Betting Big On American Ignorance

Can Hillary Clinton defeat Barack Obama given the current circumstances?

Just a week ago, Hillary Clinton’s surrogates were engaged in a brutal assault on Barack Obama.   The narrative went something like this:

“Not only has Barack Obama failed to distance himself from a racist, hateful, ignorant, awful man in Reverend Wright, but he is an elitist who despises rural America and ‘real people’ like you and me.   Luckily, WE can see through this mirage.”

The political assault preyed on two of America’s biggest weaknesses - polarization and ignorance.   The partisans in the media were harping on elitism, embracing nationalism and helping to create doubt with a propaganda smoke screen the size of Texas.

Gaming Politics

If you break “triangulation” down to its foundation, manipulation is what you’ll find. The idea is that Americans are too dumb and the system and media are so fundamentally flawed that they can be gamed.   Who could blame the Clintons for manufacturing a strong strategy for playing the game of politics?   Let’s face it, everyone in politics is playing a game — even this article is part of the game and the reader will take what tidbits of information are appreciated and twist and turn those that are not.
Think about your views on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, has the political manipulation worked on  you?

Do you have a feeling of resentment over Barack Obama’s “poor choices” or race?  Do you believe Hillary Clinton is a blast from the past and have you associated all things Clinton with Monica Lewinsky and nothing else?   The seeds of doubt were planted long ago — previously under the name of “inexperience.”   What Hillary Clinton’s campaign is banking on is that Americans are completely ignorant when it comes to world history and U.S. politics.  There is no need to cater directly to the informed because they are statistically insignificant when compared with those who “think with their hearts” or follow media that plays the role of the Pied Piper.

Democratic Primary Illusion

To those “in the know”, this match of the titans that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have provided us is pure entertainment.   If you look at the numbers, Barack Obama has won twice the amount of states, has the loyal support of many more Americans and considerably more money as a result, less personal baggage and has won the highly coveted “likability” factor.

If Barack Obama wanted to, he could have put serious pressure on Hillary Clinton long ago.  For some reason — and there may be a good one — he has allowed Hillary Clinton to stay in the race.  Some pundits might see this as a lack of “killer instinct” and a weakness that might come back to haunt Barack Obama.   Other strategists and partisans will insist that this is hurting the Democratic party and only serving to increase the chances of another Republican president to follow Bush in 2009.   However, as we’ve seen over the course of the Democratic campaign, the more America gets to know Barack Obama, the more we like him.  In that regard, this extended primary is actually doing a lot of good for Barack Obama.

“A blast from the past”

Though Obama would never admit it, he is the 21st century Bill Clinton and few Democrats thought that they’d live to see another politician quite like Bill.  Obama’s camp sooner cling on to “JFK”, but Bill Clinton was the reincarnation of JFK, you can’t have it both ways.  The idealists in this group embody all of the characteristics of political genius.  Don’t get me wrong, Hillary Clinton is also a genius, but she lacks one key characteristic that made JFK, Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama, highly popular Democrats.

Hillary Clinton is simply not charming or lovable.  Hillary projects the image of a strong leader, with perhaps the strongest leadership skills of the pack, but she also emits this aura of anger, manipulation, spite and there are few politicians that appear more political than she.   Any reasonably objective person that observes the characteristics of all candidates will tell you that Hillary Clinton seems like the least friendly candidate.  Because Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are intellectual peers, their characters are going to be scrutinized more than any candidates.  It goes without saying that this is an impossible mission for Hillary Clinton, she isn’t built for that kind of battle.

Penetrating Obama’s Shield
Hillary Clinton’s strategy was nearly flawless, but what she didn’t expect was Obama’s ability to “stay out of the fray”.  You could argue that Obama is very much political and I’d tend to agree.  That said, he has managed to keep his composure when confronted on the matter and is very quick to shed the “politician” image when it counts.   As Obama seems above the politics and with time running out, he is easily the most likely candidate to succeed.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
Email this author | All posts by Fred Soto