The London Telegraph
....persistence........intelligence.........determination.......even the Hillary detractors have to agree....Hillary has earned this "front runner" status...the old fashioned way....but hard work..unlike George Jr...by daddy's inheritance................andy
Hillary Clinton's lead in the race for the White House is now so formidable that, even with his Nobel Peace Prize, Al Gore considers her unbeatable, according to his former campaign aides.
The former vice-president, whose supporters have formed a shadow campaign team in case he decides to run, has told friends he is reluctant to take on her formidable political organisation by throwing his hat into the ring. Currently Mrs Clinton is well ahead in the battle for the Democratic nomination and, unlike Mr Gore, she has been busy campaigning in crucial states such as New Hampshire. To reporters watching her trying to reach out to voters in that key primary state – at one point she paused in the mud to speak to a man in a wheelchair and a young family – Mrs Clinton appears a diminutive, school-marmish figure in her dark blue trouser suit. But, almost seven years since her husband left the White House, she has gone from cuckolded wife whose brief foray into healthcare policy was a humiliating disaster to a two-term senator who claims to be the most experienced candidate in the race. Polls show her leading her main Democratic rival, Barack Obama, by up to 33 points and seeing off each of the leading Republicans in a general election. Even the professional Hillary-haters on the Right are finding that times are lean. The American Conservative magazine last week chronicled how websites and lobbying groups that once needed only utter her name to open Republican wallets are now struggling to raise campaign cash. But despite having the name, the money and the organisation, questions remain. During a run through New Hampshire last week, Mrs Clinton and her team appeared paralysed by caution. She made a speech to 800 students and other voters in Plymouth, followed by a "barn party" in rural Canterbury, complete with bluegrass music, where she took questions from voters but not from the press. She cannot hide from her husband's legacy, and nor does she try. Aides hand out bumper stickers that read "Bill 4 1st Man" - though the former president himself prefers the more rakish "first laddie" - and she peppers her speech with references to "my husband". With a speaking style that is more pedagogue than demagogue, Mrs Clinton condemns inherited wealth for "undermining the meritocracy" and pledges to "get rid of all this cronyism" in Washington, apparently oblivious to the question raised by her own candidacy. If she wins, America will by 2012 have had a Bush or a Clinton as president or vice-president for 32 years - the kind of dynastic power not seen in Britain for 200 years. Supporters accuse Republicans who raise this of hypocrisy. Grace D'Arcy, 18, said: "Two Bushes were no big deal to them, but with the Clintons it's: 'Oh my God, it's inherited.' With the Clintons it's not passing the presidency to a child. They got married because they have the same interests." But it is Mrs Clinton's differences from her husband that may cost her. She patently lacks his charisma, despite her efforts to emote: telling her audience that after hearing a student's hard luck story, "I got tears in my eyes", or declaring apple orchards "very close to my heart". Most supporters cite her command of detail and her competence, with no mention of the passion that inspires Obama supporters. Martin Kimbell, 48, who runs a small business selling canvas covers for boats, said: "She speaks fast, coherently, articulately and to the point. She's very intelligent. Because of all the controversy she has got the name recognition and she has persevered." Even her political rivals respect her abilities. A Republican strategist who worked in the Reagan White House said: "Whenever you go up against the Clintons, they have all the angles covered. They're very professional." And they know how to bend with the prevailing wind. Even Mrs Clinton's retreat from her husband's support for free trade - apparently to appease the Democrats' Left - has its advantages. Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer wrote on Friday: "There lies the beauty, not just of Clinton on free trade but of the Clinton candidacy itself: she has no principles. Her liberalism is redeemed by her ambition; her ideology is subordinate to her political needs." But the strength of her position has induced almost pathological caution, refusing even in informal settings to talk to reporters who are not approved by her handlers. The other danger for Mrs Clinton is that her poll lead may merely reflect name recognition. Many voters, even in election-savvy New Hampshire, are only just tuning in to the election - such as the man at the Plymouth event who was still unaware of the fact that Mr Obama is black, a subject that has preoccupied the media for months. Members of the bluegrass band at the barn - renamed The Clintones for the day - agreed they were not ready to pick a candidate. Mary Dellea, 28, said: "I won't decide for about a year. I like her but she's not inevitable." In a reference to the guttural outburst that finished Howard Dean, the Democrat frontrunner before the last election, she added: "All it takes is one little scream." And with Donna Brazille, a former Gore campaign manager, predicting that her man will choose to "play kingmaker", he could be the making or breaking of the Clinton campaign whether he runs or not. |
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