Reply #71: I try very hard not to have the same feelings, but yes, I fear Hillary

[The Backlash Cometh]

may have a not so hidden agenda.

My hope in Hillary is the kind of hope we use to have in politicians in the pre-blog era. Where you really want to believe that gut feeling you get from the 30 second commercial soundbite. And, of course, those 30 seconds were the only thing you had to judge the person. No other information was available. In those cases, name recognition is ever important.

Reminds me of a sad little story. My mom became an American citizen in her last years of life. She also had a minor stroke about the same time. My dad and I talk politics all the time, and in the past, she was never an active participant because she didn't vote. But once she became a citizen, you could tell she wanted the whole American experience. So, we were talking politics, and it must have been soon after 2000 and I told my dad that the Democrats just seemed too spineless to mount an effective challenge against the Republicans. I couldn't think of one, I said, which could stand up and be taken seriously by the media, much less Republican voters. To which my mom, bravely shouts out, "Lieberman." I know now that my mother was fighting through some serious memory recall problems to even come up with that name. I know she spouted it out because it was probably the only name she remembered, and because she wanted to be part of the conversation, but I didn't think to stop and consider those factors when I responded. I just recoiled from the name and told her why he wasn't even a Democrat. My mom just cast her eyes down and shrank back. It's THAT kind of innocent hopefulness I have in Hillary, and I'm afraid that I am destined to be as dissappointed and crushed as my mother was.

But my mom's story does have a happy ending. Later on, she donated to the Bob Graham campaign and they sent her a nice autographed photo of his family. She was really proud of it and hung it on the refrigerator with a magnet. And she got to vote for Kerry before she died.