Letters to the Editor
AlecsMom
Published Letters: 393 Editor's Choice: 14
-
Hillary's Problems
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]HRC's problems are fairly easy to define at this time and they're not going away, now or in the general election. First, many Dems, like myself, voted for Bill twice and felt burned by the lack of progress on what we see as democratic platform issues.
Bill was a moderate president, period. No major movement in either direction overall. That's not say that he (or Hillary) might not have wanted to do more, that's to say that it didn't happen. Personally, I think that Bill's weaknesses as a person contributed mightily to his inability to rally the country behind important issues. Even GWB has done better at this and he has been a failure as a leader. Now why should we expect Hillary to deliver much better than her far-more-popular husband?
Secondly, Hillary is despised by a core constituency on the right that will not go away. Obama simply doesn't inspire that level of contempt. This is not becuase of Hillary's stances on issues but based on her long record of rancor with the GOP. Many democrats, like myself, simply don't relish another 4 years of bitterness and name-calling.
-
@Liberty bell
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's a good sign that so many people from outside the traditional democratic party base were persuaded to vote in our primary instead of choosing between McCain, Huckabee and Paul on the right. The right-wing pundits have grossly underestimated dissatisfaction with the current president and his policies. However, I really don't think most of those voters would have ever proppelled themselves out of their homes to vote for HRC.
-
@Anonymous
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"naive?" I think not. The fact is that people, lots of different kinds of people LIKE Obama. They like how he speaks, they like his background, they like his family...and yes, they really like his talk about bringing change to our bitterly divided and do-nothing political process.
I think you also deeply underestimate the people who gave Dubya a chance in 2000 and then let him slide in '04 due to 9/11. That old trick isn't playing anymore in case you didn't notice Rudy's plummet in the GOP race. However, they are not rallying to Hillary. Too many bad memories there.
-
@Roger64
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Have you forgotten the Lewinsky scandal that swamped our nation and political process for years? This is essentially what I was referring to when I wrote about "personal weaknesses." A person who loses credibility with the American people will always have tremendous problems getting anything done. Bill Clinton made himself and his admin easy targets and BTW, he was no great shakes on ethics either. Not as bad as Dubya but this is just a very low point in governmental accountability right now. McCain would be better I have no doubt on this issue. Hillary Clinton? I'm not convinced and I voted twice for her husband.
-
@ James Levy
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Most of Obama's supporters believe, as do I,
that he will actually accomplish what he says he will do once in office. The Clintons had 8 years and didn't accomplish nearly as much as they could or should have. They were too bogged down in the political tug-of-war with the GOP. Why expect anything different from HRC now? Obama is clearly able to get many, diverse people motivated behind an agenda and he will be very hard to stop. Just look at Bush and his ability to get NCLB passed once and then passed again in 2007 despite huge criticism from states. That's the power of the "bully pulpit" and the Clintons did nothing even close to that dramatic during their tenure in office.
-
@ncawley
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]ncawley wrote:
"@AlecsMom: How Dare you.....
How dare you state that the administration of President Bill Clinton did not do anything for our country."
I said no such thing. There's a difference between criticism and insults. Please read more carefully and stop trying to make issues where there are none.
As someone who has supported the Clintons in the past, I see no reason why I can't call them out for their (mostly his really) atrocious conduct in the Whitehouse. Bill has lived it down and has behaved in a dignified way since leaving office, but I will never forget (and I don't believe most Americans will either) the nastiness and bitterness of those years. We can do better. "Yes, we can."
-
@ Anonymous
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anonymous wrote:
" Ethics is always in the eye of the beholder. Thats why its always better to focus on the issues and not buy into the character counts charade."
------------------------------------------------------
Why can't we have both? I like Obama on the issues and I admire his character. I am about half-way through his first book, Dreams from my Father. It's an incredibly honest and insightful examination of his own person, his strengths and as well as his weaknesses. His life seems to be an extension of this self-examination. I often think that if Bill Clinton were willing to do the same, he would have been a brilliant leader instead of just a brilliant politician. He was undone by lack of character, and it really hurt his (and our) causes.
-
@Anonymous
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dreams from my Father is a book of personal recollection and personal reflection. As such, it will always be written from the prism of Obama's own perspective. For example, I recently read on MSNBC that most of Barack's old friends from high school and college did not recall his drug use and certainly not his personal struggles. Interesting but it really has nothing to do with what Obama reflects upon. The struggle for identity was his (as it is for each of us.)