Being a Hillary supporter has been a strange, and not entirely pleasant experience. Not only do you have to deal with the expected (“I hate her voice! It’s so shrill and school marmish”) but the unexpected, too (“Yes We Can!”).
When you tell Obama fans that you support Hillary, they look genuinely puzzled, maybe even a bit worried for you. It’s like something doesn’t entirely compute. “But have you not heard him speak?” they ask. “Did you not listen to that inspiring will.i.am song I emailed you?”
Yes, I did.
Here’s the funny thing about Obama. I love the guy. Really, I do. I remember the first time I heard him give a speech, at the Democratic Convention four years ago. I was driving home from a movie screening and I had the radio on. I thought, “Who’s that?”
When I got home, I flipped on the TV and saw that he was this young, handsome black man. I nearly fainted with joy. I had seen the future and it was . . . totally awesome. I just didn’t think the future was so, you know, soon.
Look, both Hillary and Obama are brilliant. Obama is more charismatic. Hillary is more experienced. Obama is less divisive. Hillary, in my mind at least, has bigger balls. Right about now (maybe you've noticed that our country is in the crapper), I’ll take brains and experience and cojones over brains and charm and that certain je ne sais quoi. But that’s just me. (And dag, sometimes it seems like it really is just me.)
My dream ticket? Hillary on top. Obama as VP. Eight years from now, Obama for the win! Obviously, that’s not going to happen. But there’s the dream.
Since I tend to think of things in terms of sports, I’ll make the following analogy: Not rooting for Obama is a bit like not rooting for Derek Jeter. I’m an Orioles fan. (Yes, a Hillary Clinton fan and an Orioles fan. And did you see my Maryland Terps gack up that 20 point lead against Clemson last night? Note to anyone trying to win at anything: If you see me coming, run the other way).
Anyway, where was I? Derek Jeter. So I remember when Derek Jeter first joined the Yankees and he was the freakin’ toast of New York. He’s so handsome! He’s so dreamy! He’s so clutch! Naturally, I reveled in every detail that challenged the Derek mythology: If he’s such a goody goody, why is he canoodling with Mariah Carey? And if he’s so amazingly clutch and perfect, why is he the worst shortstop in baseball?
The truth is, Derek Jeter is a nice guy and a clutch athlete, too. But he’s not perfect. And sometimes it seems like his fans think he is.
I guess that’s what I want to say to all you Obamaniacs: Lay off, okay? I don’t hate your guy. I’m just rooting against him. That’s what fans do. And when you win tomorrow (sigh), don’t gloat either. Let me lick my wounds, give me a chance to recover. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll download that damn song onto my iPod.
3 comments:
Oh, Max, you've said it PERFECTLY. I also, have sometimes felt alone in supporting Hillary.
I, like you, was blown away by Obama at the convention, and really would like to see them on the same ticket in November... and, I think at this point, we just MIGHT. It's obvious that the Democrat voters can't decide between the two... and since we can't, we just have to have them both!!!!!
Max,
With all respect, I cannot agree with your Hillary blog.
I have four objections to her, three logical and one emotional:
(1) She voted the wrong way on the most important issue she has faced—the invasion of Iraq—and she chose not to prepare for that vote properly. A classified National Intelligence Estimate was made available for all Senators to read before the vote. Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) urged his colleagues to read the 90+ page report carefully because it called into question all of the Bush administration’s reasons for going to war. Only a handful of senators followed his advice. Hillary Clinton and John McCain were not among them. That’s inexcusable. Ms. Clinton has said that she “felt very well briefed” by the administration and her staff and didn’t need to read the report. Whatever the reason for her vote, she chose what was then the most expedient political path.
(2) She can’t beat John McCain. Yes, she has the support of about half of the core Democratic party base, but her appeal is never going to spread beyond that. If she is the nominee, all of the independents and moderate Republicans who have flocked to Obama will re-flock to McCain. He has a similar appeal.
(3) Should (2) be incorrect, and she is elected, Republican opposition to anything she proposes will be immediate and massive. They learned how to fight against her in the first Clinton administration when she was put in charge of the health care initiative. They’ll do the same thing again with the same results. A Hillary Clinton administration would be four years of gridlock and the Republicans would have a very good shot at retaking the House in 2010.
(4) I can’t completely explain this, but there is simply something about the woman that I dislike and distrust. I’m a Yellow Dog Democrat but I don’t know that I could pull the lever for her on Election Day. When I examine it, I realize that this is similar to the reaction I have to the actresses Judy Davis and Mia Farrow. I know it’s not logical, but it’s visceral and it’s real. Is it just a guy thing? Probably. But there are a lot of us guys, and we vote.
Actually, the latest polls show her beating John McCain by 6 points-- yes, Obama beats him by slightly more (I think it was 8 or 10 points), but Hillary most definitely CAN and WILL beat McCain.
As for the Republicans fighting against her, they were IN CHARGE in Congress at that time. They are not now, and though there's not a HUGE margin, there will be a greater one after November... and the fact is that during her time in the Senate, she , by their own statements, has earned the respect of many Republican Senators and has a well-deserved reputation for working well with them.
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