A lot has been said about toughness and ability to lead from day one in the 2008 democratic primary election. This has been the focus of Sen. Clinton's appeal to the super-delegates. Sen. Obama tries to claim that he is the tougher cookie but that certainly didn't seem the case in the last debate in Philadelphia. He got frustrated and agitated at the questions that were asked. Questions that will become the core of the debates for the fall elections.
In the fall elections, the republicans know they can not win against either Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama over issues. What they are going to talk about is Rev. Wright, "bitter" and "cling" to their guns comments, Michelle Obamas remarks, friendly relations with Ayers, the Bosnia sniper-fire issue, etc. This what the republican "kitchen sink" will look like. So how is Sen. Obama going to withstand that when he can not answer a few questions, which frankly the American people have the right to know the answer to. If you are going to tag these critical questions as "manufactured", you missed yet another point Sen. Obama.
There are many reasons why Sen. Clinton is the "fighter" or the "Rocky" of this fight. One of which is that she has withstood so much scrutiny in her career and overcome it. For example, to date there have been over 60 books written on Sen. Hillary Clinton, of which 9 have been written by the senator herself, 18 have been written with a neutral opinion, 6 with a pro-Hillary saga, and 27 with a strong anti Clinton theme. 27 anti Clinton books means a lot of pages and even more negative words that have been said over her course of 30 years in the political arena. There is no other women candidate in the history of this country that has taken more punches and answered more questions than Sen. Clinton. Do you see her frustrated or agitated or shying away from these questions? From Watergate to Mrs. Lewinsky, from her misinterpreted kitchen comment to the Bosnia sniper-fire gaffe, there are hundreds of issues that Sen. Clinton has been dragged into and just as many statements that were wrongly interpreted by the media or rivals.
But, the fact that she still stands today and the fact that the number of people supporting her and her public service has increased by millions, shows that she is not only tough enough but has also connected with the people at the roots. To be this popular after being scrutinized for almost every word you say for over 20 years is a remarkable achievement. Her whole life is transparent to the public and has been open for people to read for over 20 years now. The media and your rivals will always "manufacture" issues or tangle your statements, that is what they get paid for or that is how they win. Of all the people in the world, a politician running for the highest office in the country should know better.
The American people hardly know Sen. Obama. With being in the political arena for only 9 years and actually coming in the limelight mainly in the last 15 months, there is a lot more that the American people will ask about before they pick him as their commander in chief. The only thing that documents his journey so far is the 3 books that have been written about him and 2 of the 3 have been written by Sen. Obama himself. The third one talks about his great campaign and how he energized the young. He has hardly faced any scrutiny in this election. And to sit and whine about a few tough questions the way he did only shows his weakness. These are not the traits of a tough candidate or a fighter who will champion the peoples issues. Thinking of this, one of Harry Truman's statements comes to mind for Sen. Obama - "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen".
The Obama campaign thinks that the Clinton camp is being negative and vice verse. This is nothing compared to what will come in the fall. Being negative is making a "coward" out of a Vietnam war "hero" as with Sen. John Kerry in 2004 or making a "rich careless liberal elitist" out of Al Gore in 2000. That is what will come at Sen. Obama in 2008 if he is elected and he whines about a few tough questions. God save the Democrats.
There is no doubt that whoever wins the democratic nomination will write a new chapter in the history of American politics. With Sen. Clinton's proven track record, the chapter will read actions and reality. But with the unknowns about Sen. Obama and no significant achievement to his name, will the chapter read eloquent words and empty calls of hope or will it be an outright tragedy?
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