Reply #134: The Republicans have successfully used psychological warfare

[Jamastiene]

and "peer pressure" to make people hate her on both the left and the right, not to mention the middle. They have continually bashed her and belittled anyone who likes her to the point that they have made some of her supporters ashamed to like her. They don't like her because she is a strong opinionated woman who will speak her mind. Deep down they are scared of her, because they know she could dance circles around them when it comes to successful policies.

Moderate Democrats tend to cave to that shaming and they have decided to "distance" themselves from what they see as an embarrassing end to the 90's. Never mind the fact that the whole impeachment of Clinton was contrived. It was merely jealousy, nothing more.

Liberal Dems and other progressives don't like her because she IS a moderate who leans left on some issues, but not enough issues to satisfy the true lefty liberals.

Then there are those of us who remember the hopeless feeling we had coming out of high school with Bush the first as president basically calling us losers before we even had a chance to get started in life. We remember growing up in the Reagan/Bush I 80's. We remember the feeling of hope we got while the Clintons and the Gores stood on that platform/stage while "Don't Stop" (thinking about tomorrow) was playing. I for one will never forget that feeling and I will never forget getting my hope back. Hope is the best thing and the strongest thing that some of us can ever hope to have, because, let's face it, without it, our spirits would be broken and we would be less likely to try to make things better. That would be a bad recipe for success in making things better. Hope makes the difference there. Hope can open doors that were obscured before. Like a hidden, secret garden, hope is the door that can lead to true beauty and happiness.

While the Clintons are not perfect, they were the best I ever saw in my lifetime. They balanced the budget, they worked toward making compromises in the area of civil rights for all types of people, they stood up to the right wing of this country in the most successful way possible. Going all left would not have gotten them elected. They had to appeal to elements in red states in order to make those compromises.

I wish we COULD go all left and bust the Republican/right wing parties up forever. Unfortunately, that is a long term goal. In the short term, in order to be successful at fighting the right, we sort of do need to learn the art of compromise. As much as I hate to admit it, compromise will be the only way to beat them and gain the power back to change what we don't like.

You won't hear me bashing Hillary any time soon. While there are some issues I disagree with her on, I agree with most of what she stands for and I remember the hope she and her husband and the Gores gave me back. I'll never forget that. I can't. They spoiled me to it. I'm not satisfied with any candidates that have been discussed for the nomination for president since Al Gore. Sure, they are ok mostly, but they don't have that extra element of charm or charisma that the Clintons have. And as much as I like Gore, he did disappoint me when he distanced himself from the Clintons in 2000. I believe that is what ended up causing the election to be close enough to let Bush force his way in on us as a country. Had Gore let Clinton campaign for him, I truly believe he would have had a clear enough win that that whole debacle could not have happened.

I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted to clarify my opinion of Hillary, the Clintons, the Gores, and the state of our party today. We have a long way to go before we will have another charismatic leader who can compare to Bill Clinton. In the meantime, we do have Hillary and Al Gore both as THE best options, if we want to come back from these horrible last 5 years. I hate this fact, because Bill can't run again. But he is the ONLY one who could possibly fix this ginormic fucked up mess Bush has made of things. Next best thing, is Hillary. Most people think she really was president back then anyhow. As conflicted as I am between Bill and Hillary Clinton, I actually like Hillary a little more. I feel a little guilty for saying that, because Bill Clinton is actually a hero of mine.

Thanks for your time.