Hurricane I

TNR has two fabulous stories today, and I do so enjoy reading TNR. It's like eating very expensive chocolate - it just makes you feel all warm and floaty on the inside. But then, I'm clearly, clearly, a political nerd. However, this TNR piece on why Hillary '08 = Baaaaaad is packaged so nicely that even non political types should like it. So I've excerpted my favorite parts:

Iran is going nuclear. Iraq is on the brink of civil war. Egypt is suffering an actual, literal plague of locusts. The Red Sox won the World Series. Karl Rove is front-runner for Man of the Year. Clearly the Apocalypse is at hand. With the Four Horsemen descending, Democrats have precious little time to get their act together, and someone needs to sit them down for what a friend of mine calls a "get right with Jesus talk."

...

Ordinarily I'm not the kind of gal to kick a guy when he's down--at least not unless I'm pretty sure he's so far down he ain't getting back up. But I make an exception in Kerry's case because, while Democrats are busy reflecting, they need to carefully consider the costs of disregarding a candidate's basic likeability. (Not to be confused with his IQ or experience or fundraising clout or height.) Dems can rework their policies and narrative and meta-message all they want, but if they don't learn to pick a contender with a common touch and a broad appeal--meaning someone who can relate to the masses outside the Delta Shuttle corridor--they are going to wind up wandering in the wilderness far longer than Moses.

Most importantly, the party would do well to come to grips with this electoral reality now, before it finds itself staring down the barrel of an even grander presidential disaster. I speak, of course, of Hillary '08.

It doesn't hurt that I also think that Hillary Clinton should not run for President. And actually, I don't think she will. I don't think her years in the White House were easy for her, and I think she likes being a Senator. Not to mention that she would get in the way of my beloved Obama. (Related story: On the Hill today, someone I was talking to about jobs with Democrats mention that Obama filled up his staff spots "unusually quickly." Shocking.) But seriously, I think Hillary knows it would be more trouble than it's worth, and she can do more good to fundraise the bejesus out of New York. But we'll see.

India's Note on the Previous Post: I am so sorry. No more drunken blogging for me. I have no idea why I posted that, but I do remember laughing very hard about it. My apologies.