What's It All About, Hillary?
By the time Hillary Clinton trounced Barack Obama in West Virginia, she was in a pickle: How do you win and prepare to lose at the same time?
After all, nuance is an unnatural act in politics. It's far easier to say you're ready to be commander in chief and he's not. Or that you attract white, blue-collar voters and he doesn't. Even "Shame on you, Barack Obama" has a certain easy ring to it on the campaign trail.
But now this is about something more complex for Clinton. It's about her role in the party and her political future, not to mention the future of the Democratic Party. So a fine touch is in order from a candidate not known for her tonal niceties. After winning West Virginia, Hillary carefully threaded the needle—vowing to fight on (not for herself, mind you, but for those voters who want a "chance to make their voices heard") while pointedly allowing that "I will work my heart out for the nominee of the Democratic Party."
Democrats are trying really hard to understand Clinton. They know it's tough to lose a close race. They know it's been a long, and hard-fought, contest. They have listened when she has told them that only she can beat John McCain. But even those with real sympathy for her understand something else: the math. They believe she's not going to win the nomination.
So they ask: What does Hillary want? Given that Hillary is a Clinton, there is the easy answer: whatever she can get. Imagine the reception at the convention for a contender who has amassed 2,000 delegates, coming in a close second (although she will say first) in the popular vote! Senate majority leader? Done. And why not the vice presidency? Or should Obama lose, she's clearly the truly anointed nominee the next time around. "If she gets to the end of this process standing tall, she gets to give a great speech," says one Democratic strategist. "She becomes the party unifier." But what about the notion that Obama needs to focus more now on a general election strategy than a primary in Puerto Rico? "This isn't about Obama," says one uncommitted superdelegate. "This is about Hillary Clinton."
Clintonites will tell you to stop griping. This has been good for Obama, they say. He has become a better candidate. He knows his weak spots, and he knows what the Republican attacks will be, too, since Clinton has helpfully outlined and road-tested them. As a result of this race, they add, Obama now knows his strategic task: to focus like a laser on the middle class. Thank goodness Hillary Clinton has vetted Barack Obama and pointed his campaign in the right direction.
Parallel universes. Don't expect a thank-you note anytime soon. While McCain concentrates on his general election campaign—courting independent voters, distancing himself from President Bush—Obama is stuck in two parallel universes. First, in the final primaries, against Clinton. Then, in battleground states, against McCain. And while Clinton is playing the good cop (careful not to bash Obama anymore), her surrogates are happy to be the bad cops—pointing out Obama's fatal flaws, including the notion that he can't possibly win the blue-collar voters she has won in those battleground states. Too bad that John Edwards—the original populist in this race—stepped on their story line last week when he endorsed Obama.
So what's next? I'm not sure even Clinton herself really knows. Obviously, she understands her political future depends on how she conducts herself in the next three weeks—and the next six months. Obama will soon announce that he has the majority of pledged delegates in the race and will declare it over. He will keep accumulating superdelegates in a steady, day-by-day trickle. She will fight to have the votes in Florida and Michigan count, so she can at least overtake Obama in the popular vote. The duo will fight, and eventually, there will be some compromise. Obama is likely to give her more delegates once he knows he is certain to win anyway.
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Reader Comments
Why Hillary should stay away from VP if offered
Let Obama stand alone, because he's not going to beat McCain in the fall anyway. She doesn't want to be on that ticket. I think McCain should take it this election, and the Republicans should be the ones to get us out of Iraq. This country is still in a downward spiral, and we haven't quite hit bottom yet. Since the Republicans are the ones that started that downward spiral, they should be the ones to "reap all the benefits" of it as well. Let them clean it up. I'm so disgusted by this government and by what has happened to our name across the world. Just give it to McCain. Let it get bad.... real bad. Then maybe the people of this country will come together finally. Get good and MAD people! I know I am angry. I've been angry since the election was stolen from Gore.... but enough of that. For the first time in my life I will not vote this fall. I'm angry that my vote in Florida was basically taken from me because of some idiot in Tallahassee changed the date of the election by a couple weeks. I'm angry that America has embraced Obama so openly when they know little to nothing about him. What has he accomplished? I'm angry that Hillary received more votes than him, yet she's the one who's lost. I'm angry that every day spent in Iraq is another day of dead boys, and insurmountable debt. In my head I know this is the best country in the world, but I can't feel it in my gut anymore. And that angers me. So, out of spite, or because I'm one of those "angry Clinton supporters" I will not vote for Obama, I will not vote period.
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008 :
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008 :
Election 2008 is not a election but a decision for homecoming. Americans are on the crossroad of homecoming or a journey to the abyss. They are currently facing Great Depression II and the only conscious solution is to repeat what they had done in the last Depression and emerged as a much stronger country. In the 1930s Americans were smart enough not to elect a politician as president but to return home to their parents, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, who had nurtured them back to health and wealth. Today, we are facing the same dilemma, should Americans elect a radical politician who has given them empty promises? Or, to return home to their parents, John and Hillary? The choice is really quite simple. Obama and Black supporters reminisced wrestlers whose matches are pre-arranged and play by hitting under the belt theatrics causing economic downturn just to win. So, stop watching American games. Obama's white supporters are insulting their own race as incompetent and incapable of managing their own country . Whether Obama will be elected his "super delegates", who endorsed at other's expense, must be sentenced to live in Black neighborhoods for more than four years to find out what they are really like. The democratic governor of Oklahoma who had just endorsed Obama must be executed for causing their supernatural tornadoes. The communication media of the U. S. are circus clowns not worth commenting on because they have never given any honest election comments. American voters in general are "blind" to good judgement. Hillary Clinton, best American candidate in history, can be identified with a unspoiling mother who has wasted her own $10 million just to warn her stubborn and ignorance daughter not to date strangers in the street. John McCain who has shown the ability to set aside party differences for the common good, working relentless for the American by running on many elections and his decency has earned the trust of most Americans. Together as a team John and Hillary will carry Americans out of the current Great Depression. But will a good father send his children to early grave for a war that cannot be won? Obviously, our parents are much older and less handsome than us but they have the experience we rely on and care we need. Happy Father Day!
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008 :
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008 :
Election 2008 is not a election but a decision for homecoming. Americans are on the crossroad of homecoming or a journey to the abyss. They are currently facing Great Depression II and the only conscious solution is to repeat what they had done in the last Depression and emerged as a much stronger country. In the 1930s Americans were smart enough not to elect a politician as president but to return home to their parents, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, who had nurtured them back to health and wealth. Today, we are facing the same dilemma, should Americans elect a radical politician who has given them empty promises? Or, to return home to their parents, John and Hillary? The choice is really quite simple. Obama and Black supporters reminisced wrestlers whose matches are pre-arranged and play by hitting under the belt theatrics causing economic downturn just to win. So, stop watching American games. Obama's white supporters are insulting their own race as incompetent and incapable of managing their own country . Whether Obama will be elected his "super delegates", who endorsed at other's expense, must be sentenced to live in Black neighborhoods for more than four years to find out what they are really like. The democratic governor of Oklahoma who had just endorsed Obama must be executed for causing their supernatural tornadoes. The communication media of the U. S. are circus clowns not worth commenting on because they have never given any honest election comments. American voters in general are "blind" to good judgement. Hillary Clinton, best American candidate in history, can be identified with a unspoiling mother who has wasted her own $10 million just to warn her stubborn and ignorance daughter not to date strangers in the street. John McCain who has shown the ability to set aside party differences for the common good, working relentless for the American by running on many elections and his decency has earned the trust of most Americans. Together as a team John and Hillary will carry Americans out of the current Great Depression. But will a good father send his children to early grave for a war that cannot be won? Obviously, our parents are much older and less handsome than us but they have the experience we rely on and care we need. Happy Father Day!
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