"How do we translate our beliefs in to action? How do we go from a campaign where we make speeches, the people stand up and cheer and clap loudly, into making what we believe, real?" - Hillary Clinton, in Hartford this morning
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton still needs to fine-tune the words, but the point she's making is both barbed and worthwhile.
The rap against Barack Obama, who's running neck-and-neck with the New York senator, is that he lacks experience. What Clinton is doing is trying to show why that matters.
It's not enough to sound good and promise change, she points out. What matters, in the end, is can you deliver? And that's just as true for the Republican candidates as the Democratic ones.
We don't elect presidents to give speeches, after all. We pick them to lead our country in the right direction, to compromise when necessary and to stand firm when that's required. We want our leaders to get things done. We want them to deliver peace and prosperty, now and into the future. We want them to make us proud. We want them, in short, to be better than they can possibly be.
And we'd like to see it happen without the bitterness that has marred our politics for far, far too long.
With Clinton, there's no doubt the hard feelings of long-ago battles will linger, on both sides. With Obama, perhaps the era of hyperpartisanship can pass.
Obama presents a true dilemma for Democratic loyalists, who sense that he has the potential for greatness.
But he also, they recognize, might muck up the opportunity because he doesn't know how it's all done.
Clinton, of course, knows how the White House works and knows what it takes to get there.
It remains a fascinating primary.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
4 comments:
Experience or the lack of it, is overstated, usually by the side that perceives they have it.
Obama and Clinton are running for president. Neither of them has the experience as neither of them has been president.
Therefore, it's the rhetoric or the speeches (not always the same) that we hang our hat. Obama's two post primary victory speeches in Iowa and South Carolina were inspiring.
I am a Republican. I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, ever. If I were old enough to vote in 1960, I would have voted for Jack Kennedy.
As his daughter, Caroline Kennedy so eloquently stated in the Op-ed pages of the NY Times yesterday, Obama is the real deal and experience is important, but not the most important ingredient - ideas, vision, passion and a genuine belief that Washington is broken and needs a change are what I hope in a candidate.
I would venture to say that most citizens agree that Washington is broken and broke. Why would we want that "experience" back into the White House?
I was not old enough to vote Democratic in 1960, but I am in 2008. However, if the Convention chooses Clinton, then my streak continues.
Thank you for an unusually intelligent comment. I wish everyone was as thoughtful.
"Making what we believe in "real""
The problem w/ that is mrs. clinton has no idea what to believe until she reads the latest poll .
The problem is that the Republicans have so demonized this woman that no one knows who she really is.
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