29.01.08
Obama-Hillary? Come JFK-Nixon
Ross Douthat, uno dei piu’ brillanti e interessanti blogger d’America, propone questa analisi dello scontro tra Barack Obama e Hillary Clinton:
“Nixon in a pantsuit” - that’s what Andrew called Hillary a while back. And from the Clintonian embrace of the Southern strategy to the Kennedy comparisons and the Kennedy family endorsements Obama is racking up, the Democratic race looks more and more like a JFK-Nixon contest every day. […]
Framed in these terms, the choice sounds like a no-brainer. And sure, if we were electing a symbolic Head of State, someone charged with delivering ringing speeches and presiding over ceremonial events and generally embodying the Spirit of America while playing only a modest role in actually governing the country, then it would be easy call. But for the Presidency as it actually exists, I’m not sure. That Kennedy was a far worse than President than his golden legend would lead one to believe is of the few points where I find myself agreeing with Christopher Hitchens, and by the same token I think that while Nixon was ultimately a disaster in the White House, he had real strengths as a chief executive that shouldn’t be too quickly dismissed. So if the choice is between a Tricky Dick without the same degree of paranoia and simmering resentment (and no, I don’t think Hillary approaches Nixonian levels of derangement on either count) and a JFK without the Addison’s Disease, the prostitutes and the Mob connections – well, at the very least it leaves me more ambivalent than the contrast of Camelot and Watergate might lead you to expect.
(And yes, of course, this is somewhat silly and reductionist. And yes, I’m playing devil’s advocate – literally, if you share Andrew’s take on Hillary. But somebody has to do it! Are there any pundits out there who haven’t turned on the Clintons yet?)
Giulio said,
January 31, 2008 at
Actually, Hilary looks like my Mathematics mistress at school time and Obama is even able to make dream a stubborn boy like me but what’s mean “Tricky Dick” and “Addison’s Disease”? Go Marco! Go!