I discussed yesterday a new book I'm reading on the 2008 race between Hillary and Obama. As 2008 has been invoked so much this year-Bernie hopes to do to her what Obama did in 2008, etc-I was interested in looking back to see how it compares to this time.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/02/hillary-and-trust-issue.html
It's a great book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061733644?keywords=game%20change&qid=1456234086&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2
As the authors say, the Obama-Hillary story is legitimately a love story. Bernie may grouse about this narrative about 'How much the Secretary loves President Obama and how much he loves her'-but it's the reality.
Sometimes it's baptism through fire that brings you closest.
There are a number of interesting ways in which 2016 is alike and different than 2008. Hillary is again the inevitable candidate against the upstart who is getting huge crowds.
On the other hand, black voters were who sunk her in 2008 and who will likely save her this time. A shot at redemption.
The Iraq War was a major wedge issue that she could never get over in 2008. Bernie has tried to use it like Obama did in 2008 but it is less deadly this time. At this point a lot of Dems wonder why we have to keep talking about a mistake she made in 2002. Yes, the war was a terrible mistake but what about the challenges of today and tomorrow?
In 2008 the Iraq War had a resonance, a fierce urgency of now that it lacks today.
In late 2005 and early 2006 there was some debate in Hillary World about how to deal with the issue of her Iraq vote.
1. Mark Penn felt she had to own her 2002 vote and not try to distance herself or apologize for it. If she did, he thought the GOP would go after her like it went after Kerry-as another liberal flip-flopper who wanted to 'cut and run' from the war.
Indeed, Penn thought because she was a woman, this was an even bigger threat to Hillary. She had to project strength.
2. This went to a fundamental assumption of Penn's that turned out to be dead wrong. That Hil''s biggest threat in 2008 would come from the GOP in the general election.
3. Bill Clinton felt the opposite. He believed that her big challenge would be the Dem primary and that Iraq vote would saddle her.
4. Needless to say, it's' obvious who was right.
Clinton had made a point in late 2005 to reverse himself on the Iraq War and declared that it was a mistake. Yes it's good Saddam is gone, the President said, but I don't like what they did.
I talked about counterfactuals in my above linked piece. It always interests me: how would things fare if we had travelled the road not taken?
In this case, we have to say Bill was right. He had correctly read the political tea leaves-one of his chief skills. By 2008 the Iraq War was completely toxic.
Who knows if simply apologizing for Iraq and repudiating it would have been enough. At the end of the day obviously for those opposed to the war someone who voted for the war and apologizes is better than someone who did and won't apologize, but the person who never voted for it in the beginning and was on record of calling it a dumb war in 2002-Obama-will still be the best.
Still it would have helped to go in Bill's position.
You have to think that Penn's attitudes on gender didn't serve her well.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/02/hillary-and-trust-issue.html
It's a great book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061733644?keywords=game%20change&qid=1456234086&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2
As the authors say, the Obama-Hillary story is legitimately a love story. Bernie may grouse about this narrative about 'How much the Secretary loves President Obama and how much he loves her'-but it's the reality.
Sometimes it's baptism through fire that brings you closest.
There are a number of interesting ways in which 2016 is alike and different than 2008. Hillary is again the inevitable candidate against the upstart who is getting huge crowds.
On the other hand, black voters were who sunk her in 2008 and who will likely save her this time. A shot at redemption.
The Iraq War was a major wedge issue that she could never get over in 2008. Bernie has tried to use it like Obama did in 2008 but it is less deadly this time. At this point a lot of Dems wonder why we have to keep talking about a mistake she made in 2002. Yes, the war was a terrible mistake but what about the challenges of today and tomorrow?
In 2008 the Iraq War had a resonance, a fierce urgency of now that it lacks today.
In late 2005 and early 2006 there was some debate in Hillary World about how to deal with the issue of her Iraq vote.
1. Mark Penn felt she had to own her 2002 vote and not try to distance herself or apologize for it. If she did, he thought the GOP would go after her like it went after Kerry-as another liberal flip-flopper who wanted to 'cut and run' from the war.
Indeed, Penn thought because she was a woman, this was an even bigger threat to Hillary. She had to project strength.
2. This went to a fundamental assumption of Penn's that turned out to be dead wrong. That Hil''s biggest threat in 2008 would come from the GOP in the general election.
3. Bill Clinton felt the opposite. He believed that her big challenge would be the Dem primary and that Iraq vote would saddle her.
4. Needless to say, it's' obvious who was right.
Clinton had made a point in late 2005 to reverse himself on the Iraq War and declared that it was a mistake. Yes it's good Saddam is gone, the President said, but I don't like what they did.
I talked about counterfactuals in my above linked piece. It always interests me: how would things fare if we had travelled the road not taken?
In this case, we have to say Bill was right. He had correctly read the political tea leaves-one of his chief skills. By 2008 the Iraq War was completely toxic.
Who knows if simply apologizing for Iraq and repudiating it would have been enough. At the end of the day obviously for those opposed to the war someone who voted for the war and apologizes is better than someone who did and won't apologize, but the person who never voted for it in the beginning and was on record of calling it a dumb war in 2002-Obama-will still be the best.
Still it would have helped to go in Bill's position.
You have to think that Penn's attitudes on gender didn't serve her well.
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