Why Clinton Won't Quit
This is a sad and dangerous time for Hillary Clinton. Her presidential campaign is in more trouble than ever following her big loss last week to Democratic rival Barack Obama in the North Carolina primary, 56 to 42 percent, and her unimpressive 51 to 49 percent win in Indiana, a state seemingly made to order for her. Clinton pledged to fight on—in the West Virginia primary this week and the handful of remaining contests for the Democratic nomination. But she is losing ground to Obama in the all-important delegate race, she is far behind in the number of contests won and in the popular vote, her campaign is in serious debt, and her cause seems increasingly hopeless.
Yet she presses on, and many voters are asking why. The answer is perhaps most clearly found in her personal history. Ever since her student days four decades ago, she has seen herself as a national leader destined for greatness, and it's very difficult for her to accept failure today in the biggest quest of her adult life.
Her refusal to quit is easier to understand when one goes back and reads the commencement address she gave at Wellesley College on May 31, 1969—almost exactly 39 years ago—that got her considerable media attention as a rising leader and established her as a national spokeswoman for her peers. She spoke in an expansive, rambling style with no small degree of self-importance about "our generation" and its sense of mission to change the world. "We're not in the positions yet of leadership and power, but we do have that indispensable task of criticizing and constructive protest," Hillary Rodham said. She went on to reject America's "prevailing acquisitive and competitive corporate life" and declared, "We're searching for [a] more immediate, ecstatic, and penetrating mode of living."
Today, it must be incredibly galling for Clinton to find her path to the White House blocked by an upstart like Obama who hasn't, in her mind, paid his dues or waited his turn. Just as important, her historic objective to be the first female president is being overwhelmed by Obama's equally historic objective to be the first African-American president. In effect, the principles and goals of change and diversity that Clinton has espoused for so long are now embodied in a more compelling way by someone else. It is Obama, not Clinton, who has captured the zeitgeist of change, and she has been unable to accept that. So Clinton fights on, hoping that some charge against Obama will stick, that he will make a fatal error, or that something in his background will destroy his candidacy.
In the process, she risks making her valiant campaign seem vainglorious and selfish—a turn of events that would greatly disappoint that 1969 commencement speaker at Wellesley.
Reader Comments
Why we need Hillary to run as an INDEPENDENT
Hillary should take her popular vote and run as an Independent. Her voters will not have to turn to McCain if her name is not on the ballot. I am an African-American woman and I will not vote for Senator Obama. I know that many of his “ghosts” especially here in Illinois are going to resurface in some astonishing ways. Do you wonder why he did not stand in his home state Illinois to make his announcement last night June 3rd after the SD and Montana Primaries. Let’s take a look at why he is “distancing himself from Illinois” and the state and people he used as a stepping stone for the Presidency.
1) The Rezko Trial and jury is going on in downtown Chicago June 3rd 4th 2008.
2) The Pastor disasters are always waiting to happen on the South Side of Chicago at Trinity United.
3) The long time associates of Rezko, Ata, and the political machine are a little to close for comfort.
4) Oprah Winfrey also has not appeared with him in over 2 months.
So our Senator launched his campaign in Minnesota! Hillary went home to her state, but Senator Obama from the Land of Lincoln wants to distance himself from the corrupt associations he has had for the past 20yrs here in Illinois.
I think it would be best if Hillary ran on her own INDEPENDENT ticket and not get mixed up with the corruption and some of the these ghosts that the McCain campaign and so many others will most surely bring out at some point. I really think its a time bomb, so its best if Hillary lets her supporters WRITE her on the ballot which means she must fill out form in every state to be a WRITE - IN CANDIDATE and then her supporters can vote for her or she can continue the race as an INDEPENDENT just as Lieberman did to win his state of Connecticut after the other candidate won the PRIMARY. Hillary really has even more of a reason to do this because of the DNC’s unconstitutional act of taking her delegates and assigning them to Senator Obama in direct opposition to the “will of the popular vote” that she won ! Bill Clinton will always be our DEMOCRATIC President, but the media and the DNC have taken unprecendented steps against Hillary that no other Presidential candidate has ever faced. Bill mentioned the inequitable treatment of the media, but the DNC also has to be faulted because whether she won a state primary or lost a state primary, she was consistently told throughout the campaign to WITHDRAW! This was ridiculous and an insult to all of her supporters (millions) and to the popular vote she has so clearly won! We need Hillary and her compassion to help the people will win her even more popular votes in the general election! Please don’t abandon us to this choiceless–voiceless state of current affairs ! We have noone to vote for in the general election. Please don’t let the parties shove an unwanted candidate down our throats.
Why Hillary should run as an INDEPENDENT
Hillary should take her popular vote and run as an Independent. Her voters will not have to turn to McCain if her name is not on the ballot. I am an African-American woman and I will not vote for Senator Obama. I know that many of his “ghosts” especially here in Illinois are going to resurface in some astonishing ways. Do you wonder why he did not stand in his home state Illinois to make his announcement last night June 3rd after the SD and Montana Primaries. Let’s take a look at why he is “distancing himself from Illinois” and the state and people he used as a stepping stone for the Presidency.
1) The Rezko Trial and jury is going on in downtown Chicago June 3rd 4th 2008.
2) The Pastor disasters are always waiting to happen on the South Side of Chicago at Trinity United.
3) The long time associates of Rezko, Ata, and the political machine are a little to close for comfort.
4) Oprah Winfrey also has not appeared with him in over 2 months.
So our Senator launched his campaign in Minnesota! Hillary went home to her state, but Senator Obama from the Land of Lincoln wants to distance himself from the corrupt associations he has had for the past 20yrs here in Illinois.
I think it would be best if Hillary ran on her own INDEPENDENT ticket and not get mixed up with the corruption and some of the these ghosts that the McCain campaign and so many others will most surely bring out at some point. I really think its a time bomb, so its best if Hillary lets her supporters WRITE her on the ballot which means she must fill out form in every state to be a WRITE - IN CANDIDATE and then her supporters can vote for her or she can continue the race as an INDEPENDENT just as Lieberman did to win his state of Connecticut after the other candidate won the PRIMARY. Hillary really has even more of a reason to do this because of the DNC’s unconstitutional act of taking her delegates and assigning them to Senator Obama in direct opposition to the “will of the popular vote” that she won ! Bill Clinton will always be our DEMOCRATIC President, but the media and the DNC have taken unprecendented steps against Hillary that no other Presidential candidate has ever faced. Bill mentioned the inequitable treatment of the media, but the DNC also has to be faulted because whether she won a state primary or lost a state primary, she was consistently told throughout the campaign to WITHDRAW! This was ridiculous and an insult to all of her supporters (millions) and to the popular vote she has so clearly won! We need Hillary and her compassion to help the people will win her even more popular votes in the general election! Please don’t abandon us to this choiceless–voiceless state of current affairs ! We have noone to vote for in the general election. Please don’t let the parties shove an unwanted candidate down our throats.
hillary dillary
she has never made a dime that wasn't tainted by some scandal.her only accomplishment has been to make me certain that most politicians are crooks from the start or soon will be.
advertisement
