Thank you, Crank, Tom, and Yastreblyansky, for some great posts while I was gone. And now ... well this, from The Hill, is just silly:
The GOP can't live with Hillary Clinton running for president, but they can't live without her either.Well, maybe now that's true, but it won't be if circumstances change -- the smear machine will fire up just as much hate and anger against Biden or Warren or Sanders or O'Malley or, hell, Amy Klobuchar or Kirsten Gillibrand, or whoever else you might see as a possible Democratic nominee, if Hillary falters or doesn't run. Elizabeth Warren as "Fauxcohontas"? Who saw that coming in 2012? That's how it's done. The opposition research never stops and the noise machine never goes silent.
Most Republicans see the former secretary of State as a formidable challenger, albeit a flawed one. Her sheer presence does perhaps more to excite the GOP base than any other Democratic Party figure alive today, aside from President Obama.
It's the Clinton paradox: The candidate they're most worried about beating is also the candidate they may most want to run against in 2016 to both draw out their voters and open up donors' pocketbooks....
To Republicans at all times, the most evil person imaginable is whatever Democrat currently has access to the most power. It was Bill Clinton in the 1990s and John Kerry in 2004 (and Howard Dean from a couple of months before that). It was Nancy Pelosi in 2007; it's Barack Obama now, and it'll be whoever emerges as the Democratic front-runner two years from now, even if it's someone who's currently a relative unknown. And if all elected Democrats are even more thoroughly cowed than usual, as they were in 2002 and 2003, it'll be the Dixie Chicks or Barbra Streisand or Sean Penn. Republicans are always primed to hate one or more enemies. They just need Fox and talk radio to tell them which people to hate and why.
So don't take this seriously. The base will be at maximum motivation no matter who tops the Democratic ticket.
9 comments:
Yup.
Their leaders will point, and the brain-washed rabid lemmings will howl and follow.
You're very welcome!
I wonder if there isn't some kind of "paradox" like this in the form of a conflict of interest between GOP politicians who might like to win and grifters who live directly off those "open pocketbooks" or the ad revenue of businesses chasing them. Whether it's Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin, National Review or Heritage Foundation or Fox News itself, there's a whole industry of people devoted to terrorizing elderly conservatives, and demonizing Hillary Clinton has been their all-time greatest hit for over 20 years now. Even if it gets her elected, they can't help themselves.
Sorry I couldn't pitch in. I had an absurd incident with our grill and nearly blew myself up and had to spend a day or so with my hand in ice water. Kids! Don't try this at home!
Did you know that burning hair smells like plastic? And that it crisps up in a very intriuging way?
Heh.
No problem, aimai. And yes, I've had that crisped-hair experience.
Jeez, Aimai, that's scary. Glad to see it's moderately funny in retrospect.
Whatever does not kill me makes the food crispier.
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