Some folks think that Hillary Hate (and a sudden newfound belief in Zogby polls) will be more than enough fuel to lead the Republicans to victory in 2008. But David Weigel has a piece in The American Conservative about why it ain’t gonna work:
Conservatives are fraught, angry at their traditional party, unable to decide on a standard-bearer, unsure even what they stand for. They don’t think this is the year to sort those problems out. They’re counting on a short-cut when the Democrats nominate an unelectable cold fish who has infuriated the Right for a decade and a half. Millions remember how they felt when she belittled other wives for “staying home and baking cookies,” and Bill Clinton promised voters “two for the price of one” if they sent his family to the White House.
On the Right, the list of grievances was even longer. Both Clintons were seen as ambassadors of 1960s radicalism and cultural decadence, and Hillary was the worse of the two: a pro-choice feminist who didn’t take her husband’s name until pollsters told her it would help him make a political comeback.
Yet for all of that outrage, Republicans lost that election to the Clintons. And the hope that voters will see what they see and reject what the Clintons stand for resembles the plan Democrats clung to in 2004. They choose John Kerry on the theory he would be the least controversial general-election candidate, then counted on an electorate fed up with George W. Bush to deliver the election.
In the nearly three years since, Hillary has been the de facto Democratic candidate. The Right’s efforts to attack her have fallen completely, pathetically flat. Her popularity is low, but not much lower than Bush’s was in 2004. If the linchpin of a 2008 campaign is unifying Republicans in the cause of defeating Hillary, it might be enough to stitch together most of the conservative movement—but not enough to win.
I had no idea that the Right had such clear thinking about Hillary hate.
SHE DIDN’T TAKE BILL’S NAME!!! SHE OFFENDED STAY-AT-HOME MOMS!!! SHE HAS A LEVEL OF POLITICAL COMPETENCE THAT MADE HER USEFUL TO BILL!!!
It’s amazing that there is still even a conservative movement with such little to support it.
Democrats Against Hillary respectfully disagree. WATCH THIS VIDEO to see why, gets interesting about 15 seconds in-
“Hillary Knew” video on youtube
If you like this, pass it along to anyone else like minded.
That “Hillary knew” swiftboating is sheer nonsense. Most of us–myself included, believed what our president said, what all our leaders said when they said it was info gathered by our intel and passed on to the White House. Later, of course, we discovered what lies and nonsense and incompetence was a front for a war. But Hillary did nothing that most members of both parties did..this swiftboater is merely anti-Hilary.
The important news for this post? The GOP will make Hillary the next president because they have bungled everything since running the nation and have gone lockstep along with the worst president we have ever had. If you belong to the GOP because you are a conservative, then ask: budget, small govt? etc etc–what has Bush done. If you are a social conservative, what has Bush done? If you are RICH: then he has been your guy!
Yet for all of that outrage, Republicans lost that election to the Clintons.
Clinton won that election thanks to Ross Perot taking a LOT of Republican votes (my step-father included, who watches nothing but FoxNews). Sometimes I think people forget that. And he got a far bigger chunk of the electorate than Nader got in 2000. Hillary may have no problem in the general election, but citing ‘92 as a sign of assurance is not a good idea.
Republican’ts have nothing except hatred and fear.