Posted on 02/28/2006 9:38:21 PM PST by Jean S
The Republican Party appears to be coalescing around the happy assumption that, while Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, she cannot be elected. So, the self-delusive logic says, she is really God's gift to the Republican Party.
This optimistic set of assumptions comes through loud and clear in the comments the president and Karl Rove made to Bill Sammon as he interviewed them for his new book Strategery. But their confidence indicates simply that they don't even begin to understand what they will be up against in a Hillary candidacy.
It has always been Mrs. Clinton's strategery to wrap herself in the generic. By embracing a set of liberal issues, she avoids personal scrutiny. By identifying with working women who are "trying to balance career and family", she buys a pass on charges of a conflict of interest over Rose Law Firm representation of Arkansas while her husband was governor. And now, by hiding behind the generic question of "Are we ready for a woman president?" she invites the question of whether we want this particular woman in the Oval Office.
The cultural forces that Hillary's candidacy will unleash - from the media, from Hollywood and from the cultural icons who decree our lifestyles - will be far beyond those that normally line up behind a presidential candidate. A small foretaste emerged in ABC TV's show "Commander in Chief," in which Geena Davis plays a female president who masters the men and the crises that litter her path. What other presidential candidacy was foreshadowed by a prime-time, hour-long weekly television show?
Hillary's candidacy will not be Democratic so much as demographic and not nearly as political as it will be cultural. The pent-up emotions of half of America will rise to the surface just as Catholics rallied to JFK's candidacy in 1960.
And white women are the swing vote in our politics. George W. Bush carried them by only 1 percent in 2000 and lost the popular vote. He walked away with white women in 2004 by a 14-point margin and carried the electorate by 3.5 points.
White men will vote against Hillary, of course, but are they likely to exceed the 2-1 margin by which they backed Bush in 2004? Or is the GOP organization really going to be able to turn out more than 62 million voters, an increase of 12 million over its 2000 total with very little increase in national population?
Blacks will vote for Hillary with genuine affection rather than the mere duty that animated their support of John Kerry, and Hispanics, who strongly backed Hillary in New York state, are likely to return to the overwhelmingly Democratic vote they cast in 2000, rather than the more balanced ballots they cast in 2004.
In the face of these demographic arguments, can Hillary's admittedly brittle public performances assure her defeat? Will voters see through her posture of moderation and hawkishness on terrorism? White men will. But white women won't. And Hillary will be elected.
Last year, my wife and I wrote about the urgency of a Condoleezza Rice candidacy to nullify Hillary's advantages. Since then, Rice, despite her best efforts to deny a candidacy, has caught fire among the American electorate. In the most recent Gallup poll, 12 percent named her, unaided, as the Republican they would like to see run, and the most up to date head-to-head poll, by the Marist Institute, shows her locked in a three-way tie with Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, with each candidate winning 22 percent of the Republican primary vote.
Those who listen to the melodious tones of Bush and Rove do a disservice to our country. The threat of a Hillary Clinton victory is real and present, and the usual suspects - the likes of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Virginia Sen. George Allen, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, New York Gov. George Pataki et al. are not likely to be able to defeat her. Rudy could, but he won't be nominated because of his social liberalism. McCain could, but he lacks popularity with the GOP rank and file.
Do not underestimate Hillary Clinton's chances to win!
Morris, a former political adviser to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and President Bill Clinton, is the author of Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.
"You know what I'm talkin' about."
Beautiful! The one thing the libs can't stand: mockery.
Trust, but verify, Michael.
Dick Morris is an idiot. Hillary will never win. She is a 44% to 46% candidate. Period.
The stoopids were out in 2000, too. Gore and Nadar together got a majority.
And it's my contention that the Clinton slime machine wasn't even turned on during those two elections.
Very disturbing.
That would put her at least 2% above Bill.
Translation: The country is rapidly swirling down the toilet both morally and culturally, and what bigger turd to lead the way than Hillary Clinton?
I still think the Dems will do a Warner/Feingold ticket.
With this column's content, he's sucking wind!!!!
An expansion of the Dixie Mafia, no doubt!
Great post! Someone should post that link on usenet and google groups
http://jednet207.tripod.com/PoliticalLinks.html
Hollywood loves the Clintons - both of them. They will want Hillary in the White House because it will be a "two-fer" with Bill as Co-President.
WHY HILLARY MUST NOT WIN. WHY HILLARY CANNOT WIN.
(ICKES + ESTRICH PROVIDE ROADMAP--oops!--FOR HILLARY DEFEAT)
AN OPEN LETTER TO TIM ROBBINS, DAVID GEFFEN, CHRIS MATTHEWS, MAUREEN DOWD + JEANINE PIRRO
RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton
December 7, 1941+64
IMPERIOUS HILLARY
(THE REPORTS OF HER DEATH ARE GREATLY UNDERSTATED)
IS DICK MORRIS AN IDIOT? OR IS HE STILL ON THE CLINTON PAYROLL?
clintonCORRUPTION: the more things change. . . .
ON WARRANTLESS SEARCHES AND WIRETAPS:
THE ABYSMAL CONSTITUTIONAL RECORD OF BILL + HILLARY CLINTON
CROOKS PARDONING CROOKS PARDONING CROOKS:
Justice Undone in the clinton White House
CLINTON 'CULTURE OF CORRUPTION'
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY:
HOW DECADES OF CLINTON DOUBLE-DEALING COMPROMISED OUR NATIONAL SECURITY
WHY HILLARY IN THE OVAL OFFICE IS A NATIONAL-SECURITY NO-NOPART ONE
EXPENSIVE CHINA: the clinton legacy
WHY THE CLINTONS FAILED "TO CAPTURE OR KILL THE TALLEST MAN IN AFGHANISTAN"
(DID THEY REALLY WANT TO TAKE HIM OUT ANYWAY?)
THE (oops!) INADVERTENT (TERRORISM) ADMISSIONS OF BILL + HILLARY CLINTON ~PART ONE~
THE FAILED, DYSFUNCTIONAL CLINTON PRESIDENCY
(DECONSTRUCTING CLINTON'S HOFSTRA SPEECH) -- part1: clinton's "Brinkley" Lie
AFTERWORD: ON CLINTON SMALLNESS
(BRINKLEY MISSES THE POINT)
WHY DID BILL CLINTON IGNORE TERRORISM?
Was it simply the constraints of his liberal mindset, or was it something even more threatening to our national security?
KARL ROVE'S MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION: MOI
HEAR HILLARY, CHRIS MATTHEWS ET AL.
"I DON'T RECALL"
(THE CLINTONS COMMIT PERJURY WITH IMPUNITY)
BILL MAHER WARNS DEMOCRATS:
HILLARY WILL TAKE YOU OVER A CLIFF IN '08
PARTY OF LINCOLN AND THE WAR ON TERROR
ON THE FICTIONALIZED MEMOIR (HEAR HILLARY IN SF)~PART TWO~
THE (oops!) INADVERTENT ADMISSIONS OF HILLARY AND JANE IN SAN FRANCISCO
ON PEGGY NOONAN ON 4 PRESIDENTS AND A FUNERAL
'HIATUS' FOR HILLARY?
THE DANGER OF RUNNING VICARIOUSLY
Bill O'Reilly chews up and spits out the hillary clinton candidacy (clip included)
HILLARY'S EXPOSED LEFT FLANK 'SCARES THE HORSES' (VIDEO)
(MISSUS CLINTON SUPPORTS ALITO FILIBUSTER)
IS REUTERS SENDING A MESSAGE ABOUT A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HILLARY?
ON REJIGGING GALLUP'S LOSING NUMBERS FOR HILLARY
THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE OF ANNE KORNBLUT
SEE VIDEO: "HILLARY IS 'DOOMED'" (more 'plantation' fallout)
GONE WITH THE WIND
(miss hillary's 'plantation' blunder)
REDACTION LOOPHOLE: ACCESS TO THE BARRETT REPORT
HILLARY CLINTON KNEW ABOUT THE RAPE: HEAR JUANITA BROADDRICK
ROCKEFELLER SEDITION: WHO IS CALLING THE SHOTS?
THE ABSURDITY OF A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HILLARY
HILLARY'S ARMOR: A decades-old story...
Alien Abductions, Flying Saucers + Other Weird Phenomena, c.1992-2000
for the birds
(THE INCOMPETENCE OF HILLARY CLINTON)
WAR AND TREASON AND THE NEW YORK TIMES
(Please see post 65)
Yitzhak Shamir Validated: THE CLINTONS ARE "A GREAT DANGER TO JEWS"
IT TAKES A CLINTON TO RAZE A COUNTRY
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