What a blast last night, Tuesday, January 8, 2008. About 7 PM results from the New Hampshire Primary began to trickle in and underdog Hillary Clinton was leading and it started. Chris Matthews, Wulf Blitzer analysis. Which precincts were reporting. Then a little later the Repub candidate John McCain was annointed the winner of their primary, another comeback story going back to this summer. "There's something in the air" said Barack Obama but the night was still young and Hillary was still ahead after about 40% of the vote was counted. "Well, wait for the precincts in the university towns to come in!"
About 10:30 PM St. Louis time, the "shot heard round the world took place." In one of the greatest political turnarounds since Harry Truman defeated Dewey in 1948, in a days time, a dishearted, dowcast, even slightly weepy (she did not cry), especially talented lady from New York by way of
Arkansas and Chicago was crowned the winner and no one could explain it. But it was just plain "neat."
So many of my close friends and others have reaped scorn on this bright and aggressive first lady since she hit the political scene, one often asks: "Why bother?" But the Hillary Clinton code, going back to her school days has always been: "I want to serve!" This former Goldwater girl and a lawyer on the famous Watergate Committee has always been out front in every endeavor.
What the Bear really felt good about, given his candidate Bill Richardson, was taking another beating and probably won't be around much longer, was that the so called "politcal pundits and pollsters" took it in the shorts. As a political junkie I love the campaigning, the speeches, the spin, the thrill of victory and the hurt of defeat. I think most politicians are not only honorable but in some cases heroic in their zeal to "do the right thing" for their contituents. There are some "scumbags", mostly these days to be found among the Repubs but in fairness we have them too! Hillary Clinton
is a good politician and even better, an effective Senator. Ask any US Senator if she is not hard working and they will generally give her high marks. Yes, even her GOP collegues work with her and respect her. But she had taken a severe beating in the press as well as the caucuses in Iowa and many were beginning to "jump ship!"
Should she be President? If you've read the Carl Bernstein biography which is a fair assessment of her rise to power, her first lady days, and now here work as a Senator, you come to realize: This dame is smart and classy too! She's not the most "folksy wolksy" person you'll ever meet but "she cares" about the country and has given much. And when she is in small groups she can be downright charming and has a "cackle" and "rip roaring" deep laugh which lights up the room.
So as the great Mike Hucklebee pointed out yesterday: "Give her some slack!" She's been working hard for months in this never ending campaign. Mike didn't know what was going to happen on this night and regardless, being a super neat guy as well as prescient candidate for President, he would have said it anyway.
After the final results came in last night and she appeared before supporters even the "hard nosed Bear" took out his hanky and gave a great "honk!"
Now tie this in with what was going in the infamous Bear "reading room", that is Kelly Chase and Chris Gerber at the Scot Trade Center (Kiel Auditorium) broadcasting the battle between the St. Louis Blues and Columbus on the ice, and emotions were running high, especially when Andy MacDonald and Eric Johnson were making magic with the puck and Manny Legace, continuing his mastery in the nets as the Blues skated to a 6-1 victory and Blues fans prepared for today's TACO Feast!
Naturally all these events made for a tough night, trying to get to catch a few zzzzzzz's. But you "have to pay the piper" for special nights like this! So says the "cross eyed" Bear on Wednesday, January 9!
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3 comments:
As the eldest brother (and the wisest..ha!) I guess I'll do the counterpoint thing.....
Just like there's no crying in baseball, ..There's no crying in presidential elections!
If that's all it takes to get the female vote in America, McGovern and Dukakis would have been sobbing in every town hall meeting across the nation!!
Did Margaret Thatcher get weepy when the British media crucified her? NO!
Did Shirley Chisholm get teary-eyed when she came away with her measley 162 delegates in her bid for president in 1972? NO!
Did Joan of Arc cry as they lit her on fire? No!
Unlike Joan, Hillary proved that when the heat was turned up, she couldn't quite handle it. Not many of us can blame her...it's a brutal grind under the American political microscope. Even Chisholm said "I've always met more discrimination being a woman than being black," But she didn't cry, or drop out of her race.
While I give full kudos to Hillary and fully admit that she is, undoubtedly, a saavy, smart, hard-working senator and dedicated public servant, her moment proved to me that she's not cut out to be leader of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth.
So now I'm down to 2 presidential hopefuls.
...and big boys don't cry.
As the only operson in this family to regularly communicate to the masses, I must take humbrage with the characterization of Hillary as a cry-baby.
Understand that the extent of her episode was no more than her voice breaking in a moment--a moment that lasted five seconds--of deep contemplation about the task before her, specifically, surviving in a stronghold of America's gender prejudice: Washington DC.
While I consider her to be a moderate (and as such, embracing some GOP BS), she certainly has my respect. Should she become our candidate, I will support her completely and wholeheartedly.
Then again, you could jam a pineapple up a pig's ass and teach it walk backward and as long as it was a Dem, it would get my vote.
The more you talk about Hillary letting her emotions show, the less time you talk about replacing this country's energy infrastructure, stopping Corporate America's absurd advantage over Middle America, and ending a War that serves oil companies and their benefactors.
By the way, one candidate will do all of this. Know who?
When you want to find out, call the Son with the Solutions: 4of5.
One other observation: I see that John Kerry's wife has replaced his balls with Heinz ketchup bottles. He has erred on the BO/HC side of corporate profit and neglected his former running mate. What an amazingly soulless prick.
It's not surprising that this should happen when William "The Bloody" Kristol is the inspiration of The Bear's title to this post.
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