Regarding the rush to give Hillary Clinton the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, put me down as underwhelmed.
I know she's already the putative nominee. I know she's the strongest candidate the Democrats have against anyone on the Republican side. I know she can raise more money than everyoneelse and knows how to run a national campaign. I know she would have a former president at her side, offering wise counsel.
I know, if elected, she would be uniquely qualified and experienced in the job, the first president who was also first lady. And I know that her nomination and election would make obvious history in other ways.
In the end, it may not matter that anyoneisunderwhelmed by the prospect of President Hillary Clinton. Many observers regard her nomination asinevitable - and she has not even announced her candidacy.
Of course, she seemed to have it all wrapped up in late 2007. She had the money and experience and the right supporters. But there was the small matter of Barack Obama, who ran off with the nomination she thought was hers.
If Clinton is nominated, however, I'll be sad that the Democratic Party missed a historic moment to nominate someone capable of the bold, transformative leadership the nation still needs. Based on her 2008 candidacy and her tenure as secretary of state, there's not much about Clinton that is bold or transformative.
She lost the 2008 nomination in large part because she had supported George W. Bush's disastrous Iraq War. The succeeding years seem not to have taught her much humility when it comes to the use of America's military. She's almost hawkish as ever.
Democrats looking for someone to take on Wall Street and the big banks and fixa corrupt system that is rigged against the little guy might wish to look elsewhere. Nominating a wealthy, powerful former New York senator would be among the last things you would do if you wanted to reformthe nation's financial system.
To me, at least, she embodies the past (and that has nothing to do with her age). She simply exudes "privileged Democratic establishment."
As a candidate, she is wooden in manner and instinctively cautious and guarded. I'm not sure whom she inspires, but it's not me.
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Underwhelmed by Hillary Clinton: Robert Mann