Shovels And Politics: Why I'm Afraid Hillary Might Have This In The Bag

Hillary has been the media's favorite since the get-go. Their narrative has sickened me to no end. Even though it concerns me, the whole idea of having two families control the Presidency for 24-28 years is not the reason why I oppose her candidacy.

She is the farthest thing from a leader I have ever seen and believes that lobbyists represent the people instead of the corporations that pay their salaries. The thing that gets me most, besides her stand on the war she is most likely going to continue the unitary executive ideology that George Bush has enacted during his god awful Presidency. Oh and don't get me started on her 180 degree turn on health care either.

Nevertheless, the other two candidates with at least a slim shot of winning continue to pick up their respective shovels and dig themselves even further into the ground.

Besides Al Gore (who has decided not to run) my top choice has been John Edwards. Although he isn't perfect (who is?) John has continued to display leadership abilities even though he can not act on them as a Senator anymore. He has stuck to his central theme of fighting poverty by highlighting the ongoing disaster/aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and consistently brings ideas that are copied by his rivals. Many unions support his efforts as do a whole host of internet followers but....he took the whispers being a third leg and shouted them out loud by agreeing to accept public financing. Now he hardly ranks in the polls (even falling from 1st place in Iowa) and his fundraising has trailed off as well.

Then there is Barack Obama. The media loved to tout him as Hillary's main challenger with his "Hopeful" message but there hasn't been much to his words besides the charisma that oozes out of each syllable. Now that the primaries are nearing that message has turned into an attack on Hillary, furthering showing her as the candidate to beat. Her numbers and polls are showing her gaining distance on Obama even as he ratchets up the anti-Hillary message. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with his low numbers so he has committed and re-committed to campaign with an open homophobe despite getting serious flack for it. That stuff may get play with wingnuts, but not with more open-minded and compassionate Democratic voters.

So as Obama and Edwards continue to make gaffes, almost nothing sticks to Hillary. It is a shame that she is a smart and calculating politician. Her political abilities far surpass any kind of leadership quality. Now, we could experience a miracle here. She might make a terrible mistake between now and January that either Obama or Edwards could capitalize. Nothing is certain in political theater. Yet for now, things are looking bleak for a true Democratic reformer.