Can I kick it? No, you can't.

Message from the future

By the time you read this, Hillary Clinton will no longer be a presidential candidate.

There are certainly reasons that this might be untrue, such as you're reading this over my shoulder as I write it, or you're monitoring my intarwebs in real time, despite the fact that you have no warrant authorizing you to do so.

Thanks a lot, spineless United States Senate Democrats.

But if it wasn't true when you began reading this, there is no doubt that it is a certain fact...NOW.

Fine, keep reading.

Senator Clinton has a problem. It's not Barack Obama, and it's not Bill. Hillary's problem is still Hillary.

Don't misunderstand me, I think very highly of the woman. I'm confident that she's the brighter party in a marriage of geniuses, and I think she'd make a pretty good president. And that's not even using the sliding scale we'll need after Dingus McGhee leaves office in January. I really believe she's got the chops to make things better in this country. Of course, she won't get the chance, because she's just dropped out of the race.

Damn.

When people want to diminish Hillary, they generally choose one of three issues. They pick one, because no one thinks all three are bad, or entirely her fault.

1) Her failure to get Americans universal health care back in 1993.

As first lady, she took a crack at getting Americans something that all other industrialized nations have. She got sandbagged at every turn, and since I'm no policy wonk, for all I know, the plan might have been crap. It was a long time ago, and I honestly don't remember. Still, she got a bum rap, and too few people give her credit for carrying the torch on an issue that 15 years later, most people feel is really important.

2) Monica Lewinsky.

Are you more upset because Hillary couldn't please Bill enough to keep him from straying, or because she didn't leave him after he got busted? I would venture to ask why it's anyone's damned business but the Clintons, but this is America, and OH LOOK A BUNNY.

I'm not mad at Hillary about this. I simply recognize that this eminently independent and capable woman's decision to stay with this man she had no use for was simply a calculation made based on the fact that no one votes for a divorcee' woman for president. And no one will vote for her as a married lady either BECAUSE SHE'S JUST DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE.

Right, that third thing.

3) Her vote to authorize the president's use of military force in Iraq.

I was frustrated back in 2002, because it was starting to become apparent that a case was being made to finish personal family business between the Bushes and the Husseins, and that we were going to have to finance this stupid feud, in treasure and blood. We were less than a month from the midterm elections, and the administration was forcing a vote. They dared Congress to say "investigate more" knowing full well that the blood of the American people was up.

I watched senators come to the podium to justify their votes. Hillary had been in the Senate for less than two years, and talk of a future presidential run was already floating about. She gave her speech. I watched.

I thought, "Damn. She doesn't want to look like a girl when she runs for president."

And a lot of Democratic senators voted the same way for the same reason. They screwed it up. And 4000 dead and the better part of a trillion dollars later, this country has serious problems, financially, militarily, domestically, and in terms of our prestige.

These are the reasons Hillary has dropped out of the race to be president.

The incrementalism that was the trademark of the first Clinton White House will not be sufficient this time around. This country is too far afield to sit through a decade of small measures and baby steps. There is a great deal to be repaired, and we don't have the luxury of time.

Time is up. She's out.

It's the Hillary, stupid.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008