or no emotional baggage that can make him or her less palatable to the voting public.

The fact of the matter is that whoever winds up being the candidate of choice must be able to appeal to a broad cross-section of voters ranging from the left to the Independent whose numbers are growing and whose influence is increasingly being felt.

That infers and imputes that they be untainted by their positions on the issues; not easy!

For her sacrifice, Hillary should be awarded with senior status within the party and an appropriate position in a new democratic government.

We must in the end put personal ambitions aside and consider what is best for the democratic party.

For the first time in six years, we have an opportunity to put forth a candidate who has a chance to win, a candidate who the voters can become emotionally engaged with, a candidate who can communicate to a wider audience in effective sound-bytes. The democrats need someone who can handle him or herself when exposed to the expected cabal of cable hit men who seem to love to invent hair brained scenarios involving democrats. We need someone who can stand up to their gutter politics and can give as good as he/she gets. In short, we need to understand that the 08 election is going to be a walk in the park.
In the meantime, we have a full plate and need to get cracking pushing forward a sound and coherent democratic plan to not only reverse much of the prior special interest legislation but to also move forward on many fronts ranging from quality of life issues to education, health care, the environment and the economy.
.

The long and short of it is that we have our work cut out and we cannot afford to lose time.

And the election for the next democratic president begins today.

Les Aaron