I am, admittedly, firmly in the Hillary camp -- but unlike more than a few Obama supporters (like his wife), I will enthusiastically support whomever becomes the Democratic nominee.
My problems with Obama have as much to do with his statements and positions as with many of supporters. Michael Chabon's paean in the Wapo yesterday was typical -- you must support Obama or you're naive, uninformed, cowardly, a closet racist or any number of reasons that have nothing to do with making informed choices about a candidate. So many of the Obama-ites see what they want as they gaze at the object of their affection. He is the blank slate that their fantasies can be drawn upon. Andrew Sullivan swoons in post after post -- when not spewing bile about Hillary... and everyone talks endlessly about "hope".
The latest narrative: Obama = JFK & Camelot reborn. Blech.
Sorry to break it to those that actually read and follow history. JFK was elected by the tiniest margins, was a womanizer (before and during office), made a mess of foreign policy (which took us to the brink of nuclear obliteration), had an administration full of cronies (like his attorney general brother), escalated Viet Nam and was reluctant to confront the racial divide that was threatening to tear our country apart. Had he not been killed, I wonder if his legacy would have been entirely different.
Of course his death was transformative -- and it was a factor in LBJ's successes... but it was not a determinative factor, regardless of what the latter-day Kennedy's espouse.
So why do I think Hillary is (still) the right choice?
My problems with Obama have as much to do with his statements and positions as with many of supporters. Michael Chabon's paean in the Wapo yesterday was typical -- you must support Obama or you're naive, uninformed, cowardly, a closet racist or any number of reasons that have nothing to do with making informed choices about a candidate. So many of the Obama-ites see what they want as they gaze at the object of their affection. He is the blank slate that their fantasies can be drawn upon. Andrew Sullivan swoons in post after post -- when not spewing bile about Hillary... and everyone talks endlessly about "hope".
The latest narrative: Obama = JFK & Camelot reborn. Blech.
Sorry to break it to those that actually read and follow history. JFK was elected by the tiniest margins, was a womanizer (before and during office), made a mess of foreign policy (which took us to the brink of nuclear obliteration), had an administration full of cronies (like his attorney general brother), escalated Viet Nam and was reluctant to confront the racial divide that was threatening to tear our country apart. Had he not been killed, I wonder if his legacy would have been entirely different.
Of course his death was transformative -- and it was a factor in LBJ's successes... but it was not a determinative factor, regardless of what the latter-day Kennedy's espouse.
So why do I think Hillary is (still) the right choice?
"Having just the vision's no solution, everything depends on execution."
-- from the Broadway show, Putting It Together.
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