Theories about Hillary
I’ve heard two theories about the Hillary campaign recently. While I have no evidence to support either of them, I find the idea of each of them very interesting.
Theory One: the Gerry factor
The recent comments by Gerry Ferraro may not have been as unscripted as we are being led to belive. Here is how the theory would have it. A room full of Hillary’s advisers are sitting with the candidate and complaining about how things have gone. One of them says that Obama wouldn’t be where he is if it wasn’t for the fact that he is black. Another says that it’s too bad no one will say that outloud in public. Someone, recalling Gerry’s comments in 1988, says, “Like Ferraro said about Jackson in ‘88?” And the room goes silent as Hillary picks up her cellphone.
Theory Two: the 2012 Play
This theory claims that Hillary isn’t really running for the nomination anymore. What she is now hoping to accomplish is to so badly damage Obama that he loses to McCain. Then, in 2012, Hillary can run against a 76 year old McCain and win easily.
Like I said, there is no evidence for these theories aside from the events that have been seen on every news channel. But what is interesting about them both is that if you tell someone who is a solid Democrat these theories, they pause before dismissing them — if they dismiss them at all.
People remember the Clinton years. They remember how Clinton nearly destroyed the party in state after state in order to get reelected. Democrats lost control of Congress. Democrats lost Governorships. Democrats lost race after race with Clinton at the head of the party.
It may well be that the legacy of the Clintons is a realization that they have always valued their personal standing above that of the party or any ideal they may have claimed at sometime. The Clintonian approach to politcs isn’t so much pragmatic as narcissistic. And in the end, that’s what makes these Hillary theories believable.
