Will Hillary Jump the Shark?

I have been among those voicing support for Hillary Clinton's persistent pursuit of the Democratic nomination, and strongly condemning those in the press and the Democratic party who were urging her to concede defeat in the name of unity. And on the whole, I've regarded a President H. Clinton as the lesser of the two evils compared to a President Obama, with the latter being far too unpredictable, or worse, in the foreign policy arena, and too predictable in the domestic arena.

For a while there was something comforting about the knowledge that Senator Clinton didn't feel very deeply about much of what she was saying on the stump. When, in the Pennsylvania ABC debate, she shuffled her way through her Iraq withdrawal position, while Obama sailed swiftly and smoothly through his, to me that only confirmed that she was merely talking the talk of Democratic primary politics, but in the White House or back in the Senate next year she would once again walk a more sensible walk.


Barak Obama would describe this as "politics as usual." And he'd be right. I recognize that both he and Hillary intend to raise my taxes, and I admire the fact that he's a bit more forthcoming in telling me that. And while he's been pilloried (what a waste of a good rhyme) for suggesting an increase in the wage cap for the Social Security tax, this illustrates a willingness to do what mainstream politicians have been systemically unable to do - speak frankly about the choices available to remedy problems in the Social Security and Medicare programs. He might even be crazy enough to suggest curtailing or means-testing benefits.

Hillary will probably win in Indiana, and may even fare adequately in North Carolina. But as her rhetoric becomes ever more populistic, the desperation that drives her becomes more apparent. Not only has she embraced the temporary gas tax repeal (not one of McCain's proudest moments, either), she's now lashing out at "these Wall Street money grubbers [sic?]," suggesting that they be "held responsible for their role in this recession." Yes, the bankers know she doesn't mean it, and will be there to welcome her with open wallets when this nonsense is over. But words, even those uttered in a primary campaign, are not entirely meaningless, and New Yorkers may not be quite as inured to cynicism as Washingtonians.

They say that a sure sign that a long-running TV series is in its death throes - the creative barrel nearing empty - when it turns to bizarre plot gimmicks. This is called "jumping the shark," named for the Happy Days episode when Fonzi, water skiing with his emblematic leather jacket, jumped over a shark, seen as a turning point signalling the downward spiral of the show. As Hillary waxes about her fondness for her daddy's shotgun, speaks to factory workers about the evil money lenders while she downs another Crown Royal boilermaker, one wonders whether we are seeing a campaign in its death throes, even as the other network continues with a somewhat tarnished but still popular American Idol.