Hillary Clinton will lose the Democratic nomination, not because she is a woman, but rather, because of what she represents. Divisive politics, dishonesty and a lack of credible vision for America
[Campaign 2008]
As the nomination for the Democratic Presidential Candidate gets closer, Hillary Clinton is losing ground and she has started to throw dirtier comments on her challenger Senator Barack Obama.
Obama is now winning in most opinion polls in Iowa and even the women voters that many thought would choose Senator Clinton are now expressing trust in Obama.
On August 8th, 2007, my last column in The Black Star News detailed why Obama was by far the best choice for the Democratic nomination and subsequently for the US presidency.
One point I mentioned was that Clinton was not authentic—she will smile today and act like George Bush once she is elected president.
She couldn’t wait to prove her unreliability. Live on TV before millions of Americans during one of the debates, Clinton flip-flopped on the issue of New York governor Eliot Spitzer’s plan to give undocumented immigrants drivers license. Viewers and her Democratic opponents were left speechless.
The Iowa Caucus is a determining vote and Obama gaining ground in Iowa has started to open the cracks in the walls of the Clinton campaign. Iowans, like other Americans, are not going to let a fake candidate take their votes for granted and later on dump them. Voters have heard from both Clinton and Obama; they have seen in Obama a man with a vision for a new America and a chance to bring real positive change in America.
According to the Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted by telephone November 14-18, 2007, among a random sample of 500 Iowans likely to vote in the Democratic caucuses, Obama was leading. Voters chose Obama with 30%; 27% leaned for Hillary Clinton and 22% for John Edwards. Obama has since maintained his lead over his opponents.
In two weeks straight, Obama has gained in opinion polls in Iowa. This has shaken Clinton’s camp and she has now promised to focus her campaign on attacking Obama. Many political analysts are skeptical about Clinton’s new attacks on Obama. They believe this will backfire on her. It could be one of the reasons why Clinton is already losing in the opinion polls of Iowans. Americans are not interested in listening to dirty politics and lack of transparency that Clinton represents.
To counter the challenges she is facing in Iowa and other parts of the country, Clinton is now telling Americans that Obama lacks experience to lead America. Experience? Give me a break! Clinton thinks she has much more experience than Obama and deserves to be president. Let’s look at this so-called “experience.”
She has been a first lady and now a Senator. True, Obama could not ever be first lady—but he started his political career earlier, serving first at the State level and currently, serving both his State of Illinois and the United States.
Hillary Clinton should know that being a president’s wife doesn’t qualify anyone to become president. Being a wife to a doctor doesn’t automatically make one a doctor if the doctor were to retire or die. If first ladies inherited the presidency, we would have had 44 former first lady presidents.
Senator Clinton’s political career has been made possible because she has used her husband’s name and walked in the footmarks of his shoes. Had she not married Bill Clinton, she wouldn’t be any closer to where she is politically. Even her current campaign is being rejuvenated by husband Bill Clinton, every now and then, when it loses momentum. How far can she keep going without using her own car engine and resorting to using Bill Clinton as a jumpstart cable?
Americans now see Senator Clinton as a divisive candidate, strongly connected to the old ways of Washington politics. In candidates like Obama and John Edwards, Americans see the possibilities for change, sanity, and hope for a better America.
Hillary Clinton will lose the Democratic nomination, not because she is a woman, but rather, because of what she represents. Divisive politics, dishonesty and a lack of credible vision for America. Obama will win, not because he is Black, but because he represents hope and unity. He will usher a new chapter for America—an America to shine as a beacon of hope; land of opportunities; possibilities for prosperity; and, an international leader for other countries to emulate.
Black Star contributing columnist Otika can be contacted via email at [email protected]
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