It's not untypical to see a news item where a Republican says something stupid and/or utterly repulsive. Normally, I just ignore it. I don't work for the Obama administration or for any of the Democratic Party campaign arms so it's not as if I need to prepare rapid responses to the GOP. And frankly, I have more important things to do than worry about every stupid thing that a Republican says (it's a pretty frequent occurence). However, I am forced to take note of recent comments by Dick Cheney, who had nothing but praise for Hillary Clinton and speculated that she would have been a better president than Obama.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
And, as a former Hillary supporter, I feel a need to respond to this.
I was a major Hillary Clinton supporter during the 08' primaries. I voted for her in the California Primary, I donated money to her campaign (way more than I could honestly afford), I volunteered for her campaign, I wound up as a paid staffer on her campaign at one point, and I even attempted to be a DNC Delegate for her. I did this because I not only believed in her but I genuinely liked her at a personal level. I believed she would make a great president and I gave all of myself that I could to help elect her. When she lost, I was devastated. When you put your heart and soul into helping elect a presidential candidate and that candidate loses, you tend to take that loss personally. I know I did.
Ultimately though, that sadness passed. The Democratic Party, the values I stand for as a Liberal, and the country are a lot bigger and a lot more important than one individual. I wound up voting for Obama, donating some money to him, and volunteering for his campaign. I may have done so reluctantly and with some displeasure, but it was ultimately the right thing to do.
Being a former Hillary supporter has given me perspective on the Obama administration. The truth is, whether he was qualified when he took office or the best choice the Democratic Party had, he's done a very good job as president. He's been effective, he's made excellent cabinet and judicial appointments, he's been tough when he's needed to be, and he's gotten through a lot of major legislative accomplishments (some that no president before him has been able to do). Has he made mistakes? Yes. Some that have made me want to rip my hair out. But let's face it, no president is perfect (and Obama is no exception). And looking objectively at the job he's done in office, he's been very good.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way. And Dick Cheney is attempting to take advantage, looking to rile up a small group of disgruntled morons and sow the seeds of doubt and division within the Democratic Party. This is designed to divert from his own misdeeds in office and shift attention away from him.
Obama's poor approval ratings have nothing to do with the 08' Primary. Obama's approval ratings are due to the bad economy. When people are struggling to pay off their mortgages, find work, and pay $4 for a gallon of gas, people are going to be unhappy.
This was an economic situation that was caused by Dubya and Cheney and their utterly incompetent administration. Their borrowing to pay for the Medicare prescription drug plan, unneccessary tax cuts for the wealthiest, and an unneccessary war in Iraq (not to mention Afghanistan, which while neccessary after 9/11 dragged on because of their inability to get Osama Bin Laden) has driven up the deficit to its current record levels. They did nothing to address the structural issues within the economy that are currently keeping the unemployment rate high. They are the ones who allowed subprime lenders to have a free reign leading to the housing crisis. And they are the ones who left Wall Street unsupervised so that those bad loans could be securitized, nearly bringing down our global financial system. Obama's fault is that he hasn't been able to clean up the mess fast enough.
A mess that Cheney helped create.
The truth is, had Hillary gotten the nomination and become president, Cheney would likely now be saying that Obama would have made the better president. Which leads me to an important question for Cheney or any Republican: are you saying that Hillary Clinton would have been better and faster at cleaning up the massive mess and bad economy you left behind? Until they can come up with an answer, I suggest they stop speculating on what a Hillary Clinton administration would be like.
In the meantime, I say to Dick Cheney, please go f*** yourself. :)