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I am the first person to admit that what we need is expertise. Likeability shouldn't be a factor.
But the fact is, Hillary is NOT more qualified than the other candidates. The ONLY advantage she has in my mind over the others is that she'd bring Bill with her. I would vote for him in a second and really, I would very much appreciate having them as a twofer.
However, if I could get Al Gore in the white house, there would be no contest. Hillary even with Bill is not an Al Gore.
The problem with ALL presidential candidates is that they have become so blatantly opportunistic that they reek with the stench of ambition. It causes an immediate and extreme revulsion. I know few well educated, independent smart women (a major demographic these days) who would vote for Hillary-- her positions on Israel and on the Iraq War have made her unsupportable. Unfortunately, John Edwards and Barack Obama can be tarred with the self-promoting brush as well (though Barack had the good sense to oppose the ridiculous "war"). And of course, each of the republicans is more nakedly ambitious than all of the Democrats combined. Having been abused as we have by Bush and Rove and their ilk for the last 8 years (though I never voted for the idiot), will even the most ethnocentric, ignorant Americans tolerate endlessly blind ambition again?
ONLY Al Gore can emerge from this mess as being someone truly dedicated to the idea of public service. He was raised to be president, it's true ---- but he was raised to be president in a different time and place, with different ideals. He was raised to be president by parents who believed he had something to offer and who believed politics was a noble profession involving sacrifice and courage, not opportunities for wealth, prestige and fame.
None of this matters of course, because when Stockholm casts their vote for president by giving Al the Nobel Prize this fall, the election will pretty much be decided. ALL Americans are dazzled by the Nobel Prize. It's the absolute proof that you are smart and good and worthy. And the contrast to the idiocy of Bush will be overwhelming. When the country is brought to its knees by incompetent leadership, will it be possible to resist the promise of Gore? He'll run, and he'll win and the horrors of the Bush administration will somehow have begun to be set right. Hillary and Barack and John can sit back and plan future fundraising efforts. Al will work on fixing things. There will be a redemption. We can only hope.
