Fearless leaders don't cry at the prospect of losing a primary.

Now, two blogs in one day, crazy. Me revisiting my time in politics and commenting publicly on the primaries, crazier. Me doing this because I would legitimately consider voting for a candidate not in the Republican party this time around, craziest. In case you've been hiding in a nuclear shelter underground (understandable, given the obvious insanity of Kim Jong-Il; better safe than sorry), Republicans are not really Republicans anymore, Democrats are not really Democrats anymore, and the party lines have become quite hazy in the mass effort to win over the moderate voter.

Hillary Clinton (oh, excuse me, Hillary Rodham Clinton, she is her own woman, right?) cried during a conversation with a voter. The New York Times reports:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/us/politics/10clinton.html
Somehow, this is getting her voters. Women say that they are glad to see that she really is human. She feels, she has emotions, wonderful. Somehow, this is causing people to change their votes at the last second and vote for her. Absurd. Let us take a look at the Democratic primary situation.
1. Barack Obama is the junior senator from Illinois. He has not made much noise during his first term as a US Senator. He has received such valuable endorsements as Scarlett Johansson and Oprah. He won the Iowa Democratic primary.
2. Hillary Clinton is a two-term first lady in her second term as a US Senator for New York, where she is also the junior senator. She won the New Hampshire primary.
3. Hillary ran for the US Senate in a state where she had never lived and had absolutely no experience. Barack was elected to be an Illinois senator after he served for eight years as a state senator.
4. Both have law degrees from prestigious universities.
5. Hillary has the "first woman president" factor. Barack has the "first black president" factor. Can't we just have Oprah run and call it a day?
6. Hillary suffered public humiliation on the national stage when it was revealed that her husband (oh, you know, the president) was cheating on her with an intern. This was but one of many affairs. She did not divorce him.
7. Barack's wife talks about his smelly feet to the media.
8. In 1992, Hillary was campaigning with Bill and celebrating his first presidential win. In 1992, Barack was getting married.
9. Polls show that people view Hillary more favorably when she is referred to as Hillary Rodham Clinton, as opposed to Hillary Clinton. Polls also show that young people are fond of the phrase, "Barack the Vote!" And who said puns were going out of style?

Hillary has much more national face-time than Barack does. Like, 12 years more - first as a first lady, then as a senator. She has four published books. Her husband is only one of the greatest politicians of all time (he was able to come back from a "You stuck cigars WHERE?" scandal involving an overweight intern to be one of the most favorably viewed past-presidents ever). How is she not sending Barack home crying to his mother? Shouldn't this tell voters something? She cannot be trusted - she USED New York and the coattails of her husband to jumpstart her own political career. Sure, she cries, she has feelings, but she cried at the prospect of losing. She failed to put her cheating husband in his place. Barack has less political experience, but this man has to be some sort of political genius when you see how far he's come in such a short amount of time with no coattails for riding.

If I want a candidate to seem more human, Barack's campaign has done a much better job of satisfying that voter desire. The warm pictures of him with his loving family do the trick and do not detract from his apparent strength and resolve. Hillary continues to embrace a man who seems to be addicted to cheating on her and has her awkward adult daughter and mother campaign with her, only to have her daughter refuse an interview from a grade school reporter. Coming from someone who represented a state she had had residence in only to run for the US Senate, these tears mean nothing to me. She will always be less than genuine in my eyes. How long did she rehearse crying?

P.S. Just one quick note about the Republican primaries: Mike Huckabee won Iowa... after getting Chuck Norris's endorsement. To be honest, I had thought to myself some time ago that any smart candidate would get Chuck Norris on his side, but I figured Chuck was above that. I guess not, but it turns out I was right - he is a great ally to have in your corner.