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The Ostroy Report, August 4, 2007

I was listening to right wing radio on Saturday, as I often do to monitor the opposition. What I found was typical of our conservative friends these days: lots of praise for Sen. Barack Obama, lots more Hillary-bashing. If only those pesky Republicans knew just how transparent they are. You can always tell who they fear the most by how much praise they lavish on the other guy, in this case the junior Senator from Illinois, and Sen. Clinton’s chief rival in her bid to move back into the White House in 2008.

They love Obama, just as they once loved Hillary when they mistakenly assumed she’d win her party’s nomination but never the national contest. And now they’re calling him everything from hip and fresh to exciting and Kennedyesque. One conservative radio host referred to this political phenomenon as “old brand/new brand.” The prevailing and very public sentiment these days among right wing spinners is that 24 years of Bushes and Clintons is enough. That voters have tired of these two dynastic families occupying the White House for so long. Well, they’re half right. Americans may be sick and tired–disgusted is more like it–of the last seven, miserable years under King George–but I suspect they’d jump at the chance to bring back the good old days of peace and prosperity under Bubba, who even during his most tumultuous period enjoyed tremendous popularity/approval ratings.

To be sure, the only ones fed up with the Clintons are hardcore Busheviks; there’s certainly no groundswell of Democrats lamenting 92-’00. To the contrary, it’s most of America–including a majority of Republicans–who’d orgasmically kick Bush to the curb along with his 63% disapproval rating.

For years now all we’ve heard about is how Hillary Clinton is polarizing and unelectable. That she would never win the national election. It’s time to lay this myth to rest once and for all and demonstrate just how easily she could become the next U.S. president. To win, she needs 270 electoral votes. In 2004, John Kerry received 251. His near-win occurred at a time when Bush’s popularity and support for the Iraq war was much higher, and when he was still able to tap his post-911 currency while effectively playing the terrorism card. It was also before the GOP was rocked by unrelenting scandal. In short, Bush, the Republican party and the country was in a much different place.

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