The Souring Of Hillary

Isn't if odd that 2008 is still two years away and the supposed "anointed one", Hillary Clinton, is already running into troubles with her Democrat base. Jonah Goldberg writes in the LA Times today about the reasons that many of her biggest supporters are getting fed up with her.

At every turn, Hillary Clinton's Zelig-like public persona has been a fabrication — either by her fans, her enemies or herself. One telling episode came when she published her massively successful autobiography, "Living History." The book tour was nothing short of a coronation, confirming her gravitas and commitment to "the issues." She portrayed herself as resigned to the fact that she'd have to answer Barbara Walters' questions about her personal life, but she always made it seem like she'd rather wrestle with the hard issues of public policy. But when the Washington Post actually tried to ask her about something other than how she cried over her husband's sexcapades with an intern, the senator from New York "declined to be interviewed about the political content of her book."

Hillary Clinton's latest reinvention paints her as a moderate, even an Iraq war hawk. Few people buy it. Reporters regularly assume her motives are opportunistic rather than sincere, focusing on how every pronouncement will position her for the 2008 presidential race. National Public Radio's Mara Liasson, for example, recently observed, "She certainly sees it in her interest to get to the right of the president on many issues, especially in the area of national security."

HRC's biggest problem is that she has never - ever - come across as being comfortable in her own skin. Both her supporters and her detractors just don't know who she is. One wonders if she even does.

Her husband had a list of flaws as long as his resume, but one thing you can say about Bill Clinton is that he was, and still is, a master politician. America has never seen anything like him before and perhaps never will again. It truly is a gift for someone to be able to so connect with people - even people who don't like him - and distract them from the fact that his principles are defined by poll numbers and political expediency.

Hillary is woefully deficient in this skill and people understand this. It's not something you learn, it's something you're born with. Hillary did not win a Senate seat in New York on her charm or command of the issues. She won because a lot of people felt sorry for her that she had to tolerate her husband's philandering and felt she needed an opportunity to strike out on her own. In 2008, nobody is going to elect someone who plays the victim. With such important issues of National Security on the line, voters will want someone who will make our enemies the victims.

They will also want someone who is decisive. When Presidential candidates can't figure out who they are or what they believe in and constantly try to "reinvent" themselves, the electorate rejects them. It didn't work for Al Gore and it didn't work for John Kerry. It certainly won't work for Hillary, whose naked ambition isn't even fooling her biggest cheerleaders, the MSM.

And yet, for all this take of frustration and dissatisfaction over her among Democrats, she's still the one to beat for the nomination. And Hillary isn't going to be deterred. Like Glenn Close's character in "Fatal Attraction", she's determined and she's not going to just go away - "I won't be ignored, Dan!" How this continues to play out over the next twenty-four months is going to be one of the most fascinating political stories we've seen for a long time. Maybe ever.

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Congress: Life On The "Plantation"

In the wake of Hillary's incendiary comparison of the Lower Legislative body to an ante-bellum "plantation", Ace has done his homework and come up with his "Top 10 Ways The House Of Representatives Is Like A "Plantation".

"...and you know what I'm talkin' about." - HRC

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