Bruce Bartett in NRO: vote for Hillary
q=3DNzgxMjNlMWMzNzQ1NjlhMWI5YzNiYTM5YzdmZDdiNTQ=3D> May 01, 2007 Get Ready for Hillary
Tough choices for the Right. By Bruce Bartlett As each day passes, it becomes increasingly clear that the Democrats = will win the White House next year. It=92s not quite 1932, but it=92s = getting close to a sure thing. All the energy is on their side, they = are raising more money from more contributors, and there is little if = any enthusiasm for the Republican candidates =97 even among Republicans. Of course, one can never rule out the ability of the Democrats to = seize defeat from the jaws of victory. But sometimes the trend in one = party=92s direction is so strong that even the grossest incompetence = can=92t keep it from winning. I think 2008 is shaping up as that kind = of year for the Democrats. If I am right, conservatives are going to have to make an important = decision at some point. Do they go down with the sinking Republican = ship, or do they try to have some meaningful influence on the next = president by becoming involved in the Democratic race? I=92m sure that the first reaction of most conservatives will be to say = that any involvement in the Democratic party is unthinkable. They = view it as the party of treason and socialism. They could no more = involve themselves in Democratic politics than a God-fearing = Christian would consider working with Satan just because it looked = like he was going to win. For those of you who feel this way, stop reading. There is nothing = more in this column for you. But for those conservatives who don=92t = see the 2008 election as a race between good and evil, but merely a = contest between rivals within the same league, I think there is a = good case for participating in the Democratic nominating process. Here=92s why. Although all the Democratic candidates are more liberal = than all of the Republicans, they are not all equally liberal. Among = the Democrats, some are more to the right and others more to the = left. It is a grave mistake to assume, as most conservatives do, that = they are all equally bad and that it makes no difference whatsoever = which one is elected. To right-wingers willing to look beneath what probably sounds to them = like the same identical views of the Democratic candidates, it is = pretty clear that Hillary Clinton is the most conservative. John = Edwards is the most liberal, and Barack Obama is somewhere in between. The hard-core right-wingers who kept reading past the point I told = them to stop probably think I=92ve lost my mind by now. But remember, I = am talking about the politics within the Democratic Party, not the = nation as a whole. Moreover, at this stage of the nominating process, = all of the candidates in both parties are appealing mainly to their = bases. These are well to the left of the country among Democrats and = well to the right among Republicans. It is in this context that one must evaluate Sen. Clinton=92s position. = Given the views of the Democratic base and the enormous unpopularity = of the Iraq War, it is a real act of courage for her to steadfastly = refuse to say her vote for the war was wrong. Of course, like all = Democrats and most Americans, she opposes the war today and favors a = rapid pullout. That is why the easy thing for Sen. Clinton to do would be to just = throw in the towel, admit her vote was wrong, and move on. And that=92s = why it is an act of courage for her to refuse to do so. If = conservatives weren=92t so blinded by their hatred for her, this would = be obvious. On economics, it is reasonable to assume that Sen. Clinton=92s policies = would not be altogether different from Bill Clinton=92s. This is not a = bad thing. On trade, his record was outstanding, and on the budget = was far better than George W. Bush=92s. While Clinton raised taxes in = 1993, it should be remembered that he cut them in 1997, including a = cut in the capital gains tax. On regulatory policy, Clinton was no = worse than the current administration and probably better on net. Democrats know all this, which is why our most liberal pundits, like = Bob Kuttner, are attacking Sen. Clinton for being a clone of her = husband on economics and criticizing her support for =93Rubinomics,=94 = named after former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin. Its essential = elements are a commitment to deficit reduction and globalization =97 = which are both anathema to the Democratic party=92s liberal base. It = wants a hard line against imports to save jobs and an expansive = fiscal policy to pay for a wide range of new social programs. At some point, politically sophisticated conservatives will have to = recognize that no Republican can win in 2008 and that their only = choice is to support the most conservative Democrat for the = nomination. Call me crazy, but I think that person is Hillary Clinton.
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Oh my, Bruce– what HAVE you been smoking lately? Hillary as the most conservative of Democratic candidates? Glad to see you’ve been enjoying your daily dose of Kool-Aid lately. Hillary’s merely trying to disguise her innate Socialism that, you could believe me, would manifest in full force if she were elected– exacerbated by the massive chip she has on her shoulder against the fabled Right Wing Conspiracy. She’d take away our wallets, our guns, our hard-earned pre-tax dollars, our right to choose our schools and our healthcare (read It Takes a Village, if you can stomach it) and force all kinds of social engineering stupidity on the US electorate.
If anything, I feel like a Hillary nomination is the GOP’s best hope, since she’d rile up the GOP base so much that even cardiac patients on ICU beds would be walking over to the polls to vote against her. She is distasteful. Among our candidates, Rudy Giuliani would smash her– even her own Democrats don’t like her these days.
OTOH, Obama and Edwards would be tougher to beat in a general election, though still beatable especially by Rudy. Though if, nonetheless, either Obama or Edwards were to be elected, they’d be more tolerable than Hillary. I see a Giuliani-Obama match-up, with Giuliani very narrowly prevailing (though it’ll be tough).