Friday, July 10, 2009

Hillary Clinton: Ready to Lead on Day One

It’s amazing how many page views the Palin name draws to Web sites like the Huffington Post. Over 3500 readers have so far taken the time to comment following a post by the teenage Levi Johnston claiming that Palin resigned because of money.

The attacks on Palin, already intense from both the right and the left, have continued to heat up since the Alaskan governor announced her resignation a week ago this Friday. I once trusted Ellen Goodman to be fair-minded columnist, but she, too, has found it necessary to second guess Palin and throw her under the bus:

“All options are on the table,’’ she says. But ironically, the soon-to-be-ex-governor and speaker, author and celebrity has only one option. Authenticity? The only job left for Sarah the former Barracuda is to pretend to be a candidate for president. In the middle of a midlife meltdown, the quitter is now the teaser.

Ah, well, Goodman probably got her share of web site traffic today.

Oddly enough, even former critics of Hillary Clinton are now making favorable comparisons between the way Hillary has handled the vitriol from good old boys on the left and the right over several decades and Palin’s decision to resign in the face of the onslaught threatening to destroy her and her family, including ridicule of her infant son Trig who has Down’s syndrome.

Note the issue at hand becomes how “they” handle the attacks, not whether or not the attacks, whether sexist or otherwise, represent ethical behavior by news reporters.

Secretary of State Clinton has remained silent throughout all of the media madness surrounding Palin. During the general election, there were those who urged Clinton to debate Palin on the abortion issue and other matters, but despite the fact that Palin once made a snide remark about her, Clinton wisely held her peace. She knew better than to get involved in an exchange the media would have quickly labeled a “cat fight.” Earlier, she ignored the bait during the primary when Michelle Obama felt compelled to sling a little mud her way.

In the meantime, Clinton has continued to work hard in her new position as America’s top diplomat. Six months in, it should not surprise anyone that the Obama Administration is now receiving high marks in foreign policy while failing to make the grade on the domestic front. It just goes to show you: Clinton was ready to lead on day one; Obama wasn’t.

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