In the first
Democratic debate, Clinton was a politician in complete command of her gifts.
By
Eight years ago in New Hampshire, when the question of Hillary Clinton’s likability came up during the Democratic presidential debate, Barack Obama said, memorably:
“You’re
likable enough, Hillary.”
That
condescending comment earned him the scorn among some liberals that he
deserved. But it rang true, even to many Democrats.
There
was something stiff and artificial about the former New York senator back then.
Eventually, it cost her the nomination.
Well,
it seems she’s been to charm school. The Hillary we saw in the first Democratic
presidential debate was a politician in complete command of her gifts.
She
had an answer for everything and for everybody. She beat back the mild attacks
of her fellow Democrats almost dismissively and dodged the more determined
assaults of the feral CNN interrogators.
She saved her best for her Republican foes, excoriating them for their hypocrisy in bleating about big government while attempting to use that government to control our lives.
She saved her best for her Republican foes, excoriating them for their hypocrisy in bleating about big government while attempting to use that government to control our lives.
Her solid performance gave substance to the thought that we might be looking at the next president of the United States and the first woman to occupy the office.
Look
at her opposition:
I
love Bernie Sanders, her main rival among the announced candidates. But half of
this country thinks progressive taxation is a crime against nature and most of
the other half is wondering when the football game comes on.
I’ve
only rarely voted for the winning candidate in primary elections. There’s a
reason for that. The fact that I find Bernie Sanders appealing is the
reason. And Lincoln Chafee and Martin O’Malley, the two leading wannabes
still in the race, are both striking out with voters.
With
Vice President Joe Biden saying he won’t run after all, Hillary
seems the clear Democratic winner. Moreover, it’s looking as though she’ll
emerge from the battle with a united party behind her. Sanders virtually assured that with his “the American people are sick
and tired of hearing about your damn emails” crack during the debate.
How
about the Republicans? They’ve got nothing, except those emails.
Unless the FBI comes up with something nefarious, they won’t amount to much. This
story wouldn’t be alive if the Republicans had something real to offer — unless
you count Benghazi, which the great majority of the electorate can’t spell if
you spot them the h and the z.
GOP
voters have 16 or so candidates to choose from. According to some polls,
they’ve put the three weakest hopefuls in the lead for the nomination.
Donald
Trump is a one-man clown show. He may be ahead now, but there probably aren’t
enough circus fans to make him the nominee, let alone president.
Ben
Carson is a strange, rather pleasant-seeming man who’s given to spouting
bizarre ideas on evolution, guns, and health care. It’s hard to match the ideas
with the man.
Carly
Fiorina is a persuasive talker but she has a hard time distinguishing between facts and
fantasy. She rests her candidacy on her proficiency as a business executive,
even though she’s widely considered to have been a colossal failure in
the corporate world.
Meanwhile,
back at the House of Representatives, the Republicans are doubling down on what
I call their “you can’t fire us, we quit”
leadership style.
So
far they’ve thrown out the speaker of the House, forced his anointed successor
to withdraw from the field, and tried to drag Paul Ryan out from under the
porch where he’s been hiding to avoid forcible recruitment (though now some
Republicans are complaining that even he’s too liberal).
Republicans
couldn’t run a two-car funeral, let alone a country. Given all the oddballs in
this race, Hillary’s odds are good.