MONROE - A couple of weeks ago, and again on Wednesday, The Monroe Times printed an editorial explaining why Hillary Clinton should stay in the race for president.
With all due respect, and acknowledging it's not always best to disagree with one's supervisors, I completely disagree.
It's time for Hillary to get out of the race.
Well past time she get out, actually.
When she began her race for the White House several months ago, she was the front-runner. Most people expected her to easily capture the Democratic Party nomination. They might not have been overly excited about it, but they resigned themselves to the fact it would likely happen.
She believed her nomination was so assured that she didn't even plan to campaign after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. She thought the nominating process would be over after so many big states voted.
That was her first mistake. It isn't the only reason she should bow out of the race. But if she is ready to be "president on day one," as she annoyingly proclaims every chance she gets, it begs the question why she wasn't prepared to battle for the nomination after Feb. 5.
What had the biggest influence on my thoughts about her campaign aren't her comments about Barack Obama, but what she has said about herself.
She's claimed credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland and inflated her own position as First Lady. She's made it sound as if Bill Clinton was only a front man for the original Hillary Clinton administration.
But what broke the camel's back, in my opinion, was last week when she said at a debate that she's been investigated by the Republican attack machine, so that entitled her to be the nominee. They couldn't come up with anything new about her, she proudly proclaimed.
She just doesn't get it, does she?
Most people are tired of politics as usual. Democrats should be looking to nominate a candidate who is different from the same old candidates of the past. What Hillary said, in effect, is that she can lead her party to victory in a campaign where people will once again decide to vote for the lesser of two evils.
That seems to be the trend.
It seems candidates don't run for the presidency because they have new ideas or want to inspire the nation. They just want to be less terrible than their opponent.
Hillary represents the status quo. She represents the fighting that goes on in Washington every day. She represents the distractions politicians use when they don't want to talk about $3.50 gasoline prices, $3.10 milk prices, record oil company profits, home foreclosures and a war that still has no end in sight.
She obviously relishes hearing about Obama not wearing a flag lapel pin, or talking about his minister. Yet she finds it offensive when people ask her about the wealthy contributors who paid millions to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House when she was First Lady, or about the fact she had to testify before a grand jury, or the fact ... the list goes on and on.
It's time for her to stop campaigning.
She needs to leave the race.
She appears to be willing to say and do anything to win the nomination, as if it belongs to her, as if it's her birthright.
The presidency doesn't belong to anyone, with the possible exception of the Kennedys.
Goodbye, Hillary, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
- Brian Gray is a reporter at The Monroe Times. He can be reached at bgray@themonroetimes.com
With all due respect, and acknowledging it's not always best to disagree with one's supervisors, I completely disagree.
It's time for Hillary to get out of the race.
Well past time she get out, actually.
When she began her race for the White House several months ago, she was the front-runner. Most people expected her to easily capture the Democratic Party nomination. They might not have been overly excited about it, but they resigned themselves to the fact it would likely happen.
She believed her nomination was so assured that she didn't even plan to campaign after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. She thought the nominating process would be over after so many big states voted.
That was her first mistake. It isn't the only reason she should bow out of the race. But if she is ready to be "president on day one," as she annoyingly proclaims every chance she gets, it begs the question why she wasn't prepared to battle for the nomination after Feb. 5.
What had the biggest influence on my thoughts about her campaign aren't her comments about Barack Obama, but what she has said about herself.
She's claimed credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland and inflated her own position as First Lady. She's made it sound as if Bill Clinton was only a front man for the original Hillary Clinton administration.
But what broke the camel's back, in my opinion, was last week when she said at a debate that she's been investigated by the Republican attack machine, so that entitled her to be the nominee. They couldn't come up with anything new about her, she proudly proclaimed.
She just doesn't get it, does she?
Most people are tired of politics as usual. Democrats should be looking to nominate a candidate who is different from the same old candidates of the past. What Hillary said, in effect, is that she can lead her party to victory in a campaign where people will once again decide to vote for the lesser of two evils.
That seems to be the trend.
It seems candidates don't run for the presidency because they have new ideas or want to inspire the nation. They just want to be less terrible than their opponent.
Hillary represents the status quo. She represents the fighting that goes on in Washington every day. She represents the distractions politicians use when they don't want to talk about $3.50 gasoline prices, $3.10 milk prices, record oil company profits, home foreclosures and a war that still has no end in sight.
She obviously relishes hearing about Obama not wearing a flag lapel pin, or talking about his minister. Yet she finds it offensive when people ask her about the wealthy contributors who paid millions to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House when she was First Lady, or about the fact she had to testify before a grand jury, or the fact ... the list goes on and on.
It's time for her to stop campaigning.
She needs to leave the race.
She appears to be willing to say and do anything to win the nomination, as if it belongs to her, as if it's her birthright.
The presidency doesn't belong to anyone, with the possible exception of the Kennedys.
Goodbye, Hillary, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
- Brian Gray is a reporter at The Monroe Times. He can be reached at bgray@themonroetimes.com
