One Term Mitch
One-Term Mitch
When Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader proclaimed that his primary mission was to make sure Barack Obama was a one-term President, I knew we were in for a rough ride. I had no idea the lengths Mitch and his partisans would go to secure this outcome. Bringing all legislation to a halt for not just the first four years, but the entire eight year run, refusing to even discuss propositions they supported prior to the Obama Presidency? There was only one conclusion to consider, it had everything to do with his race and very little to his politics.
Next in Line
As his supporters looked to the future, the years past the Obama Administration, they looked to the obvious candidate for the next four years, Hillary Clinton. For all the talk about how “unpopular” she was and is today, for her supporters, we have been with her then, and are with her now, confident in her leadership. We couldn’t wait for her to announce, frustrated with her playing “coy” all those months, dropping little hints but never formalizing her run for President. Again, many if not all of her supporters were annoyed that Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders threw their hats into the ring. O’ Mally faded quickly and though Bernie’s campaign excited a large segment of the population, most were too young to have remembered Bill Clinton’s run and Hillary’s role in his administration and Senator from New York, considering her “old hat”. They did; none of us, her most loyal supporters did. We were with Hillary all the way, hoping, praying, demanding that Bernie just go away.
Bernie’s Legacy / Hillary’s Image
For all the “good” he may lay claim to, moving the Democratic Party to the left of center, he caused great harm to the party and the candidate providing ammunition for the opposition and disrupting the momentum she needed to win the nomination and the Presidency. Back then, just into Obama’s first term, when the animosity was high, I had a little epiphany. Will they treat Hillary any differently? She is not a person of color, she has great credentials, she is smart, competent, and very Presidential, will the country respond to her in a more positive manner. My answer was a clear, “Not on your life!’ I was convinced then, and have been proven correct that she would also be ostracized to the same extent as Obama, not for being black, but for being Hillary; a smart, competent, professional…woman. And lo and behold, the opposition, the media, even a large segment of her own party has risen up to bring her down. So, while I am not surprised, I am disappointed, in my country, in the political system, in the media, in my own party, that her campaign has not soared to the top. Especially when you consider her current opponent.
The North Polls – Frozen North
Talk about her “unfavorable numbers”, polls that measure the temperature of the media waters fouled by a double standard unprecedented in political history for a candidate so thoroughly vetted and scrutinized and analyzed that her staff is afraid to let the public know she had pneumonia. Why are they so secret, so close to the vest? Because they know that every detail of her personal, professional, political life is under a microscope and spotlight like no other person on the planet other than Kim Kardashian maybe. Just the fact that she still wants to run, to be elected President with all the noise around her, tells you something about Hillary Rodham Clinton; she is determined, she is persistent, she is brave, she is focused and she will make a great President of the United States. Are you with her? Damn right I am!
Frank L. Miller