Still In Search Of Rational Opposition

As it turns out, Hillary Clinton may be considered a mere human by those on the left after all. As reported by Dan Balz in the Washington Post, Mrs. Clinton has come under serious fire of late by those who have generally been considered to be her base, especially after comments she recently made regarding the relationship between the Democratic Leadership Council and more hard-core liberals.

For years now, many Americans, led by liberals or, as they prefer it, “progressives,” have sung the praises of the woman who now serves as New York’s junior senator, and effectively immunized her from any serious criticism. Many have extolled her as presidential material since long before she held any elective office. And all the while, many others, including this writer have had one simple response to the idea that so many consider her a great leader: Why? It was as though someone was shouting that the emperor had no clothes on, but no one seemed to care.

For some time now, Mrs. Clinton has enjoyed her standing among liberals more for who she is rather than for what she has done. Despite a colossal failure in her only attempt at major policy innovation – the “HillaryCare” debacle of the early nineties – and an unremarkable record of achievement in her five years in the Senate, those in her base have seemed determined to hang on to their belief that she could do no wrong. It seems focusing on personalities, rather than policies and accomplishments, makes it a lot easier for those on the left to support a candidate. But now it seems that at least some of them are waking up and recognizing that maybe they should pay attention to what she is saying and doing after all.

Not that those on the right should gather too much encouragement from this development. While it is refreshing to finally see some of her supporters paying attention to issues at least as much as personalities, and demonstrating a willingness to actually criticize she who was once considered beyond criticism, the fact is that they are criticizing her for all the wrong reasons, politically speaking.

As noted in the Post, “The most pointed critique of Clinton came in one of the most influential blogs on the left, Daily Kos out of Berkely, Calif., which . . . said she should not provide cover for an organization that often has instigated conflict within the party” – a reference to the DLC. Of course, it is interesting to note that this criticism is heaped upon an organization of which Mrs. Clinton’s husband – the only Democrat who has been able to get elected without the help of a Republican scandal in the last forty years – is a former chairman.

Perhaps one of the lessons that the current liberal critics of Mrs. Clinton should learn from the fact that Mr. Clinton was actually able to get elected is that any conflict they feel that the DLC has instigated in the party has arisen out of its willingness to point out facts to the party’s base – facts that have not always been pleasant for them to listen to, but that had to be acknowledged in order to connect with enough voters to win elections.

Instead, it seems that the extreme leftists who are currently making serious inroads to controlling the Democrat party are willing to just run with the good feeling that groupthink brings to their organization, with no use for any alternative viewpoints that might cause them to temper certain positions – or win elections. Rather than admit that they might have to make adjustments to connect with the moderates and undecideds of the country, they believe that these people are just going to have to get on board and learn to join them in their nostalgia for the days of candidates like Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern. In other words, any attempt to moderate the liberal message to attract the nonpartisans without which neither major party can win is unacceptable. They are willing to jettison anyone who doesn’t fall into line – including those who cast the ballots.

To be sure, there are elements within the Republican party that carry much the same attitude, and they do have a recognized voice within the party. They just don’t control the party as does this faction among the Democrats. And the effect of this important difference can be seen in the results of the last three national elections.

Obviously, staking out such a position is the liberals’ call to make when all is said and done. And as the old saying goes, when one’s opponent is self-destructing, the best thing one can do is simply get out of the way and let it happen. With that in mind, no doubt, conservatives and Republicans can look forward to a job made much easier in the coming years if this mindset continues to dominate the minority party’s leadership.