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Conservatives for Hillary, Ctd
25 Jul 2007 09:27 pm
A reader writes:
Count me as another Republican who is starting to see her as an appealing candidate. I realize looking at the polls that Republicans that favor her are a rare breed, but I have to imagine that, if someone like ME can come around, anyone can.
I'm not entirely sure what has done it for me. I have a hard time really putting my finger on it, but I've grown increasingly comfortable with the concept of an HRC administration so much so that I'm actually looking forward to it as a possibility.
And it's not just the absence of appealing Republican candidates, though that is a large part of it.
In part, it may be that after 6 years of defending to myself and others Bush's record, I've realized that it's easier to attack than defend a president and that some of my criticisms of Bill Clinton were unfair. He simply was not as liberal as I once believed him to be.
Related to that point, it doesn't hurt that some of my more liberal friends don't trust her. I like her for exactly the reason they don't: We all have a good feeling that she has learned Dick Morris's lessons of triangulation well.
I've also been impressed with her during the debates. She does seem presidential to me.
Another dissents:
Hang on now. Your conservative reader is basically saying "Hillary's so uber-cynical that she won't do anything dumb." One, they might be right. Two, hell of an endorsement there, isn't it? I'm inspired.
Fact is this: Hillary, whether conservatives know it or not, is the safest, most comfortable choice for them (and everyone else). She's familiar, experienced, etc. Unfortunately, I don't think that's what we need now. After the Bush-Clinton years., "comfortable" is not enough.
That's the question. Do we need to manage the current mess or try and transform it? The former is a rationale for the Clinton candidacy; the latter is the rationale for Obama's. Alas, no Republican so far appears capable of doing either.
(Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty.)
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