Piling On Hillary

There's been a big row developing after the last Democratic debate, during which Hillary Clinton was accosted repeatedly regarding her apparent contradictions during said debate.

John Edwards even created a rather funny TV spot, juxtaposing statements that Mrs. Clinton made, that were seemingly in opposition to previous statements in the same debate.



So, today all of her surrogates have been rallying around her -- including the would-be First Husband, former President Bill Clinton -- framing the issue as one of sexism, and that there were these men "piling on" the lone female candidate, with a rather sordid pseudo-sexual implication in those words. President Clinton even invoked the awful "Swift-boating" of John Kerry in the last presidential election, in characterizing the treatment his wife received.

I have but one thing to say: if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

I think Senator Clinton is an outstanding candidate for president, with some very good ideas, and ideals. Am I in her camp, no, but I certainly respect her intellectual heft, and would be more than fine with her as president. But come on, if she's the furtive front-runner, it's got to be expected that those in the second and third positions are going to be on the attack. I mean, the Democratic primaries are less than three months away, so the pressure is really "on" to improve one's standing and diminish the appearance of the other candidates prior to the straw polls, and other plebiscites upcoming. I'd expect nothing less than a full-on attack at any perceived weakness in any of the candidates.

And then, to suggest that somehow Mrs. Clinton should be immune to such attacks from her competitors -- by virtue of her gender -- demeans her candidacy. I certainly believe that if anyone else were in the lead, they'd be just as targeted, if not more. She's the target because:

1. She's in the lead, according to most polls;
2. Mrs. Clinton hasn't always been as clear as necessary in articulating her beliefs;
3. There's a public record of her stances as senator, which is fair game for attack, and;
4. She's a Clinton. There's no target on earth bigger than that particular surname in American politics.

For those reasons, she's going to get hit. Repeatedly.

(In fact, I want to see more calling out, before and after elections. If you've ever watched Prime Minister's Questions on C-SPAN, that's what I'd like to see here, not this pansy, softball questioning we have here. But I digress.)

Geraldine Ferraro went so far as to compare this alleged "sexist" behavior to racism, saying in short, that if Barack Obama had been assailed for two hours as Hillary was, there would be cries of racism. Let me be the first to say, as an African-American man, that any AfAm person who'd say such a thing has no understanding of the present state of American politics. Politics is a rough and tumble game, not for the faint of heart. Would I rather it be different? Maybe. But unfortunately it's not. I'm sure that if Obama went home to his beautiful, strong wife and said "Honey, John Edwards criticized me, and Hillary called me out. Boo Hoo..." she'd say to him: "Man Up."

I'd say the same thing to Hill, her supporters, and her camp. Man, er, Woman Up. I'd stop crying wolf, because this is nothing. Wait until she wins the nomination. There really will be piling on then.