Clinton vs Obama: The Day After

Now that “Super Tuesday” is over and, as many of the pundits predicted, there is no clear winner, it is time to examine what is truly at stake in this historic election: 

 

The Democrats have two eminently qualified candidates, either of whom would be light years beyond what we have now and quite a bit better than any Republican presidency – even with the most palatable to many Democrats, John McCain. 

 

It looks like the Clinton machine is going to do everything it can to assure victory, and that is what politics is about: winning. In an ideal world, it would be about governing, but our world is so far from ideal that we all seem to be ready to settle for competent. 

 

If Hillary were to win the nomination, she is less likely to beat McCain because she is closer to him on  foreign policy and Washington entrenchment. I still think that while Hillary is beloved by many important elements of the Democratic party, she is not viable in a general election. While the Republicans are in serious disarray, they will galvanize around beating her even if they have trouble swallowing a candidate like McCain who is suspect credential-wise to the Republican base. 

 

I think that unlike Hillary, McCain has a higher ethical standard. He was, after all a sponsor of McCain-Feingold, a bill that at least tried to do something about undue lobbyist influence. When people say that Hillary would do anything to win, I believe it. It is the history as I’ve observed it. I don’t think the same can be said of McCain. I think he wants to win, but I do think he has a certain moral compass that Hillary lacks. 

 

I think Hillary’s concerns for children, the environment, etc. are all legitimate and she is sincere. But I think if cornered, she would abandon her ethics to accomplish her ultimate goal. As an ex-new Yorker, I saw the difference between Hillary the candidate, and Hillary the Senator. Her listening tours stop, her access and affability stop and the door to her office closes. 

 

But what I’d like to explore is something far different than a simple comparison of policy and candidate strength and weakness. I’d like to take several steps back and look at the world the day after a Hillary win either in the primary or the general election: 

 

Where We Are Now 

 

The country we live in is in such terrible shape that it is barely recognizable. The damage done by the Bush administration isn’t even assessable at this point. The squandering of world good will, the demolition of our economy, the alienation of our electorate are all unfathomable. I’d like to look at that last item more closely: 

 

The harm the Bush presidency has done goes far beyond the specifics. It is something much more insidious. It is the broken spirit of the American psyche and the destruction of the moral compass that has made us Americans. 

 

Day after day, we heard of the ineptitude and lack of concern for the victims of Katrina. We all remember the image of Bush sitting at his post hurricane photo op joking about how Trent Lot’s house would be rebuilt and how he used to have a drink with him on its porch before it was destroyed. Contrast this with his drum beat after 9/11. 

 

It is the daily appointment of inept cronies to important and crucial jobs; the deception of the American people to get us into a war without proper intelligence; the inept handling of that war,; the inability to admit reality leading to the declaration of “mission accomplished”; the inability to admit that he had ever made any mistakes that he could recall; the recess appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the U.N.; the inability to remove Donald Rumsfeld after an unbroken series of inept decisions; the inability to remove Alberto Gonzales and then the appointment of Mukasy who seems to be unsure of the meaning of the word “torture”; the institution of so-called “signing statements’ that supposedly allowed him to sign legislation and simultaneously announce he wouldn’t enforce it if he didn’t agree with it. The treasonous outing of a CIA operative; the domestic surveillance on ordinary citizens. Finally, the overuse of terror to consolidate his power and justify the arrogant disregard not only for the U.S. Constitution, but the very spirit for which it stands. The list is seemingly endless. 

 

All of these things together gave us nearly eight years of feeling politically powerless as even a Democratic retaking of the two legislative branches could do nothing about the depths to which this country had sunk. We all looked around and asked for help, but none was forthcoming. Add to all of the above the fact that it was all in the wake of what was widely perceived as two illegitimate elections where the leader wasn’t truly elected or was elected under suspect circumstances and the picture is complete. 

 

The list goes on of course. But that is not my point. It is the total sense of powerlessness, the lack of outrage and the acceptance of the destruction of our country from within while rallying around our flag and saying almost mindlessly “we support the troops” that is of concern here. 

 

I am reminded of a common syndrome with abused women. After years of mistreatment at the hands of a brutal spouse, many start to believe that they somehow deserve that treatment. Therein lies the greatest danger of all: That we somehow deserve it. That there is no point in even railing against it. We simply have accepted this country as it is as “the new normal”. The absence of outrage is the state of the once legitimately proud U.S. citizenry. 

 

It is this psychic damage that needs repair as well as the specific issues that we hear about. Yes, we need to find a well planned end to the war in Iraq. Yes, we need to do something about poverty, education, healthcare, etc. But these are all issues. And issues can be addressed one way or another by any of the candidates. There is very little daylight between the plans of Clinton and Obama on the issues. 

 

But what about the broken spirit? 

 

The Hope 

 

Today, as Barack Obama has galvanized a new generation of formerly apathetic young people into a political movement, as these same young people are getting their apathetic parents involved, as the inspirational tone of the Obama candidacy starts to weave its spell, we are beginning to see a change in our attitude about all of the misguided and psychologically damaged leadership the country has endured. The chorus of “Yes we can!” is not simply a slogan. It is evidence of the growing sense of empowerment that people are beginning to feel. 

 

It is this awakening of spirit that is so important to the country. It is the grass roots origin of it, and the youthful leader who inspires it and promotes it. It is the sense of true empowerment that is forward looking and transformative that is important. It is truly what the country needs in this place at this time. 

 

But what if the Clinton machine wins? What if the politically skilled operatives play the experience card, the Latino card, the crying card, the gender card and, unfortunately, the race card just to get their hands on the keys to the White House? What then? What will this country look like the day after? 

 

Imagine all the young people who were so energized being thwarted by a political machine that says “you can’t go up against the establishment.” What if all the inspiration and hope gets dashed in the large demographic of this country’s young people? What if the feeling is that no matter how inspiring and intelligent the leader, no matter how transformative, no matter how right the person is, no matter that it is the perfect sunshine of the right elements all coming together at the right time, it will all end up crushed under the steamroller of a well organized political machine? What if it is all dashed by an organization that knows how to play the game better, that hits mute button on the party music and shouts “No you can’t!”? 

 

What then? 

 

What will this country look like when Hillary (and Bill) move back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? What happens when the sniping starts and the investigations into the shady dealings start up again? What happens when those Clinton haters do whatever it takes them to stop even the  modest attempts to fix our problems? What happens when the nightly news spends time once devoted to Paris Hilton on Bill Clinton and how he really is behind the scenes running things? Yes, I am sure Hillary can get some good things done. I’m sure her policy is mostly better than what we have. I’m sure that she will be effective if not expedient. 

 

But she is not what this country needs right now. 

 

Where will the throngs who supported Obama go? They will recede back to from where they came. They will feel disenfranchised and they will become cynical and certainly less hopeful and less active, Maybe some of them will be inspired to hang around and try again later until another machine comes along and says “No you can’t!” 

 

I sometimes think it may be better to have a pragmatic approach and just say that anything is better than what we’ve just come through. 

 

But as Robert Kennedy used to say:

 

“Some see things as they are and ask “why?”. I see things as it might be and ask “Why Not?”” 

 

When the dust settles and we have a McCain or a Clinton presidency, let us not forget the hope, the transformative power, the  country and world we could have had.

 

And for those who think, “well, maybe next time”. Let us not forget the “fierce urgency of now.”