Frank Rich, The New York Times, January 27, 2008
In the wake of George W. Bush, even a miracle might not be enough for the Republicans to hold on to the White House in 2008. But what about two miracles? The new year’s twin resurrections of Bill Clinton and John McCain, should they not evaporate, at last give the G.O.P. a highly plausible route to victory.
Amazingly, neither party seems to fully recognize the contours of the road map. In the Democrats’ case, the full-throttle emergence of Billary, the joint Clinton candidacy, is measured mainly within the narrow confines of the short-term horse race: Do Bill Clinton’s red-faced eruptions and fact-challenged rants enhance or diminish his wife as a woman and a candidate?
Absent from this debate is any sober recognition that a Hillary Clinton nomination, if it happens, will send the Democrats into the general election with a new and huge peril that may well dwarf the current wars over race, gender and who said what about Ronald Reagan.
What has gone unspoken is this: Up until this moment, Hillary has successfully deflected rough questions about Bill by saying, “I’m running on my own” or, as she snapped at Barack Obama in the last debate, “Well, I’m here; he’s not.” This sleight of hand became officially inoperative once her husband became a co-candidate, even to the point of taking over entirely when she vacated South Carolina last week. With “two for the price of one” back as the unabashed modus operandi, both Clintons are in play.
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I hope Bartcop reads this Frank Rich piece. It may shatter some of his illusions (and mostly his alone) that a potential Clinton “two for the price of one” presidency may be more fraught with peril than he assumes. Not only does Rich expose some of those perils, he actually gives away some strategy that the otherwise dumbass Rethugs might not have thought of; well, free speech is his right (and ours).
Comment by VTindependent — January 27, 2008 @ 3:15 pm
“Any Democrat who seriously thinks that Bill will fade away if Hillary wins the nomination — let alone that the Clintons will escape being fully vetted — is a Democrat who, as the man said, believes in fairy tales.” says Rich at the end of his column above.
So I guess that while Bartcop doesn’t want a pony, he does want a fairy tale (ending, with Billary riding off into the sunset). According to exit polls, Bill HURT Hillary in SC with his attacks. So much for the unassailable Bill advantage.
And Frank Rich makes many excellent points in his column; although I’m sure he’ll try, BC will have a hard time saying they are blind Hilary hate (as he does to ANY critisism of her) as they strike me as well thought out and valid.
What say you Bartcop????
Comment by VTindependent — January 27, 2008 @ 3:31 pm