Whereby Pres. Hillary Clinton Resembles Pres. George W. Bush

I'm probably not saying anything new here but I'm compelled to say it nonetheless...

The truth is the longer Hillary insists on staying in this race, the less attractive a candidate she becomes to this voter. (Can you say Senator John Hall, New Yorkers?) Her naked ambition, not to mention that of her husband's, lays her faults bare for all the world to see. What I find most disturbing is how Sen. Clinton, the candidate, has more and more come to resemble George Bush, the President. There, I've said it.

I've already discussed my other Hillary "problems" here and here. What should now be the most critical concern to Sen. Clinton's die hard supporters, and thus all Democratic voters, is two-fold:

1. Her penchant for statements that can easily be "misunderstood" or "taken out of context."
2. Her inability to take responsibility for these statements through a proper, timely apology.

Even if you believe that some of Hillary misstatements were not intentional, and I do not, have we not spent seven-and-a-half years living through a Presidency just like this?

Time and time again we've watched helplessly as our current President has made thoughtless self-serving statements with a total disregard as to how they might be received and/or misinterpreted. Statements that have ranged from those damaging to our country's international reputation (mentioning Hitler at Israel's 60th Anniversary celebration. WTF?) to those endangering our troops' lives ("Bring 'em on!").

For our next Commander-In-Chief, we desperately need the most thoughtful successor possible. Sen. Clinton has offered abundant proof she does not meet this criterion. A sample of Candidate Clinton's most damaging statements:

1. "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."
   
2. "Dr. [Martin Luther] King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964…it took a president to get it done."
3. Florida and Michigan primaries "don’t count for anything.’"
4. "(We have a) basic obligation to make sure that every vote in America counts" implying that the Democratic Party doesn't want every vote to count.
   
5. "I am not violating the pledge" referring to her decision to campaign in Florida after pledging not to.
6. "It is well within the Democratic Party rules to take this stand." Then she implied her opponents, who kept their pledges not to campaign in FL & MI, were comparable to those who were for slavery and against women's suffrage.
7. "We have to carry the states that I’m carrying, the primary states, the states that really have to be in the winning Democratic column” minimizing Sen. Obama's primary victories in traditionally Republican Western states i.e. only big states count.
   

All of this and more Hillary Clinton has said in either total disregard for or oblivious to how hurtful it was to individual citizens, certain states' voters, our entire democratic process and her Party. It goes beyond the self-serving. It's flat-out selfish. And the longer her campaign drags on, the more frequently we see this act from either Sen. Clinton or her surrogates.

This is not Presidential behavior, Hillary. It's just not. It is not when President George Bush does it. It definitely is not when Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does it. There's no excuse for it. Period.

It's not Senatorial behavior either. There's precious little time left for Sen. Clinton to bow out of the race with a modicum of self-respect intact. By doing so sooner rather than later, she has an opportunity to regain some trust and respect from her constituents too.

-AF

PS If you still haven't yet seen it, what's wrong with you?, here's last Friday's Keith Olbermann Special Comment on Senator Clinton.