Reply #17: Feeling fine and doing my thing...... [View All]

Will see Wes on the 3rd and ask my questions.

Looks like the media black out veil may have been lifted....which makes me wonder who ordered it to begin with.....as it has been clear for quite sometime that Wes Clark was never to be heralded, much less mentioned (unless in the form of a negative--see Fred Thompson campaign compared to Clark's 04 bid)by the corporate media unless it couldn't be helped.

The media controls much of what happens in this country, i.e., molds public opinion in whatever direction they want....or at least tries damn hard. I'm not convinced that they would have treated Wes any differently this time as the last time he ran (even when Wes was running 1st and 2nd to Dean the entire time prior to the vote, he was rarely mentioned except when he first announced, and from the first day of his campaign on it was strictly negative)........and so I'm not so unhappy that he chose not to run. He's a smart man and knows that regardless of his proven qualities and his track record on what will be the most important issue front center of the 08 elections, he wouldn't have ever been given due credit.

As to his endorsement of Hillary; the endorsement was his to make.

What I do see is consistency in that he has always maintained that this country needed someone leading it that wouldn't required to be schooled on foreign policy matters while in office. Regardless of what some folks may think of Senator Clinton, she was not a passive "out of the loop" first lady. The undeniable fact is that she has Bill at her side, and therefore Bill's team...which really does provide her with an advantage over her primary opponents, regardless to whether we want to admit it or not. Personally, I don't quite get the vitriol about Hillary (beyond her IRW vote...which was a passive one much more than Edwards' and NO, an apology 3 years too late does not make everything honky dory for me cause it is too convenient). The real live folks that don't hang out on the Internet yet vote that I talk to really don't have this problem with Hillary winning the nomination, and in fact many are rooting for her. Some have another favorite, but none that I have spoken to would die if Hillary reaches the White House.

At the end of the day, it isn't what a politician promises that counts (because that's too easy), it is whether that candidate will have the capacity and where-with-all to actually get some of those promises realized. Talking a good game may make folks feel happy, but it is the candidate who knows how to play the politics required to be played that will be the most effective. Is that Hillary Clinton? I believe that when one lines up the candidates, the answer becomes more and more apparent....that yes, she is certainly one of the strongest in the area of giving off the aura of being a doer instead of a talker. That counts for something with me.....and certainly many in the public who have a vote will see it this way as well.

I haven't totally decided who I will vote for during the primaries (and I get about 13 votes....cause many members of my family consistently request advise from me on that note cause they believe in my passion and respect my knowledge), but I do know that I wouldn't at all die if Hillary got the nomination.

All of that said, I wish each nominee good luck, and hope that we all line up behind the nominee once the votes have been tallied--and yes, I'll even get behind John Edwards during the general election if that's who is chosen, regardless of what I really think of him in my heart of hearts.