I don't get depressed too often, but I feel the blues coming on. Many moons ago, if memory serves, I tweeted my skepticism that Hillary Clinton would even get the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, much less win the general election.
I'm afraid I probably was right about her not getting the nomination, but I'm concerned that her implosion appears to be happening too soon - with way too much time for Democrats to regroup.
I realize that all of this is speculative and I could have egg all over my face if Hillary were to smoothly sail to the nomination - and gigantic omelets on my countenance should she win the general election. After all, I don't have a perfect batting average in predicting presidential elections.
But messy dairy products on my face would be nothing compared with the prospect of having Hillary Clinton back in the White House for at least four years. This country needs time to heal from the wholesale destruction visited on it by Barack Obama. And by "heal," I don't mean we need to learn how to get along better - though that would be nice, too. I mean the country needs to recuperate from the beating it has taken. First a little rehab and then back to full-blown powerlifting and muscular growth. But I digress.
A few columns ago, I shared certain reasons I don't believe Hillary is going to be that tough to beat, but things have gotten even worse for her in the short time since, and I'm really wondering whether the Democrats will have the guts to take her to the woodshed for an exit conference (with Bill in tow, obviously, because he'll be harder to dissuade than she will).
I think that will depend on whether Democrats believe they can find someone to replace her with a reasonable chance to win the general. But when they soberly assess Hillary's candidacy after the dust has settled, they may be forced to take action, which illustrates, does it not, just how far the Democrats have gone to make Obama - and no one else - their entire party. They have put all their eggs (sorry to be talking eggs again so soon) in that disastrous basket and have the shallowest bench in recent presidential election memory.
Some conservatives are surprised that we are seeing negative stories in the media about Hillary. The extent of negativity is not by any means the kind we'd see if a Republican contender were spectacularly underperforming as Hillary is, but nonetheless, there are some unfavorable reports. Perhaps the reason for that is she is the one they're counting on to carry the liberal torch and they are angry and disgusted that she is leaving them high and dry.
If she fails, they reason, the country fails because we'll be stuck with one of a number of bitter clinging Republicans who'll take us back to the stone age when balanced budgets mattered, "climate change" and Darwinism weren't twin pillars of the state religion, individual liberty meant freedom rather than redistribution of wealth, Christians weren't regarded as ogres in the popular culture, capitalism wasn't a curse word, and America wasn't in denial about the war the terrorists are waging against us and was fighting back - strategically and intentionally.
I honestly do believe that things have gotten much worse for Hillary over the past week or so.
She is an obvious fraud who, even after all these many years of dress rehearsal for this position, can't be natural around the people. Ironically, this former Saul Alinsky acolyte has become an out-of-touch elitist. She's been so ensconced in the halls of power and so intoxicated by its trappings that she can't even remember what it's like to pretend to be one of the people - which is an essential attribute of a liberal demagogue.
It's not just that she's out of touch with the people, which is kind of a cliche and, in any event,can be remedied by getting back among them. It's that she's really not an authentic person. She's a cardboard character hellbent on being president, and it shows. And that's harder to remedy. It's actually painful to watch her try. It's painful to watch "Saturday Night Live" watching her try.
Moreover, her hypocrisy, to paraphrase Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday in "Tombstone," has no bounds. She rails against the rich and is rolling in the dough. She actually feels that she is entitled to not just the presidency but also the vast wealth she's raked in as a result of her White House-spawned celebrity. With the passing years, I believe she's lost patience with faking otherwise.
She obviously has no confidence in her own ability to handle questions or even the routine PR rigors of a high-profile, national campaign. Even someone as insulated from media scrutiny as she is can't continue this charade. The question is: If she ever actually had it, has she lost it? I think that her defeat against Obama in 2008 took its toll and that she has lost confidence and become a bit bitter, and this, too, is hard to conceal.
Most damning is that she is surrounded by scandals that are real and voluminous enough to take her down all by themselves. With the media's help, she may be able to continue evading Benghazi, etc., but these recent revelations about foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation seem to be resonating, even with The New York Times.
I believe she's in trouble.
