End Of The Road For Hillary Clinton?

Iowa excited the nation as the Elections started off with a bang.  As I’ve written before, Hillary Clinton was destined to fall, I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.

Barack Obama’s Destiny

Barack Obama’s victory speech in Iowa left Democrats on a “high” that they may not come down from until after they secure the election in 2008. Unlike Howard Dean’s yelp heard ’round the world, Barack Obama sealed the deal as the new front-runner of the Democratic party and his momentum is just getting started.

The problem for Hillary Clinton, now, is she isn’t in a good position to play the “underdog” role. You usually reserve those roles for the idealists like John Edwards who tend to weave the David vs. Goliath themes into their campaigns. Hillary Clinton is the Goliath and if she dares to play the ‘come from behind’ or underdog role, the GOP and other Democrats would have a field day with it. Now that Iowa is over, the Clinton campaign needs to figure out how to tackle the remainder of the states that may be more susceptible to her semi-conservative talking points.

The Democrats are Bill Clinton’s party, for Now

Yeah, the GOP has the scandalous Bill Clinton - Monica-gate to muck around with, but for Democrats, Bill Clinton -was- everything that a President should be and more. He still will go down as the greatest politician to become President and his wife is not too shabby herself as far as politicking goes. However, the Clintons may have met their match with Barack Obama and the amount of GOP rage that is still focused on them from Clinton’s days in office will undoubtedly give Barack Obama the edge.

Barack Obama has succeeded with Democrats in a way that Hillary Clinton never could. It isn’t entirely the “change” message, but there is a glimmer of hope that comes with Obama’s message. Barack Obama has an interest in protecting civil liberties, protecting the integrity of the presidential oath and reaching out to people of all ideologies and backgrounds. He wants to unite America not just the Democratic party. Despite his anti-War campaign, he recognizes that he can’t do this alone and frequently reaches out to Republicans with the hope that they’ll reach out to him as well.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand is struggling to connect with both sides. My personal feelings of Hillary Clinton aside, I believe her biggest struggle has to do with her approach to government. She is a hard worker and would no doubt make a great LEADER, but Americans need more than just leadership. Americans, in my view, are looking for someone who shares the same values, can lead, and can be loved by the masses. Barack Obama brings this kind of candidacy to the nation, Hillary Clinton gives off the Bush aura e.g. ’she’s a strong leader– but we’re going to do it her way’.

That kind of approach leads to admiration for her strength and ability to ‘get things done’, but the fear that many Americans have has to do with tyranny and fear-driven politics. We don’t need another leader to scare us silly so that his or her policy can go through unchallenged. Rudy Giuliani is going to have this problem and Hillary Clinton won’t be any different because she refuses to stand down on the war issue. I believe that Hillary Clinton’s decision to remain semi-pro War is very calculated and insincere. It goes against the ideals of her party, but she doesn’t want to show weakness or flip-floppery. It is her inability to relent on the war issue and claim that she’s made a mistake that has alienated her party’s base.

If her campaign strategists had half a brain, they would have taken my advice when I urged Hillary to stop promoting the Iraq War. I explained in that article that Iraq would kill her candidacy and it looks like it already has. Congratulations Barack Obama, the Democratic party is now your party to lose.

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to read: “How to beat Hillary Clinton at her own game.” Thanks for reading. If you haven’t subscribed to the White House Intel Report, please do. It’s a free column with regular updates and it costs ya nothing.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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