Clinton: “This is not a coronation.” New Yorkers suppress gag reflex.

Only you, dear reader, can judge whether or not I make an effort to see both sides of the story when covering political events. But when I read this ABC account of a Q&A session Senator Hillary Clinton held in Oregon last night, my irony, credulity and nausea meters all pegged out into the red zone.

But [Clinton's] calm tone and relaxed demeanor soon became sharp and fiery. “Elections are about choices. You are supposed to present your case and you’re supposed to critique the other case. That’s what you do in an election, it is not a coronation, it is a contest, this country is worth fighting for, and I’m going to fight for it!”

After washing down my breakfast omelet with a couple of shots of Cuervo, punching myself repeatedly in the head (to ensure I wasn’t experiencing some 3rd stage REM aberration) and gingerly pushing on the walls to see if they were made of cream cheese, I concluded that Hillary Clinton really had just uttered those words.

Speaking as a veteran of the Rick Lazio campaign of 2000, and being married to a woman who worked in vain attempting to get some sort of meaningful Democratic primary contest going that year, there are really no words to describe my reaction to Hillary Clinton accusing anyone else of wanting a “coronation” in an election. Senator Clinton has never faced any real, significant opposition in any of the entire two elections she has faced for public office over the course of her extensive political career.

After her handlers determined that our soon to be vacant Senate seat in New York would be her fastest path to the Presidency and quickly putting a down payment on new digs in the Empire State, Team Clinton began plans for the coronation. Aided by the Democratic Party at the national level and a massive war chest, we were soon deluged with adoring press coverage indicating that there would be no need to waste voters’ precious time with a Democratic primary election. We already had our nominee! Lucky us! Protests from local Democrats who dared to suggest we might nominate someone who was a bit more … ummm… you know… errr… from New York were shot down in flames. They were “standing in the way” or woman haters, or Clinton haters, or certainly haters of something.

On the Republican side things were no better. With the unexpected loss of Rudy there was no time to reorganize and no other high profile candidates who wanted to put a dog in that particular fight. And who could blame them? The media had already written their reports about how beautiful Hillary’s swearing in ceremony would be. Rick Lazio, a qualified and admirable candidate by any measure, was able to raise funds at a rate slightly faster than three lemonade stands run by elementary school children. He received a very sympathetic ear from the national party and long time GOP loyalists and donors around the state, but nobody was going to dump much hard earned cash into a fight that was lost before it began. And yet with no budget, thousands of us volunteered across the state to try – in vain – to elect an actual New Yorker to the New York Senate seat.

My friends, if you ever wanted to see a coronation… THAT was a coronation to put a blush on the cheeks of Prince Albert of Monaco. To hear this recipient of the all time Silver Spoon of Politics in Mouth Award level a charge of an opponent wanting a coronation…

I’ll try to get back to blogging by tomorrow. Hopefully my wife will be able to pick up all the bits of cranium and brain off the walls after my head finishes exploding.