Hillary Detox

It's been over a month now since democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, and I have to say, I'm still in denial. I still wear my Hillary Clinton 2008 bracelet and still get excited when I see a Hillary for President bumper sticker on the car in front of me, then slowly reality sets in and I just can't believe it. What happened, what went wrong? This was the year, it was in the bag...a democrat would take the White House and that democrat would be Hillary Clinton, but most importantly, the first woman president. Well, the more I think about it, it wasn't just one thing that went wrong and quite frankly, I am pissed off. So I thought making a list of what I thought the problems were might make me feel better so let's give it a try.

Problem No. 1- Barack Obama

A junior senator from Illinois who thought that after 2 years in the US Senate, he was qualified to be president of the United States. Who's claim to fame was that he didn't vote for the war, which, didn't matter because he was not in the US Senate at the time and it was irrelevant. For that matter, I didn't vote for it either. His other claim to fame was "change". He was the candidate of change, and not politics as usual. I've got news for you, when you go into politics, you are a politician. When you join a band you're a musician, when you join a baseball team you're a baseball player, etc. there's no getting around it, and based on his record lately, he is proving that he is, indeed, a politician. He just waited to show us his true self and basically, sold the American people, who were hungry for some good news, a bag of goods.

Problem No. 2- The American People

Shame on them for falling for it, hook, line and sinker. Did we not learn anything from the past 8 years? Do your homework people, ask questions ....don't be afraid to say, "the Emperor has no clothes"!

Problem No. 3 - College students

Barack Obama probably won the nomination based on 2 facts, his Internet campaign and his voter registration drives on college campuses. Let's hear it for generation "me" for suddenly finding their voice and finally developing a social conscience after 5 years of war and not one protest, or uprising . They were too busy with their Ipods and MySpace pages to deal with such things. But thank God that herd mentality kicked in and they knew they had to vote for Barack Obama, oh that and a free Dave Mathews Band ticket. He was, after all, the young, hip candidate and Hillary Clinton was so 90's....I've got news for you kids, the 90's weren't that long ago and although most of you were just being born, It was a pretty cool and prosperous decade and we were proud to have President Bill Clinton lead us into the 21st century, Monica or no Monica! Oh, and just to let you know, 46 isn't that young and Obama is certainly old enough to be your father!

Problem No. 4 - The DNC

The Democratic National Committee and it's top players, pretty much abandoned Hillary Clinton early on in this race and no one knows why. From Howard Dean to Ted Kennedy and John Kerry to Bill Richardson . Once it was known that Barack Obama was going to run for president, the conversation should of went something like this..."Look Barack, we think you'd be a great candidate but here's the plan...you're a young man and need to get a few more years under your belt so you let Hillary run and get the nomination, you're her choice for vice president, she serves 2 terms, you run in 2012 and serve for 2 more terms...Democrats occupy the White House for 16 years with the first woman president and the first black president!" Who knows, maybe that conversation did take place, but Obama being the super star he thinks he is just would not accept it. So I'm afraid, this is a decision that will come back to bite them in the ass the way of Mondale, McGovern and Dukakis, and if it does, they deserve it!

Problem No. 5 - The media

This one is pretty self explanatory. Anyone who owned a computer, television or radio or read a newspaper could judge for themselves the blatant sexism and bias against Senator Clinton. It took a sketch on SNL to finally state the obvious and put it on the table. However, it changed nothing. The media's love affair still continued to the point where it was almost "uncomfortable" to watch, like when Chris Matthews of Hardball almost got a woody every time he was near him. The love affair continues, only now it's John McCain taking the heat.

Problem No. 6 - Women

If the women in this country had rallied behind Senator Clinton from day one, the way they did at the end, the outcome would definitely have been different. I think there was a genuine dis-belief that a woman could win the presidency, but once we realized "yes she can," it was too little too late. Lesson learned, hopefully!

Problem No. 7 - Hillary & Bill Clinton

Maybe they were a little too cocky in the beginning, but rightfully so. Once it became apparent they had a fight on their hands they should have gone into over drive. Shake up the campaign, beat Obama at his own game. Bill should have kept his comments to himself instead of playing right into their hands. He's a smart guy, he knows how this works. And last of all...Hillary. Why couldn't you have shown the charm and charisma we knew you had all along? You became the candidate at the end, we all knew you were capable of being.

Well, I feel a little better, but a little part of me still fantasizes about the convention on August 28th, in Colorado. I hope by then they finally see Senator Obama for what he really is, all fluff, no stuff, and the delegates cast their votes for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008!