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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

HIllary Clinton nostalgia grips leading Democrats as Obama fails and fades

Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:59 PM

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Hillary Clinton is looking more and more like a lost leader for the Democrats as Obama continues to flail.

There was more bad news for the president yesterday with an opinion poll showing that only 26 per cent of Americans approved of his job on the US economy.

It is not hard to see why that number is so low.

Americans are hurting in record numbers and Obama seems strangely lackluster and unable to come to grips with the problem

Obama seems increasingly like a one-trick pony. His repeated cries about why can't we all get along has been flung in his face by Republicans.

Now like the little boy who has tried but failed to settle an argument by being the smartest kind in the room, he seems totally deflated.

Compare him to new Irish leader Enda Kenny.

Kenny was a long time opposition leader who, when he got his shot at power,grabbed it.

In opposition, unencumbered by power, he clearly developed a knack of knowing what ordinary people were thinking.

Thus, when yet another another scandal in the church blew up, Kenny spoke out in one of the most remarkable speeches ever made by any Irish leader.

It was brave, it could have rebounded, but it came across as a stroke of genius.

Obama in a similar situation would no doubt have parsed and analyzed the church crisis to death without saying one straightforward word in case he offended someone.

But let's forget about Obama and Kenny.

More and more the question is asked WWHD, What Would Hillary Do?

A better job I suspect

The Daily Beast web site and The New York Times have had two articles in recent days on the issue. The conclusions of the Daily Beast one can can be capsulated by a quote from one Obama supporter;

" Looking as if she were about to cry, an 83-year-old Obama supporter shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in him,” she said. “It’s true: Hillary is tougher.”

The New York Times is not sure Hillary would do much different as president but I beg to differ.

Certainly on the debt ceiling crisis which triggered the latest financial crisis and first-ever downgrade, her husband pointed the way out for Obama,

That was to interpret the 14th amendment as stating that he had the constitutional right to raise the ceiling and let the Republicans sue if they wanted.

On dealing with Republicans, Clinton would have no illusions. She was steeled by what she saw during the impeachment battle her husband undertook.

Paradoxically, she was one of the most bipartisan senators in the senate when she served there.

That combination of knowing her enemy but also being able to find compromise would surely have served her well as president

Richard Benedetto over at Real Clear Politics says the solution is to have Hillary replace Biden as VP,

"Clinton would add some much-needed pizzazz to a tough campaign that [Joe] Biden does not. More importantly, she would shore up a shaky Democratic base, a huge part of which consists of disappointed women who still believe the secretary of state should have been president and would have done a better job than Obama,"he wrote

I don't think that works for many reasons but there is still a glimmer that Hillary might get in the race if some other candidate bloodied up Obama sufficiently in the early primaries.

It's a long shot but it may ultimately be all Democrats have if Obama continues to drop in the polls.

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23 comments

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AngelPrecious | Aug 18, 2011, 11:07 AM EDT

ROFL, OldProfessor. Your hero, Obama, has done that very successfully. I hope that Hillary does NOT replace Biden as VP on the ticket. We cannot STAND another 4 years of Obama! We won't be on our knees if he wins again. We will fall flat on our collective faces!

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TheOldPerfessor | Aug 18, 2011, 10:43 AM EDT

In some alternate universe, Hilary got the nomination and easily beat McCain. The Republicans had a well-oiled hate machine ready to go with her name on it. It would have been exactly the same thing. Republicans in the senate block everything. Health care reform, if it passed at all, would be watered down. The Republicans are ready to bring this country to its knees at any cost.

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francisquinn | Aug 18, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT

Niall seems so disappointed that BO is not doing well...Can't your write as though you are a reporter and not a supporter..?

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Fran Connor | Aug 18, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT

What did everyone expect from a guy who never had a job? Great at giving speaches, but a total empty suit!

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freebie28 | Aug 18, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT

Hillary Clinton replacing Joe Biden as Vice President? Never thought a day would come where I'm 'supporting' Mrs. Clinton, but with all do respect, Hillary Clinton has probably tired of being used as Barack Obama's dish rag. Besides at 64, it is hard to visualize this woman playing second fiddle once again, let alone dancing with a partner who doesn't know how to lead!

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ochshane | Aug 18, 2011, 09:51 AM EDT

"strangely lackluster"! The only thing he has ever run is his mouth. The MSM gave him a compleat pass and of course were completely in the tank for him.

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shamrock99 | Aug 18, 2011, 09:43 AM EDT

Niall, great to see that you have finally woken up and smelled the coffee. History will record the Obama presidency as among the top three or four weakest, most ineffective in the history of America.

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themurphia | Aug 18, 2011, 08:06 AM EDT

It's about time US had a woman President...women have been sitting at the back of the bus for too long...Move on up Hillary...Your time has come..!

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