Hillary’s Achilles Heel
OK, so it’s now official. Surprise...Hillary is running for President!
Here’s some prognostication: Hillary’s constantly evolving positions on the Iraq War will prove to be an insurmountable hurdle in her quest for her party’s nomination. As I have noted previously, her Republican challenger as well as her intra-party contenders on the left (Edwards, Obama) will have a field day with her serial and opportunistic vacillations on the War. Recent resolutions offered in the Senate have already placed Hillary at odds with some of her anti-war colleagues.
Kerry’s run for his party’s nomination in 2004 provides the applicable template. When challenged by anti-war candidate Howard Dean, Kerry, who supported the War initially, was forced to make a sharp turn to the left with disastrous results.
The anti-war left wing base of the Democratic Party is already stirring up trouble for those who do not support immediate withdrawal of our troops. The clamor to end our involvement will only increase over time and democratic primary voters may prove unforgiving for those who do not toe the line.
The results of a recent poll suggest that a not insignificant portion of Democrats do not even want the new war strategy to succeed. As such, for purposes of securing her party’s nomination, Hillary’s attempts to use her various stances on the war to burnish her Commander in Chief credentials may prove, in the end, to be an exercise in futility.
At some point, deftness on the issue of Iraq must collide with the reality that Hillary’s numerous positions on the war are simply inconsistent with the wishes of her party’s primary voters.
The shipwrecked candidacy of John Kerry is testament to the fact that no amount of skillful political posturing by a candidate who initially voted for the War will be sufficient for them to later successfully navigate the anti-war reef-strewn waters of the Democratic Party’s primary process.
Beacon Street Journal
Monday, January 22, 2007
By Johnny K