The Case for Hillary Clinton, by Susan Estrich


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is the Democratic response to the book, "The Case Against Hillary Clinton." The author says,

The book is a strongly pro-Hillary pro-Democratic party argument that Hillary would have the best chance of winning the election. The author's perspective is a staunch Democrat with a feminist activist's outlook. Estrich was the first female campaign manager for a major presidential candidate (Michael Dukakis is 1988) and she is currently a political commentator for Fox News.

Some of the author's "case" proved accurate, and some did not. For example, Estrich correctly predicted that Kerry would enter the 2008 presidential race and would drop out early (p. 154). But she failed to predict the rise of Barack Obama -- he is not even mentioned in this book -- despite the murmurings that began immediately following Obama's 2004 Convention speech. On the Republican side, she incorrectly predicted that George Allen would be the GOP frontrunner (p. 179) and dismisses McCain as too moderate to win the GOP primaries (p. 177). We think this poor prediction record proves more the fickleness of politics than the lack of astuteness of the author.

Perhaps Estrich will update this book in 2011 or 2015. If you'd like to read the early argument for Hillary's race then, it's pretty much the same argument that Estrich made in 2005.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, February 2009

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Hillary Clinton: Government should have no role in abortion decision.     Rudy Giuliani: As mayor, supported public funding for abortion.

Civil Rights     Hillary Clinton: Create a pipeline for more women in leadership.

Families & Children     Hillary Clinton: Teen abstinence is the right thing to do.     Hillary Clinton: I've spent 30 years worrying about impact of media on kids.

Foreign Policy     Hillary Clinton: Obligation to support Israel with more than foreign aid.     Hillary Clinton: Support UN reform because US benefits.

Government Reform     George W. Bush: OpEd: Not interested in bringing best people to government.     John McCain: OpEd: Led campaign finance reform because of Keating Five.

Health Care     Hillary Clinton: Healthcare system plagued with underuse, overuse, and abuse.     Joe Biden: Survived two aneurysms in the 1990s.

Principles & Values     Bill Clinton: OpEd: Fairy tale that Clinton emerged from nowhere in 1992.     Carl Levin: MI more representative for early primary than IA & NH.     Dianne Feinstein: 1984: Considered as V.P. by Walter Mondale.     Evan Bayh: Leading champion of moving Dems to the middle.     Haley Barbour: OpEd: Party chair & governor is strong combo for presidency.     Jimmy Carter: OpEd: 1980 presidential debate lost election.     John Kerry: Against Bush, did poorly with married women & older voters.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: 1988: Won Michigan Democratic caucus.     Ronald Reagan: 1980: Insisted John Anderson be in presidential debate.     Ted Kennedy: Upon losing 1980 caucus: "33% of Iowa couldn't be wrong".     Terry McCauliffe: Promised to change IA and NH's early primary lock.     Al Gore: OpEd: Declining Clinton association in 2000 was disloyal.     Bill Clinton: You can't win talking just to people who agree with you.

Technology     Howard Dean: OpEd: Mastering political Internet means acting differently.

War & Peace     Hillary Clinton: OpEd: Voting for war enabled criticizing how it was waged.

Welfare & Poverty     John Edwards: Founded Center on Law & Poverty at UNC.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Al Gore Bill Clinton Carl Levin Dianne Feinstein Evan Bayh George W. Bush Haley Barbour Hillary Clinton Howard Dean Jimmy Carter Joe Biden John Edwards John Kerry John McCain Rev. Jesse Jackson Ronald Reagan Rudy Giuliani Ted Kennedy Terry McCauliffe