Dem candidates: The negatives
September 3rd 2007 06:36
Recently, I outlined the things that I like about the leading Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency. Now, I'd like to outline what I DON'T like about the leading candidates. In this post, I'll address the Democrats. In a later post, I'll look at the Republicans.
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton: If you've ever read my blog, you're probably already well aware of my opinion on Shrillary. I am NOT a fan, as you can see from this post, this post, and this post. I think that we need a change. We don't need any more Bushes or Clintons in the White House. Politically speaking, both families are extremely polarizing, and our country does not need four or eight more years of misery. We need a REAL uniter, and that is not Hillary. In terms of her personality, she comes across as surly and condescending, and the mere sound of her voice is like nails down a chalkboard to a wide swath of the electorate. Furthermore, she seems completely phony to me. The fact that she tailors her accent to her locale (e.g., using a hammish southern accent when campaigning in the south) really rubs me the wrong way. Finally, she has a tendency to stake out almost every position on every issue. This demonstrates how calculating and triangulating she really is. Will the real Hill Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?
Barack Obama: During this election season, Obama has not shown himself to be nearly as well-spoken as I thought he was, and he doesn't seem to think very quickly on his feet. He has been vilified by the other candidates, but he has not very skillfully defended himself or his record. That makes him look like a "not ready for prime time" candidate. Likewise, his refusal to challenge anyone -- especially Hillary -- makes him look weak. He can challenge people directly without attacking them or playing dirty politics. He NEEDS to. If he doesn't, how can we expect him to stand up to rogue world leaders when he is president?
John Edwards: There are two things that really bother me about John Edwards. He has tried to cater to the most liberal voters. That would fine if he was really that liberal. I don't think he is. It seems like he's trying to differentiate himself by being something he's not -- and that's disingenuous. Also, he's has cornered the market on hypocrisy. As I said in an earlier post, his talk of "two Americas" rings true to a lot of people. However, he lives in a mansion and gets $400 haircuts. Additionally, he made a lot of money by investing in companies that were subprime lenders (and they, of course, take advantage of folks with poor credit or little money). Now, John Edwards wants us to quit driving SUV's. However, I read the other day that he has three SUV's himself. I guess Edwards is another one of those "do as I say, not as I do" guys. In summary, It does seem that there ARE two Americas. There is the America that John Edwards lives in and the America that the rest of us live in.
So that covers the leading Democratic candidates. Do you agree with what I've said? Was I too harsh or not harsh enough? In an upcoming post, I'll finish up this series by outlining the negatives of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton: If you've ever read my blog, you're probably already well aware of my opinion on Shrillary. I am NOT a fan, as you can see from this post, this post, and this post. I think that we need a change. We don't need any more Bushes or Clintons in the White House. Politically speaking, both families are extremely polarizing, and our country does not need four or eight more years of misery. We need a REAL uniter, and that is not Hillary. In terms of her personality, she comes across as surly and condescending, and the mere sound of her voice is like nails down a chalkboard to a wide swath of the electorate. Furthermore, she seems completely phony to me. The fact that she tailors her accent to her locale (e.g., using a hammish southern accent when campaigning in the south) really rubs me the wrong way. Finally, she has a tendency to stake out almost every position on every issue. This demonstrates how calculating and triangulating she really is. Will the real Hill Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?
Barack Obama: During this election season, Obama has not shown himself to be nearly as well-spoken as I thought he was, and he doesn't seem to think very quickly on his feet. He has been vilified by the other candidates, but he has not very skillfully defended himself or his record. That makes him look like a "not ready for prime time" candidate. Likewise, his refusal to challenge anyone -- especially Hillary -- makes him look weak. He can challenge people directly without attacking them or playing dirty politics. He NEEDS to. If he doesn't, how can we expect him to stand up to rogue world leaders when he is president?
John Edwards: There are two things that really bother me about John Edwards. He has tried to cater to the most liberal voters. That would fine if he was really that liberal. I don't think he is. It seems like he's trying to differentiate himself by being something he's not -- and that's disingenuous. Also, he's has cornered the market on hypocrisy. As I said in an earlier post, his talk of "two Americas" rings true to a lot of people. However, he lives in a mansion and gets $400 haircuts. Additionally, he made a lot of money by investing in companies that were subprime lenders (and they, of course, take advantage of folks with poor credit or little money). Now, John Edwards wants us to quit driving SUV's. However, I read the other day that he has three SUV's himself. I guess Edwards is another one of those "do as I say, not as I do" guys. In summary, It does seem that there ARE two Americas. There is the America that John Edwards lives in and the America that the rest of us live in.
So that covers the leading Democratic candidates. Do you agree with what I've said? Was I too harsh or not harsh enough? In an upcoming post, I'll finish up this series by outlining the negatives of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
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