Hillary's Clinching of the Nomination
Yet another selfie
W.J. Astore
Well, she's won. Hillary Clinton's victories in last night's presidential primaries have clearly put her over the top, clinching the Democratic nomination. Facing the loudmouthed bigotry and ignorant blustering of Donald Trump this fall, Hillary has an excellent chance of being elected as America's first female president.
I've already written a lot of articles at this site on why I find both Hillary and The Donald to be poor choices as president. I won't repeat those arguments here. But I do want to talk about Hillary's campaign, and what it says about her candidacy.
I remember the first commercial Hillary made, the announcement of her candidacy. A tedious spot, it focused on her grandmotherly qualities. It had no vision, no bite, and little hope. It was about trying to make us feel comfortable with Hillary. Hey, she's a mom and a grandma! Other women like her! She's just like us!
It went downhill from there. Hillary's campaign has been carefully scripted and modulated, the opposite of impassioned. Vapidness replaced vision. That's why a democratic socialist Jew from Vermont via Brooklyn gave her a run for her money, because she had no passion or vision and he did (and does).
For me, the defining moment of their debates came when Bernie argued strongly for a $15.00 minimum wage for workers and Hillary was content with offering workers a $12.00 wage. (More than enough, peasants!) Combine that moment with her infamous statement about the gobs of money she made in three speeches to Goldman Sachs ("Well, that's what they offered") and you get a clear sense of who she is and what she's about.
A quick note: A nursing aide making Hillary's generous $12.00 hourly wage at 40 hours a week would take 28 years to earn the $675,000 that Clinton "earned" in a few short hours giving those speeches.
Her campaign claims she's "fighting for us." But I see Hillary as fighting for herself -- and her circle of privileged cronies. There's nothing new about this in American politics, of course. It's just terribly disappointing for America that two narcissists, two voices of the privileged, will be vying for the presidency this fall.
One thing I would like to see (and it won't happen): I'd like to see Trump and Hillary debate with Green and Libertarian candidates. I'd like to hear some real alternative views and how the "major" candidates respond to them. But even though the media found room for up to seventeen Republican primary candidates on the stage, you can bet the house that Trump and Hillary will share a stage alone together.
Alone together -- get ready for gratuitous insults and sound bites, America. One thing is certain: neither candidate is fighting for us, and both are not about making America great again.