Opinion

Opinion

February 17, 2008

Vote Hillary now, get McCain later Opinion RICHARD L. Connor

By Richard L. Connor rconnor@timesleader.com
Editor and Publisher

GO, HILLARY! Win Texas.

That’s my battle cry.

Barack Obama has taken the delegate lead, with some big states still ahead with forthcoming primaries. So Hillary Clinton needs to hit the Texas primary hard on March 4 — or kiss her campaign for the presidency goodbye. She has a warm-up in this Tuesday’s primary in Wisconsin, where economic problems and the state’s voters both closely resemble similar situations in Ohio, the other must-win state for her on March 4.

But even if she wins in Wisconsin, her performances in Texas and Ohio will give the best barometer of her chances of stopping the hard-charging Obama.

There are 389 delegate votes up for grabs in Texas and Ohio. Both states have demographics that align well with Clinton’s appeal. In Texas, Hispanics make up about 25 percent of the voters. She has done well with these voters in the past.

I am urging my friends from my former home of the last 22 years –Texas -- to step up to plate and vote for Hillary now. Mine is a convoluted strategy. I want her to beat Obama for the Democratic nomination so Republican Sen. John McCain can win in the general election.

That’s why I will also be pulling for her if the nomination is undecided by the time Pennsylvanians vote.

At this point, the polling experts — who are starting to look like polling amateurs — expect Hillary to take Texas. If so, she will follow other women who have gained crucial political momentum in Texas, including the late Ann Richards, governor of Texas in the 1990s and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson who served in that office in the 1920s.

On the GOP side, the state has been charmed for years by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Fort Worth’s Rep. Kay Granger. And of course, Texas has had two women in the Dallas mayor’s office during the last couple of decades, Annette Strauss and Laura Miller.

Texans love their women politicians. And there is much at stake in this upcoming primary.

After Clinton and Obama get done fighting it out in the Lone Star State, the historic Battle of the Alamo may look tame by comparison. During the past week, Hillary took her fight to South Texas, probably looking -- like the men surrounded at that historic Texas fort --for every sliver of hope. Experience shows she will fight as hard as they did.

Wanting her to win these two big state primaries fits into my theory of what might or might not happen with the selection of a vice president for the Democrats.

If Obama wins Texas and Ohio and lands the nomination, he might ask Hillary to join the ticket. Hillary’s lust for power, even if more perceived than real, would allow her to swallow her pride and accept the vice presidential spot on the Democrats’ ticket. Since I believe a team composed of Clinton and Obama will be close to unstoppable, I am hoping this possibility might be minimized.

If Hillary wins the nomination, I am counting on Obama having enough self-respect and pride to refuse to serve as her vice president . Maybe she would choose John Edwards. He’s less formidable. Clinton reportedly had a secret meeting with Edwards, presumably seeking his endorsement, after he had dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination. Maybe they made a deal. A Clinton making a secret deal behind closed doors is hardly surprising news. I hope they did.

My thinking may be far too complex here, and it may even be counterintuitive. But if Clinton wins Texas and the other key primaries -- and therefore the nomination -- then I believe the candidate I actually like (that would be Sen. McCain) has a better chance of winning.

Without Obama at her side, Clinton could not beat McCain. The fast-rising Obama has a better chance. That’s why a vote for Hillary in the primary is actually a vote for McCain in the general election, at least in my book. Personally, I need McCain to face someone I dislike. And that would not be the charismatic, charming and inspirational Obama.

There will be a woman president in our lifetime. I just don’t favor Hillary. My impressions of Hillary are poor ones that started forming when Bill Clinton was first elected as president in1992.

A major TV network newsman who is an acquaintance of mine traveled with both Clintons on their campaign plane as they landed in Little Rock, Ark., on the day of the election. They were coming home to vote.

Because of exit booth polling, they learned before their plane landed that Bill Clinton would beat the senior George Bush. My acquaintance was working on a post-election profile that had been planned if Clinton won. The reporter was able to see the couple first as young and almost unknown nervous seekers of the presidency, and then as gloating, self-confident victors — all on the same trip, on the same plane.

When the newsman landed, his first phone call was to a mutual friend who had served as a White House press secretary for a former first lady. The newsman said that Hillary was a monster and described her in terms unprintable here.

The assessment presaged what we all began to see as she first attempted to take center-stage on her failed health-care initiative and then proceeded to behave like an untamed shrew. She is cold and calculating — and just not presidential material.

She’s blind with ambition and generally just unlikable. That’s why McCain will beat her, if given the chance.

That chance improves if Hillary wins the nomination. That’s why I am urging my former neighbors to vote for her in Texas. If she wins, she loses.

Richard L. Connor is editor and publisher of The Times Leader. Reach him at rconnor@timesleader.com

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