I LOVE HILLARY, BUT....

If the rumors/reports are true that the Clintons are trying to derail Howard Dean's campaign for DNC Chair, I think it's time for them to face reality: Bill can't run again for president, and Hillary is dead meat for the job. I respect her, I admire her, I even have a great deal of affection for her. But she ain't going to be POTUS, and I'm not even sure she should be.

The Big Dog had his day, and it was a good one for all Americans. Hillary, despite all her accomplishments, just hasn't lived up to my expectations since they left office. First, she voted for the Iraq invasion, which Howard Dean, courageously and correctly, opposed. She has been all-too-quick to support Bush in some of his most tendentious appointments and policies, positioning herself as among the more Bush-lite of Democrats. Despite this, she is still perceived among non-progressives as too liberal for America. That's farcical since it is nonetheless true that she is too centrist or moderate to lead the Democratic Party under current conditions. She cannot appeal to moderates since she is perceived as too "liberal." And she cannot appeal to true liberals, since she is not one of us.

Howard Dean is the man for these times. If the Clintons wage a political war against him, they will have despoiled their own legacy and injured the future of the Party. I hope and trust that they will recognize this and cease any attempts to steer the Party back to the center. When the Republican Party has pulled so far to the right, as it has under Bush, the center is no longer a viable position -- that's Richard Nixon's old place. At this point in time, the former DLC center is too far to the right; it's all about toadying to corporate interests and denying, or minimizing, the needs of the common man. I'm for a new FDR, a fiscally responsible but socially engaged Democrat with the guts to preserve Social Security and formulate a national healthcare program, reassert American moral leadership and prestige in the world, and renew the optimistic spirit that has kept America a global beacon of light for two centuries. Americans (including, or especially, those who voted for Bush in 2004) are obviously hungering for a strong father figure to protect them in these perilous times. Howard Dean is a strong enough personality to provide that assurance. Hillary is not.