Barack Obama Is Best Vice-President for Hillary

Assuming Hillary Clinton will get the presidential nomination for 2008, the Democrats are going to have to find a way to overcome Hillary Clinton’s personality deficit.

The best way to compensate for Hillary’s personality, will be to attach a running mate that is highly likeable and will be able to tap into demographics that normally do not vote in high percentages: young people and minorities. When one thinks of youth and minorities, one does not have to think long before Barack Obama comes to mind.

Barack Obama is a relatively young black man and is a rising star in the Democratic party. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., is terribly unfortunate given current international realities, but he does have charisma, is aware of the issues, presents himself well, and has an image of competence. If Barack Obama cannot energize youth and minorities, no Democrat can.

A key factor that makes Barack Obama a strong choice for Vice-President is his home state of Illinois. Illinois has some valuable electoral votes that could easily swing the 2008 election. The Democrats need those votes, and Barack could deliver them.

Barack Obama has another thing going for him. He is a bit conservative for a Democrat, and this is another area of weakness for Hillary. Hillary Clinton is a true-blue liberal. She has been pretending to be a conservative for the last few years, but--in reality--she is deeply liberal, and her disastrous past as de facto co-President during Bill Clinton’s Presidency is going to come back to haunt her in 2008. Barack Obama will need to be on the ticket if Hillary wants to trick America into believing that she is no longer a liberal.

Hillary Clinton has a very solid chance at winning in 2008, but she will need the perfect running mate to make it happen. Barack Obama seems like an excellent fit.

Hillary Clinton Is the Only Democrat Choice for 2008

The Democrats are currently pretending to have honest discussions about who will be their presidential nominee for 2008. All of these conversations are a waste of time, because there is only one real choice if the Democrats wish to win: Hillary Clinton.

There is just simply no one else. Joe Biden is a lightweight, Joe Lieberman lacks energy, Al Gore is damaged goods, John Kerry blew an almost sure thing in his 2004 Presidential bid, and Howard Dean might be rabid. Assuming Michael Moore will be tied up filming Fahrenheit 9/11: Episode VIII during 2008, that leaves the Democrats with Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton has been preparing for the 2008 election since the day Al Gore lost to George W. Bush in 2000, and we can only imagine that she wants it more than she has wanted anything in her life.

To Hillary’s credit, she is an incredibly strong candidate. Since she became a New York Senator, she has been acting like a presidential candidate. The Democrats are largely behind her. She has an existing campaign infrastructure from Bill Clinton’s decades of elections. She has her own money from all of those book sales. She is from a major Democrat state with valuable electoral votes. She energizes much of the Democrat base. And, of course, she has tremendous name recognition.

Hillary Clinton does come with some major problems. Her behavior during the Monica Lewinsky scandal made her look pathetic, clueless, and naive. She will find it difficult to shed this image before Election Day. That “vast right-wing conspiracy” interview is going to make some great political ads. These commercials will establish that if Hillary was too stupid to figure out Bill was cheating on her, how smart will she be when it is time for her to figure out that North Korea is cheating on a nuclear treaty. If she cannot even figure out what was going on downstairs in her house, how will she figure out what is going on in Pyongyang?

Hillary’s biggest obstacle, however, is that she is stuffy, cold, shrill, and unlikable to a great number of people. Hillary’s lousy personality alone is enough to turn away a droves of voters.

Hillary Clinton may be able to compensate for this personality deficit by taking on a dynamic and likeable running mate. Barack Obama is dynamic and Joe Lieberman is likeable. Maybe someone like these two will be likeable enough to warm the hearts of voters.

If the Democrats are going to win in 2008, they are going to have to swing for the fences. Unfortunately, the party just does not have many heavy-hitters. Hillary Clinton is the only all-star the Democrats have, and they need to start figuring out the best way to present her to the country.

Hillary does have a real shot at becoming President in 2008. If she does get elected, it will be wonderful for her, but terrible for America. The only other person in the country that will benefit significantly from Hillary’s Presidency will be Bill Clinton. Bill will finally be back in the White House, and he will probably be only four years from losing his distinction as the Worst American President.

The Patriot Act and the Democrats

Are the Democrats opposing the Patriot Act to protect the rights and privacy of American citizens, or are the Democrats just playing politics?

The Democrats and Bush Eavesdropping

Are the Democrats blowing the Bush eavesdropping story out of proportion? Why did the Democrat Senators who knew about this issue not come out with it earlier?

Bill Clinton, the Worst American President

People love to debate who was the best American President. In these debates the normal names rise to the surface: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan, etc., but one name is always absent from any serious discussion on this topic: Bill Clinton.

The story of Bill Clinton’s Presidency is a sad, disappointing tale. He was a bright young man who came from nothing but was filled with ambition, talent, and dreams that took him to the top of almost everything he attempted. The man had the confidence to take on anything, and maybe this tremendous sense of self is what allowed him to get the most powerful position in the world, twice.

Given Clinton’s amazing political skills, charisma, speaking ability, influence, and connections, it is no surprise that he was able to get to the White House. The true tragedy, however, is how he completely squandered the opportunity once he got there.

Very few Presidents served under more auspicious times than Clinton did. In the 1990s, the country was mostly at peace, the economy was roaring with the Technology Boom, unemployment was low, and the coffers were bursting with tax dollars. As far as presidential scenarios go, Bill Clinton could not have been dealt a better hand.

But what did Clinton do with this great hand? He played it safe. Clinton was afraid to lose. He was afraid to make mistakes. He just wanted things to go smoothly during his administration. He wanted to make sure his legacy was secure.

In order to protect his legacy, Clinton turned away from the dangers of the world and led America on a great eight-year vacation from reality. During this vacation, Clinton concentrated on a series of meaningless social programs while America’s defense structure withered. Clinton cut troop levels, closed bases, cut weapons spending, neutered the CIA, etc. These cutbacks created big budget surpluses but left the nation blind and weak.

While America was on vacation, dangerous countries and groups flourished in the power vacuum. China’s intercontinental nuclear missile program surged. Corruption percolated in a newly free Russia, North Korea expanded their weapons programs, the worst factions in the Middle East grew in power, and terrorist networks spread. During the 1990s, the world became a much more dangerous place, and President Clinton, with all of the wealth and power of America at his disposal, did little to stop it. Unfortunately, America did not realize just how dangerous the world had become until September 11, 2001.

President Clinton’s failures on foreign policy were terrible, but he ultimately failed worse at home. We should not forget that Bill Clinton inspired the Conservative Revolution of 1994. It was the bungling of the first two years of the Clinton Presidency that awakened millions of Americans and got them concerned about politics. While this Conservative awaking was good for the country, it was devastating for the Democrats. More than a decade has passed, and the Democrats have still not recovered from the damage Clinton did to the party.

The darkest era in the Clinton Presidency was the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to his impeachment. It was during this time that America finally got to learn about the character of the man they had twice elected to office.

To defend in the indefensible, Bill Clinton dragged the Presidency down to new lows. America got to see a sitting President lie under oath, lie to the American people, obstruct justice, tamper with evidence, and tamper with witnesses. Even worse, America witnessed a President grossly abusing his power with unjustified use of executive privilege, misappropriation of White House staff, and use of military action as distractions. America also got to see a selfish man makes fools of his family, friends, and supporters by letting them go public with information he knew was not true.

All of this duplicity from the Oval Office had to take a tremendous toll on the self-image of Americans. Furthermore, the divisions created by those dark, turbulent years have created tremendous rifts in American political life that we may not see healed for many years to come.

Perhaps the worst damage done by Bill Clinton did not take place during his Presidency. We may just now be discovering the ramifications of America’s children growing up under the “anything goes” philosophy of the Clinton years.

Bill Clinton created a win-at-any-cost attitude in America, making lying and cheating socially acceptable to many. The corporate crooks that thrived on Wall Street in the 1990s made their way by abusing the system and using power for personal gain. In recent years, colleges and high schools have been plagued by problems with cheating students. When these cheaters and liars get caught, what is their favorite defense? It is commonly “If President Clinton could do it, why not me?”

Clinton can also be blamed for the moral decline seen in the sexual behavior of children. How often do you hear stories about casual oral sex going on among children? How many times have you seen a teen interviewed about current sexual attitudes and been shocked by how casual the child is about acts most adults consider to be incredibly intimate? When these sexually liberated children are questioned about their loose sexual values, they love to say, “If it was okay for President Clinton, what’s wrong with me doing it?”

Sadly, this is from which the real Clinton legacy may arise. The youth of America were paying attention during the 1990s, and they took note that you can get whatever you want in life (sex, power, money, fame, etc.) as long as you are willing to do whatever it takes and break any rules or standards that get in your way. President Clinton proved this to be true, and this philosophy is currently a prominent element of American culture.

Bill Clinton had it all. He had the personality, intelligence, and talent to accomplish whatever he wanted, and he served as President during a period of amazing and critical opportunities. If Bill Clinton had applied himself to more important causes than himself, he could have been the man who changed the world, but he is not. Instead, Bill Clinton is the worst American President.

Jimmy Carter Is a World-Class Loser

Before the Presidency of George W. Bush, there was long-standing tradition of former Presidents not criticizing their predecessors. The idea was that the Presidency is an elite fraternity composed of only a few people who understand the unique challenges a man faces while serving as the President of the United States of America. Former Presidents know that the job is tough enough as it is, and the last thing a sitting President needs is someone with the profile of a former President second-guessing his decisions.

Jimmy Carter has accepted the eternal distinction of being the first former President to make a career out of criticizing a sitting President. We have all become familiar with Jimmy Carter’s many public appearances where he took jabs at a sitting President. He has spoken in front of packed venues and millions of television viewers and insinuated that Bush is dishonest, incompetent, and apathetic. Even if Jimmy Carter deeply believes all this to be true, he—as a former President—should have the class and respect not to undermine the current President in public.

Sadly, undermining successors is not Jimmy Carter’s worst habit. He also loves to rundown America. Jimmy Carter often criticizes America for being stingy and self-centered. He says America does not give enough to charity even though American is the most charitable nation on Earth. He says we do not care about the smaller nations even though we dispatch teams of rescue workers to the edges of the Earth every time a major disaster occurs.

Jimmy Carter loves trashing America in domestic appearances, but he most enjoys selling out America when he is on foreign soil. When he travels around the world receiving obscene amounts of money for speaking engagements, he uses the opportunity to tell foreigners exactly what they want to hear. He tells them that America needs to start caring about the rest of the world. He tells them America needs to start being more generous by giving away more money (i.e., your tax dollars). He tells them that America’s policies are flawed. He calls for United Nations observers to monitor our elections, because we cannot be trusted to run elections on our own.

The reality is that Jimmy Carter has a right to do all of these disgraceful things. The problem is that, as a former President, he should have the patriotism and love for America to not embarrass his country overseas. America has a hard enough time with her international image. Being badmouthed by a former President is incredibly unhelpful.

Jimmy Carter has always portrayed himself as a genius that knows everything and can single-handedly solve any problem. Jimmy Carter’s delusion of grandeur calls attention to one great question: If Jimmy Carter is so incredibly smart and has all of the answers to the world’s problems, why did he not put this amazing wisdom to use while the country was in the toilet during his term? The answer is that he could not solve the world’s problems, because his solutions were impractical and he was incapable of inspiring people.

The problem is that Jimmy Carter is a world-class loser. Jimmy Carter has never had any ideas. He cannot do anything but whine, and nobody with any sense of dignity wants to follow him in any task more important than building a house out of particleboard.

Jimmy Carter was a failure in office, and has already gone down in history as leading one of the most ineffective administrations to ever hold power in America. One day, he will fade away and become a pathetic footnote in history. Jimmy Carter will be known as the man that was given the most powerful position in the world, did nothing with it, and then spent the rest of his life dragging everybody else down with him.