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In the e-mail I received announcing Bill Clinton's visit to Hattiesburg at the newly renovated Train Depot, the list of recepients included the president of College Democrats at U.S.M. Despite the glamour of seeing the former president and the newly renovated historical building, I understood it was a rally for Hillary and decided then not go.
Three days later the newspaper reported a change in schedule: Hillary would replace Bill as the speaker and guest of honor. Now, it wasn't that long ago that I was the age to be a College Democrat. But I also remember being quite a bit more naive than I am now. And so I wonder if any young people, who consider themselves Democrats but are as of yet undecided beween Clinton and Obama, had decided before the change that they would attend what would be a historic moment: A former president coming to Hattiesburg!
But the situation changed. Should they still attend, they might think? You older people know what I mean. Get them committed; bait and switch.
I kept Hillary on my list of Democratic possibles up until her vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment to treat the Iranian Republican Guard as terrorists back when Bush was rattling the saber over Iran's non-existent nuclear program.
I even kept her on my list after it looked like she was working with Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, Gov. Haley Barbour's former lobbying firm, to remove Iraq's freely elected Al Maliki and substitute him with Bush crony Allawi, the former un-elected Prime Minister under the Coalition Provisional Authority just before the crucial Petreaus Report in September.
The biggest complaint I've heard from female writers is that she voted against a ban on cluster bombs in civilian areas. Because they don't always explode on impact, they pose a great danger to inflicting damage on civilians as they lie dormantly, particularly children.
Since Obama took the lead, and her 'heir apparent-cy' disappeared, I keep reading about various unscrupulous tactics employed by the Clinton's. This at a time when Democrats could make historic gains in Congressional representation as well as winning the presidency. If it persists and divides but conquers, I guess I'll have to start lying about who I'm voting for.
Ultimately, it seems Hillary has tried to act like a tough Republican in order to convince the public that she's capable of being president. And that's an unnecessary shame.
