I’m voting for Clinton (that is I would if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t)

I guess you could describe me as a borderline political junky. I read political blogs and new sites everyday and I tend to watch an hour or two of CBC Newsworld and CNN every day. I try to catch Politics with Don Newman when I can, and the Situation Room hosted by Wolf Blitzer. Accordingly, I am very interested in the US presidential primaries. Canadian politics almost never gets as interesting as the battle currently going on in the United States. Regardless of who emerge as the Democratic nominee, the fight to the White House is going to be very interesting.

Like most Canadians if I were able to vote in US politics I would be a Democrat. If I were a Democrat I would be a Clinton Democrat, more precisely I would be a Bill Clinton Democrat, but as Bill is married to Hilary and not to Barack, Hilary would get my vote. I think that one of Hilary’s greatest assets is her husband. Lately Bill has been kept quiet, somewhat secluded out of fear that he says something that would damage the campaign. I can understand the need to keep Bill quiet during the primary stage. Bill is a fighter, he was under nearly constant attack during his presidency and he became somehwat of an expert in deflecting dirt, or sometimes just wallowing in the dirt flung at him and making it his own. Bill knows tough, down and dirty politics, but that is not what you need when facing a fellow Democrat. If Clinton can somehow manage to pull of the nomination her husband will be an enormous campaign asset and an invaluable adviser if she were to win the presidency.

Bill Clinton is not the only reason that I would vote for Hilary Clinton rather than Barack Obama. I think that Hilary is correct when she says that she is ready on day one to lead the United States while Obama would not necessarily have the previous experience necessary to lead the US. While Hilary does not in my view has extensive experience, and might not be overly qualified for the office of president, she has more experience and is more qualified that Barack Obama is. Bill Clinton is another important factor when it comes to experience. In any situation that would face Hilary Clinton she could always turn to her husband for clear, and honest advice. Obama could surround himself with any number of qualified advisers, but none of them would have the experience or leadership qualities that Bill Clinton has.

There are also reasons why I am wary of Barack Obama, rather than simply favouring Hilary Clinton over him. Obama talks a good game, he sounds very inspiring, his message of hope is something that really invigorates people and gets previously apathetic people to come out to the polls. Hope is a good thing, but hope can only do so much, and hope can be dangerous. We all need hope for a better future, but hope in the absence of good policy will get you nothing but disappointment. Obama seems to be inspiring a great deal of hope without backing that up with strong policy to actually bring about the changes that are needed to fulfill the new found hope that so many people are finding through his words. I think that Obama would be unable to deliver on a lot of the hope that he is inspiring in people. You can only do so much as the president of the United States of America. So much of what happens in Washington DC cannot be changed by the president alone. Congress is perhaps more important than the president, and getting important changes through congress is nearly impossible.

I guess like any good Canadian I would vote not for who I really want, not for the person who really inspires me, but for the person who I think will realistically be able to do the job better.