Friday, November 16, 2007

Attention all Republican primary voters!

President Hillary.

Tell me that doesn't make you cringe. Just thinking of it and I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. But that is where we are heading if we are not careful.

This is the thing. Running for President is an art form. It takes political savvy. It takes will and determination. It's not for the weak. What we have in Mitt, Fred, and even Rudy are novices. They could learn as they go, of course, but we have seen in past elections how any mis-step can be devastating.

Let me tell you the one person who will not be taking any mis-steps whatsoever. Hillary Clinton. We all know that. Name recognition. Fame. Star Power. She has all that as well.

I'll tell you why Hillary would beat Rudy. People have a way of tuning out politics when they think that it is just a partisan crowd going after the politician, be it right or left. The scandals that have followed Hillary have been worked up and down. She has convinced everyone that it was nothing but rightwing attacks. There is nothing in Hillary's past that anyone doesn't know. We heard it all. Even the Hsu fundraising thing will not hurt her. People figure if she hasn't been indicted by now for something, she never will be.

Rudy is another story. I keep hearing people on TV who were involved in New York politics say that things will come out about Rudy that the country hasn't heard and it will be very bad. I believe it. Don't you? When people hear scandal the first time, they listen. But with Rudy they will be listening just as he is trying to convince them to vote for him for President.

The one thing that we love about Rudy, his ruthlessness, is the one thing that will work against him with Hillary. He will look like the bully teasing the class nerd. There isn't any way around it.

Now I will tell you why Hillary would beat Mitt and Fred. They have never attempted to run a campaign as big as this one. They already have made gaffs. No one is watching now. But in the general election, everyone will be watching. This is no time to learn the plays in the game. This is no time for rookies.

Fred has show lackluster performance so far. I just don't see Mitt overcoming his flipflopping on the issues and this whole anti-Morman thing. Have you seen the commercials with his liberal soundbites of the past? He will look like Kerry did in '04.

Yes, this is about McCain. I know you are angry with him for all kinds of reasons. I don't blame you. But I am telling you this again. He is the only one who can beat Hillary.

I have tried to believe that others can beat Hillary. I have tried to get on board with Fred or Mitt. And I do think either one of them would be a fine President. If I thought either one of them could win, I would be looking closer at them and hoping for them. But I don't believe they can.

McCain not only has the name recognition, fame, and star power that Hillary has, he has so much more. He is a war hero. He is a leader. He has dedicated his life to public service. His scandals are old and worn out as well. He has a sense of humor and can be charming. And this is key because those are the things Hillary has none of.... humor and charm.

She may not mis-step, but she simply cannot charm. Does no one else see how important this is? We are more visual than we have ever been in this country. This Presidential election will be a YouTube election. Relentless visual focus on our candidates. Rookies will make mistakes and YouTube will be there to remind us of it over and over. Hillary will make no mistakes.

Think of this too. We are at war. We will still be at war in '08. McCain not only has the obvious experience with war, but he has a personal stake in it. Both of his sons are serving in the military. This speaks volumes about what he believes.

I just want everyone to look at the big picture. Sure we want a conservative like Fred Thompson and a family values candidate like Mitt Romney. But this is not the year to "send a message" to Republicans.

This is the election to make sure that we don't have to sit in front of the evening news every night for years and hear what President Hillary Clinton proposed or vetoed. We won't have to watch her defund the military as her husband did. We won't have to see her add health care to the bloated bureaucracy of government control. We won't have to see her appoint a Ruth Bader Ginsberg clone to the Supreme Court.

The one thing that we all know is that McCain can get the moderate vote. Easy. There is no way we are going to win this election without the moderate vote.

It's more important than our anger at McCain.


It just is.