A Few Positive Words About Hillary

I'm still at a very low level of bronchitis/flu hell. Here's something I posted at MyDD last night.
Congratulations to Morehead State grads.

Ultimately, I suspect that it is too early to comment on the chances of Clinton, Obama, or Edwards as presidential candidates. None of the top Democratic contenders has blown it yet, but they also haven't shown that they can pull out a tight primary with the adrenalin flowing, the negative ads flying, and GOTV operations in full swing.

So, maybe Chris Bowers at MyDD is hyperventilating over nothing in worrying about Hillary Clinton locking up the Democratic nomination.

But, it's not too early to say a few positive words about Hillary Clinton.

1. Hillary Clinton seems to be a genuinely popular candidate. Hillary gets no puffing from the mainstream media, little love from the Democratic establishment, and open hostility from the netroots. Yet, she remains a strong front-runner for the Democratic nomination despite facing strong opponents running smart campaigns.

2. Chris says that a Hillary victory "would feel like the complete triumph of the insider machine over the grassroots." Why? From my reading at Slate, the Democratic establishment isn't any more enthusiastic about a Hillary candidacy than the netroots. That's because they think she can't win, they don't want another eight years of Clinton drama, and they don't particularly like her or Bill anyway. The "insider machine" doesn't seem to have a horse in the nomination battle. They didnt' have one in 2004 either.

3. Hillary Clinton is "liked" by her supporters. According to the Gallup Poll Chris links, people who support Hillary like her experience, toughness, knowledge, and work as a Senator from New York. Perhaps these people should be recognized as "grass roots" as well. I disagree with Hillary about the war and her approach to the corporate sector, but I think her qualities of experience, knowledge, and determination will be very important for governing successfully from 2008-2016. It's going to be a tough, grueling eight years of cleaning up after the Bush administration. And all of that is while dealing with daily attacks from the right-wing media and a generally poisonous political environment. To me, Hillary is the candidate with the best chance of being successful in an extremely demanding political environment.

4. Hillary has an experienced and talented organization, but they haven't been tested yet in this campaign. So, I don't believe they have been a decisive factor to date.

5. Hillary seems to be overcoming the image of being "opportunistic." Perhaps that has to do with her refusal to apologize for her original Iraq War vote when it would have been easy to do so. Now she is being seen more often as a "moderate."

6. Hillary is running in a tough Democratic primary campaign against attractive opponents. If she wins as a front-runner, she'll deserve considerable credit.