So I must say, one of the things that worries, scares, bothers (pick an uncomfortable verb) me most about the possibility of Hillary being a Presidential nominee – or even President, is a continuation of politics that divide our country. I think as she runs, she will illicit polarizing attacks. And she will respond. Win or Lose (and I think she would win) the country will break even further into camps that shout and don’t listen to each other.
I don’t like the idea of my country ripping apartmore than it is.
I don’t know how it started - I am sure we could point to Bill Clinton or Bush 43 and have excellent points – or we could point to Regan and Carter and have excellent points. I don’t really care. I think it will get progressively worse unless we choose to stop it.
I wish, hope, dream that the current President could bend a little. He might be able to slow it down. The man is undeniably likeable and if he came on TV and wasn’t a smirking, smarmy, mean partisan – we would all listen again. I WANT him to reach out a little, really. I want to trust my President and my country. I wish his rhetoric wasn’t so mean, angry, defiant, stubborn. I wish the Hudson River was made of Onion Dip.
I think Hillary, without baggage, could bring the country together a little. But there is no Hillary without baggage. Hillary brings a history of partisanship that cannot be denied. She has been a great and fair Senator, and she is as middle of the road as you can be. She is Diane Feinstein and Chuck Hagel. If her last name wasn’t Clinton – she would be positively dull. It’s not fair, but it is true. Hillary, no matter what her actions, will always raise anger and will never be trusted by a huge percentage of the country.
Maybe Obama could bring people together. But I don’t think he has a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected. Let’s be honest; the Ad’s against him would make the race baiting ads that ran against Harold Ford in Tennessee look like love letters. The swift boat veterans smeared John Kerry – who served in Vietnam and got a purple heart – as an anti-patriot. The only person with enough guts to stand up to the vitriol is Hillary.
It makes me sad. And every step my President makes that tears us, as Americans, apart makes me sadder.
It is different here than it is in most countries. We are Americans because we choose to be. You can move to France, but you can't “become” French. You are born German or Dutch or Mexican. You choose to be American (and Canadian and Australian). What happens to a country like that when two sides constantly choose against each other?