30 June 2007

Learning to Like Hillary

I am undecided as to whom I'd like to vote for in the Democratic race for the presidency. Obama appeals to me on a gut level, but I'm not sure that's enough. The comparison is unkind, but you get the sneaking suspicion that millions of Americans voted for George W. Bush--twice--simply because he appealed to them on a gut level. I've read Obama's book, and it reads alright, but man, it's all platitudes. I don't doubt the guy has a big brain full of policy in the making, and that he's not only exceptionally bright but politically savvy as well. But vague brush strokes and a tendency to generalize don't cut it when you're the President of the United States.


Hillary Clinton has the opposite effect on me from Barack Obama: she's rough, I don't like the sound of her voice, and I sometimes feel she comes of as shrill. Her grandstanding on the Senate floor appalls me from time to time, but more because of the factors mentioned above then because of what she actually has to say. When I listen to the points Hillary Clinton makes, I often find myself in agreement (although I strongly object to any rhetoric that validates the sabre-rattling coming out of Iran).

So where does that leave me? That's what I wondered this morning when I sat and read this:

"After eight years of the Bush administration, we are going to be shocked by what we find," the New York senator and former first lady said. "Somebody said to me the other day if there was ever a time for a woman president it's now because we're going to have to do a lot of cleaning."

Ha ha. She's a politician's politician, which I distrust simply because she's neither charming nor endearing like her husband. But she's prepared, she's done her homework, and she might just be able to lead the country back to a place in the world that Americans can be proud of.

"If Hillary Clinton thinks women will support her candidacy simply based on her gender she is mistaken," RNC spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson said. "Women, like men, will vote for a candidate because they share their views, and Hillary's consist of higher taxes, bigger government and waving a white flag in the global war on terror."

If this is how Republicans mean to attack Clinton during the upcoming election, then it may not be a bad thing. I'm at the point where, if "higher taxes, bigger government and waving a white flag" means America is willing to invest in schools, families and the environment, provide a level of health care for all Americans that is in keeping with our presumptions about our standing in the world, and return to American citizens and global citizens alike the Constitutional right to habeas corpus, then hey, I could actually vote for her.