Friday, August 03, 2007
Answer the Hypotheticals, Candidates!
For a long time now I have placed Hillary Clinton in last place among the Democratic candidates for several reasons, including those by Jim Kunstler and myself (scroll down to "Democratic New Hampshire Debate"). One of the reasons for this is Hillary's refusing to answer hypothetical questions. The reason for this is that whoever wins this most important election in US history will have to deal with some hypothetical situation. Today I find support for my thesis from both Barack Obama and Slate magazine, in an article entitled "Hooray for Hypotheticals".
The article points out that Barack Obama has been answering hypotheticals. For example, he would never use nuclear weapons in Pakistan, and he would meet with rulers of other nations, including nasty dictators. He even makes his own hypothetical and answers it. If he found credible evidence that Al Qaida had its headquarters at some specific place in Pakistan, he would move in with military force against that place. Hillary criticized him for saying this, saying you never tell the other people what your options are. The article also says that law school is almost nothing but hypotheticals. And Hillary Clinton is a lawyer.
It seems to me we have a good candidate, here. I hope he survives the attacks from the other candidates. He may have made some mistakes, but so did Abraham Lincoln - he made some awful ones as senator. The other candidates refusing to answer hypotheticals are causing them to become platitudinous, and it is hard to tell what they will do if elected. At least we know what Barack would do, and I feel like I would want to trust him with it because he seems honest because of his willingness to answer hypotheticals. So I still say Obama for President.
And Hillary and others, please start telling us what you would do as President. Thanks.
The article points out that Barack Obama has been answering hypotheticals. For example, he would never use nuclear weapons in Pakistan, and he would meet with rulers of other nations, including nasty dictators. He even makes his own hypothetical and answers it. If he found credible evidence that Al Qaida had its headquarters at some specific place in Pakistan, he would move in with military force against that place. Hillary criticized him for saying this, saying you never tell the other people what your options are. The article also says that law school is almost nothing but hypotheticals. And Hillary Clinton is a lawyer.
It seems to me we have a good candidate, here. I hope he survives the attacks from the other candidates. He may have made some mistakes, but so did Abraham Lincoln - he made some awful ones as senator. The other candidates refusing to answer hypotheticals are causing them to become platitudinous, and it is hard to tell what they will do if elected. At least we know what Barack would do, and I feel like I would want to trust him with it because he seems honest because of his willingness to answer hypotheticals. So I still say Obama for President.
And Hillary and others, please start telling us what you would do as President. Thanks.
