“A Democrat That Can Win Is What We Need”: Translating Values Into Governance And Delivering The Goods
In my estimation, there’s only one presidential candidate in 2016 fully capable of doing the job, and she’s anything but a natural.
As Hillary Clinton has also been the target of maybe the longest-running smear campaign in American history — including roughly a dozen partisan Congressional investigations and a six-year leak-o-matic “independent counsel” probe led by the fastidious Kenneth Starr — it’s no wonder some voters mistrust her.
Overcoming that suspicion is her biggest challenge.
Republicans have predicted her imminent indictment for 20 years. You’d think by now they’d have made something stick, if there was anything to it. But it didn’t happen then, and it’s not going to happen now for an obvious reason: in a democracy, political show trials endanger the prosecution as much as the defense.
Anybody who watched Hillary’s one-woman demolition of Rep. Trey Gowdy’s vaunted Benghazi committee should understand that.
Meanwhile, one of the best things about Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is his unwillingness to smear his opponent. Too bad many of his most passionate supporters aren’t so fastidious. With Iowa’s make-or-break moment approaching for Sanders, it’s getting nasty out there.
It’s not so much the tiresome attacks on anybody who disagrees with them as a corrupt sellout. (My corporate overlords, of course, dictated that sentence.) It’s the seeming belief that people can be browbeaten into supporting their guy.
Some are a bit like Trump supporters–although normally without the threats. That too may be changing. Recently a guy visited my Facebook page saying people like me deserve “to be dragged into the street and SHOT for…treason against not only our country and our people, but the ENTIRE [BLEEPING] WORLD.”
My response — “Settle down, Beavis” — sent him into a rage.
But no, Hillary’s not an instinctive performer, although her stage presence strikes me as improved since 2008. A person needn’t be “inauthentic” (pundit-speak for “bitch”) to be uncomfortable in front of an audience.
As for authenticity, few Democrats could work a crowd like North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
President Obama nailed it during a recent Politico interview:
Hillary does better with “small groups” than big ones, he observed, before putting his thumb heavily on the scale. He described Hillary as a fighter, who’s “extraordinarily experienced — and, you know, wicked smart and knows every policy inside and out — [and] sometimes [that] could make her more cautious, and her campaign more prose than poetry,” he said.
Even so, she came closer to defeating Obama in 2008 than Republicans have. “Had things gone a little bit different in some states or if the sequence of primaries and caucuses been a little different,” the president said, “she could have easily won.”
Indeed. As non-endorsements go, the president’s remarks couldn’t have been more complimentary. “She had to do everything that I had to do, except, like Ginger Rogers, backwards in heels,” he added.
Obama wisely said nothing critical about Bernie Sanders, but nothing particularly warm either. “Bernie came in with the luxury of being a complete long shot and just letting loose,” he observed. The president said he understood the appeal of Sanders “full-throated…progressivism.”
Well, Mr. Hopey-Changey as Sarah Palin calls him, certainly should.
Seven years of trench warfare with congressional Republicans, however, have brought out the president’s inner pragmatist. Which Democrat is best-positioned to consolidate the Obama legacy and move it forward?
First, one who stands a good chance of being elected.
Look, there’s a reason Karl Rove’s super PAC is running anti-Hillary TV ads in Iowa. Bernie Sanders “radical” past makes him a GOP oppo-research dream. Never mind socialism. Did you know he once wrote a column claiming that sexual frustration causes cervical cancer?
That in the 1970s, he called for nationalizing oil companies, electric utilities, and — get this — TV networks? Asked about it, he deflects by noting that Hillary once supported Barry Goldwater. Yeah, when she was 16. Bernie was in his mid-30s when he called for confiscating the Rockefeller family fortune. How most Americans hear that is: if he can take away their stuff, he can take away mine.
Sure, many people went off the rails during the Seventies. Most aren’t running for president. Bernie strikes me as a fine senator and a decent man. However, the current U.S. Congress has voted 60 times to repeal Obamacare. And he’s going to give us single-payer “Medicare for all?”
No, he’s not. Assuming he could find a sponsor, it’d never get out of committee. I doubt I’ll live to see single-payer health insurance in the USA. And I’m younger than Bernie. A complete retrofitting of American health care simply isn’t in the works. The votes just aren’t there, and they won’t materialize by repeating the magic word “revolution.”
President Obama says Hillary represents the “recognition that translating values into governance and delivering the goods is ultimately the job of politics, making a real-life difference to people in their day-to-day lives.”
Hard-won reality, that is, as opposed to fantasy.
By: Gene Lyons, The National Memo, January 27, 2016
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mykeystrokes.com 
Like you, I have no desire to continue this conversation. However, I have found several things that bear me out. The thread is not in the original order it was when I initially posted my comment. The comments are out of order which makes it impossible for you to have posted my original comment at the time I posted it. That thread went as follows: #1 comment from Keith, #2 comment from kbfreaks, 3rd comment was your reply to him. This is when I posted my comment that was deleted (and, the 2nd and 3rd time I posted it was deleted) which should have been the 4th comment. Instead #4 was another comment from kbfreakc and #5 was your reply to that. Then, the next day my comment of the day before suddenly appeared on the page (#6) along with my other 2 comments (#7 and #8) along with your comment (#9) saying the problem is on my part! My reply to your #9 was #10. Now I have your reply to that saying it was still my problem (“ask WordPress”) and timelines are different. You also said “I review each comment in line as it is received” This supports what I have been saying. If that is the case, my original post should have been #4, before you received kbfreaks second comment. As I said, it was deleted (3 times) before kbfreaks even made his second comment. It is not possible that there was a problem with WordPress or myself that would leave the page “intact” except for my comment. I rest my case! This is the end of my comments on this issue.
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You are welcome to believe whatever you like. Hope the remainder of your weekend is more satisfying.
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Likewise.
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O.K. The problem was not on my part because I checked for the comment I made on your page and it was deleted. I did try to post the comment again, twice. Each time I went back to this page, they were deleted and the “awaiting moderation” was on your site. Everything else was the same on this page so it had nothing to do with any other page on the Reader or any fault on my part. So, evidently it was on your end. You might check to see what you may be doing wrong to delete my comments!
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I stand by my previous comments. Thanks for your update.
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Why are you doing this? What have I said that has upset you this much? I would sure like to know!
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I have never seen the “your comment is awaiting “moderation” before. What exactly does this mean? Is that why my first post was deleted? If my re-post is deleted I will have no choice but to assume my views are no longer acceptable on this site! Which means, it is not a “democratic” site where all views are accepted!
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You my friend are sorely mistaken. There have been no changes to comment posting on this site since it’s inception. The problem is on your part. In reviewing my comments received, you provided 3 back to back comments, all with identical wording. There is absolutely no reason to post the same 3 identical comments to the same post. Your comment was posted. You might check to see what you may be doing wrong on your end. Thanks
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O.K. I have just posted a reply to the above and nothing here again!
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I don’t know what problems you may be having. It may be something you might want to ask of WordPress. The other factor is that I do not sit at my computer 24/7 so your timeline for response is certainly different from when I go through my comments section. I review each comment in line as it is received. I have no other comments on this issue.
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All people thinking of voting for Hillary Clinton should go to youtube and check out a cpuple of revealing documentaries. One is called “Dirty Laundry” and the other is “The Clinton Chronicles.” I dare anyone to watch these documentaries and then not recoil in horror at the thought of Hillary Clinton becoming president.
Many people errantly think that because Hillary Clinton is a woman that she will be good for women, but the real Hillary Clinton was in charge of smearing and threatening any of Bill Clinton’s mistresses who dared to talk to the media about thier affairs with Bill Clinton. The real Hillary Clinton abuses her power like she did with Billy Dale the former head of the White House travel office who she lied about and had falsely prosecuted to provide a cover for bringing in her corrupt friends to take over the travel office.
We all know down deep that the real Hillary Clinton violated State Department rules by doing official business using her own private server to cover up her corrupt deals and bribes.
Many Clinton supporters pointed to how well she did at the Benghazi hearings in defending her. But I watched those hearings and as far as I am concerned she was proven to be a liar because she told the American people what she knew was not true when she claimed that the attack on Benghazi was due to an anti-Islam tape. For this lie an innocent man’s life was nearly destroyed and he went to prison for nothing. At the Benghazi hearings she did nothing to dispel the impression that she failed our embassy staff in Benghazi by not making sure they had the resources they needed to do their job which she called for them to do. Then she did nothing to make certain resources were mobilized to defend the embassy when it was under attack. American airpuwer from bases in Italy could have easily reached Benghazi to provide support and Hillary did nothing to make sure that happened when she got the infamous 3:00am call about the matter.
The only thing Hillary did for herself during those hearings was to carefully avoid criminal responsibily for her failure of leadership. It is clear to me that Hillary Clinton is easily the most corrupt politician I’ve ever seen run for president in my 58 years of life, and that includes Richard Nixon. I feel that those democrats who vote for Hillary Clinton because she is so “electable” will come to regret their decision.
If I were the republican nominee I would organize a national roadshow of all those people who have been victimized by the Clintons. I think such a roadshow would slowly and surely erode Hillaries support. Also there is a good chance the country will go into a recession this year and if that is the case she will not be considered a change candidate for the purpose of rescuing the nation from recession or depression and the republican will almost certainly win.
If Clinton were to somehow win look for continuing Clinton scandals and corruption. Look for her to abuse her office and ruin anyone’s life who is a threat to her greed and power. We would be fearing our government as opposed to looking at the government as a servant of the people.
For myself I would never vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstance. She is the kind of politician who I totally disbelieve. If she tells me the sky is blue I am going to be looking outside to make sure that the sky is still blue. All of her promises and plans are pure bunk. She will say anything to anyone at anytime to secure a vote but after the election her only concerns will be weilding and protecting her absolute power on behalf of herself and her friends who financed her campaign. Don’t be a fool. Don’t vote for Hillary in your state primary or caucus and if she is nominated vote for someone like Jill Stein of the Green party in the general election.
EC Morris
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Thanks for your opinions, none of which were verified by 7 other investigative committees. Conspiracy Theories prevail and haven’t gotten us anywhere. You are more than welcome to vote for whomever you choose, and so am I. That’s the beauty of Democracy and I trust the American People to make the correct decision come this November.
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You should ask yourself why there were all of these investigations of the Clintons if they are so honest. Just because the Clintons are good at covering their tracks does that mean they are innocent? At some point voters need to use their common sense to figure what is going on. No congressional investigation is needed to convince me that the reason Hillary Clinton kept a private server in violation of State Department policy is so that she could more easiiy cover up her bribes and other corrupt activities. Also no congressional investigation is needed to convince me that Hillary Clinton was derelict of her duties when she failed to act to give our embassy in Benghazi the air support they needed to fight off a terrorist attack. Just watch the new movie 13 hours. If voters insist on listening to Hillary Clintons spin doctors instead of their own common sense then they are about to make a big mistake in the upcoming primaries and possibly November. This could be the end of American Democracy.
EC Morris
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Let’s just hope “common sense” prevails and leave it at that. I’m just not into that Apocalyptic, fear-mongering, conspiracy theory thing.
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I have not watched the you tube videos and do not believe everything I read about “conspiracy theories”. However, I have learned much about Hillary over the years she has been in politics and read all “reliable” accounts of her leadership abilities. Both pro and con. I have come to the conclusion I cannot trust what she says she will do if president. She has changed her mind too many times and I feel she just says what she thinks the people want to hear, not something she, herself believes in. Keith’s post gives no hope for Americans should she or a Republican be elected. I feel the only choice is Bernie Sanders. I do not believe Hillary is the only one who can get things done with congress. Bernie Sanders has been in congress many more years than Hillary and knows his way around the “loopholes” better. As raemd95 says, we are all welcome to vote for whomever we choose. This is the United States of America!
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If Hillary wins the nomination, the heat will only get hotter. If Bernie wins the nomination, the “communist” rhetoric will start, as the GOP knows too few Americans know the difference between a socialist and communist. If Cruz wins, the communist talk will be like a flashback to a dark time in America, as Cruz resembles both physically and in demeanor Senator Joe McCarthy of the communist witch hunts. To me, the difference in what is being talked about by the parties is stark.
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Definitely on point!
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