Hillary, Baggage And The Bottom Line

I find it surprising that the pundits in the Democratic party are just now realizing what I have been telling my friends for over a year. Hillary, though she is a wonderful Senator and would make a fine President has too much baggage.

Somebody woke up and realized she is a polarizing figure that could keep voters home on election day, or worse. She might even win the Presidency, but I suspect it would be at the cost of the Senate and House races. Over 40 Democratic candidates when interviewed feared her impact on their races. That is not good.

With so tenuous a hold on Congress, the Democratic Party can ill afford to elect a President and lose Congress, it would put the country right back in the position it is now, with the exception that a would be dictator would not be in the White House.

OK, so now for my partisan rant. I support Barak Obama, and the reasons are many, but the big one is his effect on people who hear him speak. He inspires people. He gives people hope and after the dark morass of the Bush administration, our country needs that hope more than ever.

Obama does not come out and say he supports Gay Marriage, and that’s fine by me if he guarantees the GBLT community the same rights as every other American. I would happily get a Civil Union from the State and let my church marry my partner and myself. Marriage is a religious not a civil construct anyway. In the bigger picture, Obama backs full civil rights for EVERYONE! So what if I call my union a “civil union” and someone else calls theirs “marriage”, that is a semantic problem and in time it will change.

Obama also brings other positives to the table. He may be able to motivate voters who have traditionally been absent at the polls. If minority voters as well as the elusive “liberal” voters would show up, a landslide for the Democrats would ensue. He is no magician, but I genuinely feel Obama is the closest thing to a great candidate that the Democrats have had in a decade.