America in the Balance

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS FRAGMENTEDAND FRACTURED: YOU KNOW WHAT CAN REPAIR IT? HILLARY CLINTON

By

Ken Eliasberg

I think my readers know my feelings about the Clintons — they are ruthless, vicious, despicable, and lacking in even the tiniest particle of integrity (and these are their good qualities). That said, as I have often observed, they are the best thing that ever happened to the Republican Party, a Party not known for its aggressiveness. Let me put that in perspective for you — the Clintons have done more for the Republican Party than Reagan, Eisenhower, and “W” combined. You see Republicans do not take politics as seriously as they should — and not nearly as seriously as Democrats do. And there is good reason for this — Republicans want no more to do with government than is absolutely necessary, and Democrats see government as the answer to everything. And since elections basically deal with, and determine the contours of, government, Democrats are much more energetic in getting out their vote out (even, if to do so, involves illegal means — they won’t let that stand in their way).

But if you really want to wake the sleeping Republican tiger, just pull hard enough on its whiskers. And there is no whisker pull more likely to rouse them from their political torpor than the specter of Hillary Clinton — they despise her (and with good reason — she’s despicable, but enough said about her good qualities). While much credit has been given to Newt Gingrich for delivering Congress to the Republicans in 1994, much of that credit should go to Hillary. Don’t get me wrong, Newt did commendable work in seizing the moment, but that moment was made available to him through the efforts of Hillary in connection with her Healthcare proposal - a proposal that she could not sell to her own Party, no less Republicans and the country at large. You will recall that there was a Democratic Congress at the time, and not only could she not sell her Rube Goldberg plan to it, her heavy handed and arrogant effort to do so alienated some very prominent members of her own Party, e.g. Senators Moynihan and Bradley, thereby setting the stage for the Republican takeover in 1994. No individual or group of individuals has done more to restore the Republicans to power than Hillary Clinton(a gift whose capital I’m afraid the Party has squandered overthe intervening 14 years). However, all may not be lost; perhaps Hillary may once again come to the Republican’s rescue. And that’s why I’m pulling for her to get her Party’s nomination — we need her on the ticket; she may be the only thing that can cause Republicans to close ranks behind John McCain (who has always been a bitter pill for many Republicans to swallow, including this writer).

Let me make one point perfectly clear, John McCain is not the cause of the fracture in the Republican Party. On the contrary, he is the effect. If the Republican Party had not squandered the gift that Hillary gave them in 1994 — by completely abandoning the conservative cause (a project that the Republican Congress, with the blessing and cooperation of George Bush, enthusiastically pursued) there is no doubt in my mind that we would not be talking about John McCain for President. John McCain is the heir to Republican misfortune, not a choice that a healthy and vibrant Party would have made.

While I have difficulties with McCain, the one area on which we find common cause and common ground is the War (at least that part of it relating to Iraq). McCain has been clear and consistent on this point, and, since I find survival the critical issue at this point in time, I am comforted by our being in agreement on this transcendental matter. And, because of this community of interest, I can, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, support him should he, as appears almost certain, turn out to be the Republican candidate. However, he is not my first choice. But he has a quality that I admire — one to my great regret that is seldom found in the Republican Party — FEROCITY! Republicans are too frequently found to be patting themselves on the back for being above the nasty business of vigorous confrontation; to too many of them that constitutes “bad manners.” I constantly remind some of my confreres that when survival is at stake, you don’t consult Emily Post. And I don’t worry about McCain being overly concerned with good manners.

I do however, worry about his judgment. While candidates from both Parties are falling all over themselves to establish their connection with a previous luminary — Dems looking to Camelot, and Republicans looking for their next Reagan — I am satisfied that McCain is no Reagan. You would not have had — nor should you have had — a Reagan-Feingold (campaign finance reform), a Reagan-Kennedy (Immigration Reform — Amnesty, no matter how hard you try to put lipstick on this pig), a Reagan-Lieberman (a cap and trade effort to respond to the Global Warning kerfuffle), and/or a Reagan

gang of 14. McCain doesn’t just reach across the aisle for a bipartisan result; he leaps across the aisle, jumps right into the Dems open arms, and comes up with something calculated to disappoint, if not disgust, Republicans in general and conservatives in particular. That said, it is quite possible that he may rise to the occasion; there are times when big demands can confer stature and success on a small man, i.e. make him rise to the occasion.

Moreover, Reagan was then, this is now, and McCain looks like he’s going to get the nomination. If that’s the case, then I advise Republican voters to belly up to the bar and show up en masse to support him. Why? For 2 reasons! First, as noted, national security. Second, the next president may get as many as 3 Supreme Court appointments. These are matters that you do not wish to put in the hands of the Dems — any Dem, but particularly not Hillary.

The Dems will come up short in their effort to produce a 21st century Jack Kennedy, no matter how flowery Obama’s speeches may be. While I don’t think JFK was, by any stretch, one of our greatest presidents, Barak is no JFK or, for that matter, no MLK. Hillary comes a bit closer in that her husband certainly tried to equal, and very possibly surpassed, JFK’s extra-marital sexual activities.

In any event, the point of this is that given the malaise in theRepublican Party, given the fact that John McCain is likely to be its candidate, and given the low regard in which McCain is held by many Republicans, the only thing that can virtually guarantee a Republican presidential victory in 2008 is Hillary Clinton being the Democratic nominee(unless, of course, Obama is her running mate; he will draw them in; he puts a likeability scab on her very serious and substantial unlikeability wound). So, go Hillary — you go, girl!!