“President Hilary Clinton? Nah I don’t think so!”
Me
The Next Democratic Nominee
By: Joe Leonardi
Not a single primary has been held, not a single vote has been cast, heck before nothing more than a presidential exploratory committee had been formed, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had been anointed the Democratic nominee and the next President of the United States. The big question is not if Senator Clinton will get her party’s nomination and eventually become President. No, the big question is why she won’t.
Straight out Hillary Rodham Clinton is not all that like-able. The most unspoken reason someone wins the presidency is like-ability. Other words such as charisma and appeal are used to make it sound more complex, more meaningful, more serious. However, the simple fact is like-ability rules the roost in electing our presidents. Ronald Reagan was our grandfather. Bill Clinton was every man, “the man from Hope”, and George W. gave the appearance that though born to privilege, he could be everyone’s best friend.
Qualifications and education are played up, but they really aren’t that important. President Harry Truman did not posses a college degree. Other than Governor, President Ronald Reagan never held any other elected office, never ran a business, he was simply a B movie actor and spokesperson. President George W. Bush’s business failures are well chronicled. The two one term presidents of my lifetime may have been the most “qualified” to hold office. Both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter had excellent educations, distinguished military careers and worked their way up the political ladder. Each failed in their re-elections bids because they weren’t like-able. President’s Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush all had potential scandals that should have prevented their re-elections, but they won because of the like-ability factor. President Reagan is remembered with great fondness by supporters and detractors alike. President Clinton won over the man he vanquished. And the future will tell about President George W. Bush.
Since the age of television the shallower qualities are played up. A great example is the Nixon/Kennedy debate. Those who watched it on television felt Kennedy won, those who heard it on the radio felt Nixon won. President Kennedy embraced the then new media. He was tanned, used stage make up, and though he was a man in great pain and suffered from an illness few were aware, appeared young and vibrant.
President Nixon looked, well looked like Nixon.
Back to Senator Clinton. Hillary is just not like-able. She rubs many people, including fellow Democrats, the wrong way. She went from being a Goldwater conservative to a 60’s liberal and fervent feminist. She went from single Hillary Rodham to the married Hillary Rodham, to Hillary Clinton to finally Hillary Rodham Clinton. She went from a socialist utopic idea of nationalizing one seventh of the U.S. economy to being a conservative war hawk. She was quoted as saying, “I’m not some Tammy Wynette standing by my man” to a doormat of a blatant philandering husband time and time again. She was born in Illinois resided in Arkansas and Washington D.C. but ran for the Senate in New York. She went from unflappable and undeterred to tossing her beliefs to the wayside for political expedience and popularity.
The reason Senator Clinton is not like-able is because no one knows who is the real Hillary Clinton. There is no genuine, consistent character to her. It is hard to like someone who doesn’t like him or herself. How do you like yourself if you can’t decide who you are? There are those that seek the presidency to lead and there are those that seek the presidency just to be president.
Which is Senator Clinton?
Who knows?
I would guess even she doesn’t know.
Joe Leonardi
The Independent, Conservative, Common Sense Oasis 