There are a lot of post-mortems being written about the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign at the end of this week. Most have been pretty good about pointing out the symptoms but missed the disease.
Looking back on it, Clinton never had a chance once Barack Obama struck a chord with the hope and change theme. It's something I've been harping on ever since I started this blog a year ago. People want real substantive change in our national leadership. The candidate who tapped this desire best would win their party's nomination. Obama and McCain are where they are today for a reason.
Hillary Clinton is simply what people want a change from. Someone willing to swing wildly back and forth in her positions and talking points depending on which way the wind was blowing is not who we're looking for. Her connection with her husband's administration did her little good, and probably hurt more than helped. The Clinton and Bush presidencies were all about gaining political advantage over their opponents. Heck, Bill Clinton didn't even have a presidency. It was an eight-year campaign. Where Bush has been solid in putting the needs of the country first, in his response to 9/11, he screwed it up with his partisan wrangling and inability to clearly explain why we needed to use our military in the Middle East.
So Hillary was doomed no matter whether she was the candidate of the party bosses or the champion of the Pennsylvania farmer.
Now it looks like we're going to have a Republican candidate in John McCain who tells it as it is, like it or not, against a Democrat in Barack Obama with the ability to inspire. They represent what we want in the White House in the next four years -- though Obama's recent difficulties have dulled his previous luster.
Hillary Clinton in no way was going to be able to satisfy voter longing for change or plain talk. It wasn't possible and neither, as it turned out, was her nomination.
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Obama, the noted candidate of the wine-and-cheese crowd, prominently positioned himself as a beer drinker Tuesday at a bar in Raliegh. He stopped in, reportedly scanned the selections and ordered the lowest-cost beer on the menu, Pabst Blue Ribbon.
You probably have seen photographs and video of the Illinois senator hoisting his beer with the crowd. Every image I've seen shows the beer glass FULL! I'm sure he had a sip or two. Finishing it probably would not have been a wise move, sure. But did he even go half way on his PBR? Inquiring minds want to know. Obama, who doesn't need to pander, hurts himself when he does so.
He's going to end up with some sort of Clintonesque "I smoked but I didn't inhale" tag. "I drank but my glass remained full" in his case.
I'm a craft beer guy, by the way. Fat Tire is the best. Many of the microbrews in San Diego County are awesome. I finish mine.
