http://itbegsthequestion.com/?p=825Hillary in 2012?
By Larry Wohlgemuth, on July 26th, 2010
It’s a long ways off, and it’s hard to imagine that Barack Obama has already been president 18 months, but I have to wonder. My friend, the union organizer, was the first to propose that we might be in for a change in 2012. He’s hearing things that are filtering down which suggest there’s a strategy at work.
You have to wonder if it’s possible, I mean could a sitting Secretary of State primary a sitting President of the United States? If you look at how things are shaking out it seems like the most logical alternative. My friend’s even suggesting that Obama may choose not to run. It begs the question, will we see Hillary Clinton run for president in 2012?
Let’s start at the beginning. Barack Obama inherited the worst set of circumstances of any president since the Great Depression, and he’s handled it magnificently. We’re the only industrialized nation without universal health care coverage, and he passed landmark legislation moving us in that direction. He’s pushed through legislation to control banks that rape, pillage and plunder the American people. With these and all of his other accomplishments he’ll be recognized with Lincoln and FDR as a man who helped save the Republic. Someday. But it’s taking a toll today.
The Republican Party is burdened with a xenophobic element, and Obama will suffer racially motivated attacks unlike any we’ve ever seen. Throw into the mix the revenge-minded corporations and the dimwitted teabaggers that foolishly vote against their self-interest, and it’s easy to see his re-election campaign will be brutal. Add in the fact that the economy will probably remain on shaky ground as Republicans work to defeat recovery legislation at every turn, and his re-election could prove problematic. Enter Hillary Clinton.
While Obama polls ahead of any of his Republican challengers, Hillary Clinton polls far ahead of Obama. My friend suggests that this was the plan all along; that whoever promoted this legislative agenda designed to benefit the American people would suffer the wrath of corporate America. So regardless of his popularity he’ll have to overcome the vast resources of corporations, which is unlikely. Hillary, on the other hand, would not face this obstacle.
My friend states that part of the plan was to pull her out of the Senate and make her Secretary of State for several reasons. One is it gains her international experience and exposure, but more importantly she’s protected from having to vote on Obama’s legislation, making her a somewhat clean slate. While everyone knows she supported the agenda she will be in a position to differentiate herself from it, and suggest alternatives that she would have proposed had she been president. She gets all of the credit for her association with this administration without having to take any of the heat. Smart political move.
It has also allowed her to stand in front of the American people as a statesman and not a politician, and she’s making the most of her opportunity. People are seeing Hillary Clinton as never before, and they’re finding out that she is a smart and savvy negotiator, and a formidable presence with which to reckon. Compared with the Republican alternative, Sarah Palin, well there is no comparison. Listening to Hillary only serves to confirm what a complete and total moron Palin is.
The biggest question mark in all of this is Barack Obama the type of guy that would do all this heavy lifting to let someone else get the credit? Will he be content with only one term? Was there an agreement in place to ensure everything would happen this way? You have to know with the viciousness we’ll see in the next election cycle that the attacks will get personal, and maybe even violent, and Obama may not wish to subject his daughters to that abuse. And he may be the true patriot who knew coming in that pursuing his agenda would consign him to one term in office, and he was up for it.
The biggest winners in this scenario would undoubtedly be working Americans. The landmark legislation Obama has passed has done more to improve the lot of working Americans than anything in 70 years, but a second term would likely be devoid of any major accomplishments. Republican intransigence would surely consign his encore to the scrapheap of the unmemorable. On the other hand Hillary coming in with a fresh mandate and looking at potentially eight years in office would reinvigorate the Democratic base. Additionally, her previous experience in the White House would serve her well, and she would hit the ground running full speed. Plus she would get the complete benefit of Obama’s accomplishments as health care reform and Wall Street regulations kicked in. It would be a Republican disaster.
When you think about it, after the nightmare of 10 years of what George W. Bush did to our nation, people are more likely to remember how great they had it economically during Clinton’s years rather than a little spoot on a blue dress. I think right now the Clinton economy is what most people are remembering and missing. Hillary in 2012? It makes sense.
