There's a bit of a frost in Hades...

So after watching the much-ballyhooed "YouTube Debate" among the Democratic presidential candidates... I can't believe I'm actually saying this... I might have to consider voting for Hillary.

I mentioned after the first debate that Hillary hadn't come off as scary as I expected.  During Monday night's performance she appeared downright "presidential".  I still have reservations about voting for any Democrat, of course, because I'm generally less sympathetic to that party's platform than to traditional Republican platforms (note I said "traditional", the R's of recent years have strayed from the path of reasonableness much to my chagrin).

Still, of all the candidates she seems to have the most realistic positions.  They may not be the most popular positions, especially among her own party members, but they seem to me to represent a real thoughtfulness and consideration of the complexities of real life.

Frankly, I could care less about having an idealist in the office, which seems to be Obama's big appeal to a certain segment of the population.  I strongly believe that the leader of the free world (to the extent that the current administration has left any remnant of that old honorific on the presidency) needs to be a realist, not an idealist.  Idealism doesn't belong in government anyhow -- after all, George W. Bush is a frickin' idealist, look where that got us.

Idealism is freakin' DANGEROUS in government, especially so at the top-most levels of government.

So give me some of that old-time calculated Realpolitik (requisite Wiki entry here).  It'd be a refreshing change from the rampant idealism of the last 7 years.

Much as I hate to say it, the Republicans just aren't on my radar screen right now.  And of the Democrats in the race, at this point I'm starting to warm to another Clinton presidency.

Comments

[Nate Powell]

David, David, David

Hopefully you typed up your vote for Hillary late at night after a few too many at the club.

Give it a few days, and I'm sure that horrible liberal/progressive mindset will go away.

Cheers,

Nate

[David B. Wright]

Heh... no, I've not suddenly developed a liberal/progressive mindset...

But seriously, if you had to pick a Democrat in 2008, which would you choose? And, why?

Of course, nobody has to pick a Democrat... but I've gotta say, the current crop of Republicans is looking mighty sad. When "None of the Above" is leading the field, you know you're in trouble!

[Nate Powell]

I completely agree with you when it comes to the Republican candidates. There isn't a single one I can get behind and I have zero interest in Fred Thompson. Newt on the other hand maybe...

If I had to pick a Democrat for 2008 I would go with Joseph Biden. Although I don't always agree with him, he has the most experience and is of solid character.

[David Wright]

Newt, last I heard, was sort of supporting Thompson. One of his top advisors recently switched to be a top advisor to Thompson. But he's also said that if none of the candidates does well, he'd be more likely to get in it.

I think Newt's got too much baggage to be a viable candidate. He'd definitely make the race much more interesting, though. I suspect that his Contract with America cred would go a long way with the Republican base, but he's probably nearly as polarizing of a figure as Hillary. With whom, by the way, Newt has worked closely in recent years. Funny how things change over time, eh?

I don't have much interest in Thompson, either. From what I've seen and heard, it seems he's sort of toying with the idea of running just because the field is so weak, and it might be a hoot. Plus he's got a lot of people raving about what a great guy he is. He's being presented by some as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. But he's not.

Joe Biden is a pretty decent guy -- though every time I hear his name, I think of that little plagiarism flap when he ran in 1988. Of course, that was 20 frickin' years ago, so we can probably move on by now.

I like a lot of what Richardson says, too.

But I guess the point of my original post was that my knee-jerk reaction to Clinton is softening dramatically. If she's the Democratic nominee, I could actually see myself voting for her (depending, of course, on her opponent). Not so long ago, I couldn't imagine choosing her over any Republican nominee. So, she's gaining traction. Whereas a few months back I would have sworn that a Clinton nomination would absolutely doom the Democrats, now I'm not so sure.