Breaking the Final Rule
By Gary Hart
It will come as a surprise to many people that there are rules in politics. Most of those
rules are unwritten and are based on common understandings, acceptable practices, and
the best interest of the political party a candidate seeks to lead. One of those rules is this:
Do not provide ammunition to the opposition party that can be used to destroy your
party's nominee. This is a hyper-truth where the presidential contest is concerned.
By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in
times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic
candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed
the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that
the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her.
As a veteran of red telephone ads and "where's the beef" cleverness, I am keenly aware
that sharp elbows get thrown by those trailing in the fourth quarter (and sometimes even
earlier). "Politics ain't beanbag," is the old slogan. But that does not mean that it must also
be rule-or-ruin, me-first-and-only-me, my way or the highway. That is not politics. That
is raw, unrestrained ambition for power that cannot accept the will of the voters.
Senator Obama is right to say the issue is judgment not years in Washington. If Mrs.
Clinton loses the nomination, her failure will be traced to the date she voted to empower
George W. Bush to invade Iraq. That is not the kind of judgment, or wisdom, required by
the leader answering the phone in the night. For her now to claim that Senator Obama is
not qualified to answer the crisis phone is the height of irony if not chutzpah, and calls
into question whether her primary loyalty is to the Democratic party and the nation or to
her own ambition.
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