Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Keep Your Eye on the Ball
By David Samuels - David is a community activist working on issues of criminal and juvenile justice reform, drug policy reform, and public safety in Connecticut with the Clean Slate Committee.


Hillary Clinton is facing what is known as an “elimination game” in the sports world this Tuesday, in the form of the Ohio and Texas primaries. James Carville, Clinton’s advisor, has gone on the record, saying “Hillary must win either Texas or Ohio to stay in the race”. Hillary has continuously harped on Barack Obama’s “lack of experience” as the reason to cast a vote for her. This assertion is to say the least, amusing, and to say the most, disingenuous. During the 1992 presidential campaign, the argument used by incumbent George Bush “the” Elder against his opponent was that the guy was a Washington outsider, who had no clue how the D.C. machine operated. Bush was a Washington lifer, a former CIA chief who knew where all the bodies were buried. He was an experienced leader who was on a first name basis with all of the world leaders. Hey, he even threw up on one of them! His opponent was a hick from the sticks who surely would be unable to navigate the stormy sea of domestic and international politics.


Bush’s opponent of course was Hillary’s hubby Bill, who used his outsider status as a selling point. He vowed that he would end politics as usual in Washington and bring fresh ideas to the table. Two presidential terms later, Bill is revered by some, despised by others, and a lengthy debate could be had as to what, if any, “fresh” ideas he implemented while he sat in the Big Chair behind the Big Desk in the White House. Now, Hillary is telling us that she is the one we should trust, because she ran the country with her husband while he was in charge. The problem is, while Bill was in office, she totally denied that she had any input in her husband’s decisions. Hillary slammed Obama for using Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s words in his stump speeches, then the next day, MSNBC unearthed statements that she lifted from former presidential candidate John Edwards, in addition to her spouse. When Hillary’s representatives were asked to explain why she was throwing stones from a glass house, their response was that it wasn’t the same thing, because Hillary is not acclaimed for her oratory skills, as Obama is. In other words, it’s ok to bite other candidate’s words as long as your public speaking skills put people into a coma. Keep your eye on the ball folks. Vote for experience. No, don’t vote for experience; vote for …well, you get the idea. The question is, does exchanging one presidential monarchy for another constitute change?