For Whom Does the Phone Ring?

Hillary Clinton is setting herself up for failure. Should the unlikely and unfortunate happen and she is selected as the Democratic Party's nominee, she has gift-wrapped and delivered a great political ad to the McCain camp. You see, the phone's a-ringin' at 3 a.m., and who would you rather have pick it up, Hillary Clinton--or John McCain?

HRC's direct foreign policy experience is pretty slim, as is the norm for most U.S. Senators. Crisis management experience, another part of her pitch, is also not a strong suit of Senators. Former governors frequently run for the Presidency based in part on their record at the helm of a state government where they have often had to react in times of crisis. Even some mayors have a legitimate claim to more "red phone" experience than Senators (anybody remember the former front runner Rudy Giuliani?)

As far as National Defense goes (and the ability to act decisively as the Commander-in-Chief), does she really want to promote a comparison between herself and John McCain? That's exactly what will happen in the general election--using the exact same ad that she is using against Sen. Obama.

Clinton's short-sighted strategy is counting on the fact that Democratic Party primary voters will view her as tougher than Obama, and that she will be perceived as being the better Commander-in-Chief of the two. Her implication is that she has what it takes to order the troops in, drop the "big one," etc. and that Obama does not. And the further implication is that voters actually believe that there are 3 a.m. "red phone" situations on a regular basis. In the eight years that she spent in the White House, her husband did receive a few 3 a.m. phone calls, but most were from interns and did not involve National Security in any way whatsoever.

The reality is that running the country is not like a continuous episode of "24." There are real foreign policy challenges--and even crises. But there are always--or should always be--an abundance of advisers and experts (hint: the State Department and the Pentagon) that are working on potential problems, drafting contingency plans and recommending balanced and measures responses to unfolding events. The President should never be caught unawares at 3 a.m. and base policy on the first thoughts in his or her groggy brain. Personally, I prefer a President who uses sound judgment, consults with advisers, and takes all possible steps to foresee and address conflicts before they result in a "middle of the night crisis."

But the real issue about Clinton's ads is not who can make the best late night snap decision when lives are in the balance. Its character assassination. Clinton's ad is either a good case of seeing only the short term gains of a strategy or being so completely desperate that she'll try anything. Either way, it is not to the credit or the general election benefit of the Democratic Party. Clinton is either harming her party by going negative against Obama, the eventual nominee, or framing an issue in a way that will torpedo her own electability if she prevails in the nomination battle.

So, back to the original question. Who would you rather have pick up the phone at 3 a.m., Hillary Clinton--or John McCain?

My First Democratic Caucus

I attended my first Democratic Party caucus tonight, and dutifully cast my second vote of the day for Barack Obama. Overall, I was not impressed with the Democratic Party; the caucus was disorganized and confusing. Altogether, there were about 150 caucus goers from two precincts crammed into a single room. Initially, they had only one line for each precinct, but eventually they set up some additional stations. The whole process took about 45 minutes.

I'm sorry to report that the Hillary supporters--a group of militant old ladies--managed to carry the day by three votes.

The worst part of the experience, however, is that I had to have my voter registration card stamped "DEMOCRAT" in order to vote in the primary and attend the caucus. So, for now, I guess I'm a "card carrying democrat."

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I've been spending an awful lot of time reading and thinking about the primary elections, and my intention is to use this blog to provide a "reality check" for my readers. Frequently, the main stream media misses the mark--either intentionally, or by failing to analyze the crap that they're fed by one of the campaigns. I'll try to cut through the spin to get to the central issues. Of course, I have my own bias, but I'll do my best to be up front about where I stand.