Stop Hill!Joe Klein signs onto the
Stop Hillary Bandwagon with an article that is, quite frankly, as naive as it gets from a political "expert".
He raises all sorts of objections to her candidacy, but most of them are objections that will resonate with moderates and Republicans in the general election.
Senator Clinton's supporters will say she is that candidate. And it is true that Clinton has far more leeway to run as a moderate than almost any other Democrat. Her repositioning on social issues has been overrated—she will have to do more than merely "respect" those who oppose abortion; she will have to propose creative compromises.Yes, if she wants to get elected. But to get nominated she just has to keep the pro-abortion extremists in her party in line. She can do that easily.
Hilariously, he brings up Dean as the example:
My guess is that Hillary Clinton would roll into Iowa with an incredible, Howard Dean-like head of steam in January 2008, and then the folks—yes, even the Democratic base—would give her a very close look and conclude that a Hillary presidency would be slightly dodgy.She'll have that Howard Dean-like head of steam alright. She'll also have the party apparatus behind her. There will be no "moderate savior" because all of the other ninnies running for the nomination are competing for the Move-On seal of approval. Evan Bayh? Please! The Move-On crowd may not be strong enough to run the party, but they are plenty capable of torpedoing a real moderate--see Joe Lieberman for President 2004, or any of the guys opposing Howard Dean for DNC chair.
He even trots out the dynasty argument:
There is something fundamentally un-American—and very European—about the Clintons and the Bushes trading the office every eight years, with stale, familiar corps of retainers, supporters and enemies. Bill Clinton was a good President. Hillary Clinton is a good Senator. But enough already. (And that goes for you too, Jeb.)You may not like it, Joe, but the fact is that the Democrats will not be asked to vote on whether we should allow the Clintons and the Bushes to alternate running the country every eight years. They will be asked to decide on whether Hillary is right for them in 2008.
Write it in stone. Hillary's running and she will get the nomination.
