I came across an interesting
National Review editorial you should read from a former policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and treasury official under George H.W. Bush. I really never understood the wild-eyed hysteria that most conservatives and even some Democrats have about Hillary Clinton. For starters, here's just a
small sampling of
Facebook groups formed specifically to stop her from becoming president.
The premise in Bartlett's editorial was that since America's mood is so anti-Republican right now, the 2008 election is really the Democrats' to lose. Conservatives should embrace Hillary Clinton on the premise that she is the least liberal of the Democratic candidates, which I think is undeniably true (except perhaps Joe Biden and probably Bill Richardson). So why so much gloom and doom with talk of
leaving the country and hell freezing over if she becomes president? To me, I think of her as the safe choice, as in she won't be pushing for the bold changes that I believe the country needs from the next president. She's not risky, her policies will probably be similar to those of Bill Clinton, and he'll definitely play a huge role in a new Clinton administration. But I disagree with her almost exclusively from the left, not the right.
So what is this? I understand she has a grating,
polarizing personality (which she's trying desperately
to soften), that she made terrible mistakes while attempting health care reform in the early 90s, and that there's a perception out there, not unjustified, that she bends anyway the wind blows. I mean, I don't truly think she believes in her heart of hearts that we need an anti-flag burning amendment, but she thinks it will help politically. She also overplays the national security card, overcompensating for her gender. Her health-care plan is the farthest from single-payer of any of the major candidates running. Yet again, these are all liberal criticisms, not conservative ones. She SHOULD be Conservatives' favorite candidate, if they made a rational assessment of all the Democrats running.
But to the Conservatives, she is the devil incarnate. Check out
this thread in one of the Hillary Clinton haters groups. Members call her a "communist whore," a "stupid dike," and my personal favorite, "a vag." I'm going to go out on a limb and say a lot of this is straight-up sexism. I just don't see Conservatives forming groups of this scale to oppose the much more liberal Democratic candidates. It really does seem to be the fact that she's a woman that is bringing about such outrageous, completely unsubstantial rhetoric. Again I'm bringing this up not to support Hillary's candidacy by any means, but merely to point out the irrationality of foaming at the mouth about someone who is actually quite moderate. Conservatives may need to be careful what they wish for; their blind, sexist hatred of Hillary may prevent the nomination of the one nominee who is most like them.
