I'll vote for either, but I'll vote for Hillary first.

By Guest Blogger Dan Ranger

It is naive to believe that the Republican slime machine won't start swift boating Obama beginning on the first day of his presidency the same way they did the Clintons. At the end of an Obama term he will be as sullied, soiled and defamed as President Clinton was. Such is the nature of todays' right wing. They are the rightful heirs of the lynch men of the past. So it is unfair to demonize Bill and Hill whose only real sin is facing down the unprincipled demons of the opposition. The Republican anti-democratic response to the successes of Bill Clinton's administration didn't uncover scandal, it was the scandal.

Indeed, if ever I am asked to defend Bill's lack of character, I point to his ability to have the most effective presidency in my lifetime while being wildly persecuted. As the final "he did it, we just couldn't prove it" special prosecuters' report proved, not only was he not afforded the presumption of innocence, he was denied the POSSIBLITY of innocence.

As bumpy as the Bill Clinton administration was, the corruption charges were groundless and the result is a very grand history of a superb administration. Peace, balanced budgets, increased civil rights, SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WE COULD RELY ON, surpluses, decreased crime (500,000 cops) more gun control, decreased teen pregnancy, higher graduation rates, AIDS funding which helped lead to a very effective cocktail.... I could go on. And not every body thinks a two party system is such a hazzard. Hillary studied at the foot of the master and need only roll over at night (ok... maybe pick up the phone) for guidance should she need it. And most often, I believe she won't. It will be her presidency.

Have we not noticed that Senator Clinton has, for seven years, governed for New York without controversy or struggle. She has worked doggedly for our state and won re-election without effort. Her reputation in the senate is stellar with all sides agreeing that she is tireless, effective, dedicated and able to be friends across the aisle even with the same gentlemen who massacred her in the past. Now THAT'S character.

Sadly, Obama is primarily running on the same campaign W did. "People like me more." And his inexperience might paralyze him against the opposition in the white house. Have the Newts and the Rushes and the Hannitys of the right EVER been known to be kind and unbiased? And they certainly haven't vanished. Indeed, look at the plethora of media space they must fill. If anything, they've multiplied. We know this only motivated Mrs. Clinton to greater things. What will it do to Mr. Barama? Like so many things about this opaque and vague candidate, we just don't know. He could crumble. He has never been anything but loved. He has not known opposition. Only annointment.


My fear is, we are falling into the media trap of voting for the best story: fatherless black child scrapes his way from the bottom up, drug use, a free-living mother, yet he's now the clean-as-a-whistle young Democratic Nominee for president vs. Old White John, the hero from the past who shoots from the hip, EVEN AGAINST HIS OWN PARTY (unless you read his actual voting record... not such a renegade after all are you John?). It's a great narrative, we'll be on the edges of our seats, it'll will keep us up all election night. And the results will bring tears to our eyes one way or another, one party or another. And the media has had it's race.

But the real ending can't be written by the press as easily. The real ending is written by the deeds of the administration that follows for the next four years. And for that, I'd rather have the pen in Senator Clinton's tried and true hand.