Jeffrey Toobin: Clinton's Refusal To Concede "Deranged Narcissism"

On CNN's election night coverage Tuesday, political analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Hillary Clinton's refusal to concede the election "deranged narcissism." Watch Toobin below:

The folks over at The Hotline put together a roundup of other pundits' reaction to Clinton's speech in New York City tonight:

"Well whatever that was, it wasn't a concession speech." -- FNC's Hume

"Clearly, she's trying to position herself, keep her options open." -- NBC's Russert, on HRC's speech (MSNBC).

"If I were Barack Obama, if I heard that speech, I would not be very happy. ... They are living in parallel universes right now." -- CNN's Borger.

"This was a defiant speech, against all the kind of advice that [heavyweights] within the Democratic Party gave her" -- Ex-WH adviser David Gergen, on whether he was surprised by Clinton's speech (CNN).

"She did everything but offer Obama the vice presidency" -- GOP strategist Alex Castellanos (CNN)

Comments

[halyscomet]

Toobin is absolutely right.

Obama has gone out of his way to show the Clintons the respect they deserve, however, they have not reciprocated and will never legitimately do so.

"Deranged Narcissism" is both accurate and understated when describing the Clintons.

[bggrzzz]

She's never going to give up, concede, quit.

She's Monty Pythons Black Knight, She's a zombie from Night of The Living Dead, she's a political vampire that has convinced herself that she still has the nomination within her sights.

She has now crossed the threshold of delusion into a world of pathos that will forever label her a hag and a sore loser. Tell me again, what is the first stage of grieving?

I just pray that Obama does not allow her posturing and positioning to steal her way unto the ticket.

Please Mrs. CLINTON go home.

[Marcospinelli]

She gets help from the media, encouraging her "deranged narcissism". Cable news channels are broadcasting Hil'ary now, live, giving a major Mid East foreign policy speech to A.I.P.A.C.

Unless the cable channels stop covering her, they enable her backdoor bid to threaten O'bama getting the nomination. I don't care how many times she says "Senator O'bama will BE a good friend to Is'rael; (subtext: He's not NOW; I AM going to be an even better friend)", when she has friends (Haim Saban) dangling $$million$$ in front of SDs and the Dem'ocratic Convention is still months away.

The time to rejoice is when she concedes and drops out of the race. She undermines his legitimacy as THE nominee until that happens - Members of Congress who have endorsed her speaking after her speech to the cable channels are speaking about O'Bama as if he isn't the nominee, and defending her remaining in the race.

[justShareandbeNice]

That is exactly right, she "undermines his legitimacy as the nominee". And i think that has been her goal for quite a while now

[MrCarton]

My thanks this morning to Barack Obama for restoring hope and ending the reign of the Clintons. You, sir, are a great man.

Toobin, echoing Andrew Sullivan, absolutely nailed it. The Clinton's are poison - shameless, depraved, morally-bankrupt figures. How can anyone, even the most cynical feminist or pathological racists, support this woman, her husband, and her warped campaign? Honestly.

Barack to the future.

[mary82]

I Concur

[BlueAsh]

Ditto!

[roshni]

Me too

[YankeeCanuck]

And what about the deranged narcissists we call TV "journalists"?

Will they begin reporting on the issues, or will they exit gracefully?

[Girardo]

Amen to that....bu­t you should have said, "And what about the SO-CALLED TV "journalists?"

I'm thinking Keith Olberman, Chris Mathews...­.MSNBC in general has become nothing more than an entertainment industry..­...the FOX News for the left.

And it is truly unfortunate that American's are buying this propaganda as objective news.....a­nd the mindless American's are buying this propaganda­......line­, hook, and sinker.

[Girardo]

The deranged narcissim is from Obama....n­ot Clinton.

It really gets to me that Obama himself & the main stream media have annointed Obama...."­The People's Choice." When the actual truth is that he is ALMOST the people's choice....­but not quite.

From an NPR story by Ron Elving this morning about the Democrat's FUZZY pledged delegate math that allowed Obama to "win" this nomination: How is it that "By dominating in the Idaho caucus, for example, Obama got a 10-delegate bigger net payoff than Clinton got in Ohio."

In Ohio (the 7th largest state), Clinton won the primary by 10%, where almost 2.2 million people voted in the Dem's primary. In Idaho (the 39th largest state), where less than 21,000 people voted in the Dem's caucus....­.Idaho gave Obama more net delegates than Ohio gave Clinton.

Now.....ag­ain.....pl­ease try to explain how Obama's nomination is the "WILL OF THE PEOPLE," for I'm still not convicned.

On November 4, 2008: WRITE-IN: Hillary Rodham Clinton

[boogygran]

No narcissism involved - I'd call it confidence and a lot of "smarts" on the part of Senator Obama and his campaign gurus. The info on how the caucus vs. primary systems work - along with what was potentially at stake in the various states - was out there and available to all the candidates' planners.

Senator Obama's campaign people were smart, did their homework, and devised a plan to maximize results relying a lot on the caucus states. By the time Hillary's people realized they had been outsmarted and needed to revamp, it was too late.

After watching and listening to Hill, Bill and Chelsea vs. Barack in state after state, the obvious choice was clear.

Obama '08

[DakotaMinnesota]

Awesome. Way to go.

[pizzmoe]

You have to give Hillary credit. Obama wins a historic victory, and Hillary manages to have everyone (esp. the media) talking about her more than him.

[eej]

Everyone talks about Britney more than they talk about women of true beauty and character, too.

The human train wreck is hard to look away from. I know, it's morbid curiosity, but it's all to human to stand and stare. Ask Britney.

[dawlishgal]

I wasn't at all sure being the butt of all of the jokes and the subject of a lot of frustration and anger is a good kind of attention. Then I remembered my late MIL and her narcissistic attention-seeking. Her order of preference was 1) good attention, especially accompanied by presents that she could criticize and claim to "hate" , and when you offered to return the gift for a gift certificate, she would sigh and say, "Don't bother. I'll learn to like it." 2) bad attention of the kind given somebody is having a tantrum ("calm down Mom, or I'll have to call the doctor." 3) no attention at all...she couldn't deal with THAT, and when people stopped paying attention, she used to do things like call ambulances for herself, then call us and say, "I'm waiting for the ambulance to come...I didn't want to bother you." (Nevermind that we lived 150 miles away).. We would jump in our car and race to the hospital and get there just in time to take her back home after yet another determination that nothing was wrong with her..

Hillary in 10 years!

Somebody said about (I think) Theodore Roosevelt that he had to be the bride at every wedding and the corpose at every funeral. According to the piece in Vanity Fair, they are now saying that about Bill Clinton...­how many nanoseconds before people start saying it about HIllary? Anybody got a stop watch?

[campgranata]

if you believe there is no such thing as bad press you are correct. She has just committed political suicide, however.

[BlueAsh]

For all the talk about sexism, it is incredibly ironic to me that Hillary acts like a has-been prima donna, demanding "respect." When is Hillary gonna outgrow her sexist mindset?

[Falafel]

Now, all we need is the media to TOTALLY IGNORE HER. Any future speeches/a­ddresses/r­amblings/r­allies whatever should not be covered.

[Lerk4]

No shit. Something all of us at HuffPost have been saying for some time now.

[Moose49]

Thank you, Jeffrey Toobin, for saying what anyone with half a brain thought after watching that stunning performance, but which no one else had the guts to say.

[lafrance]

I agree. Thank you Toobin. I feel that pretty much sums up Hillary's whole vanity campaign so far.
What a shameful performance by this former first lady. She knows nothing about class or decency.
It's always about only themselves. The clintons are the most narcissitic people ever.

[myownwings]

Amen! Why are people so afraid to ask of her what we expect of ourselves and our children in life? Hillary needs to go into seclusion and get well if possible and find a life that satisfies her without sacrificing the people of America to make her feel better.

[Chachi]

The only problem is that Hillary now is the choice of almost 18 million people - some of which have less than half a brain, so they are clearly too stupid to have thought what the rest of know about the Clintons and what was only reinforced by that pathetic non-concession speech of hers.

[edwarvir]

Moose49. Too bad Jeffery can't be his running mate. If I were to ever hit the lotto
I would give him a some of it. He is right, He is right, He should have his own
show. She is deranged plain and simple

[swift goat pet for truth]

From where you and Jeff Toobin are sitting, easy to talk.

It is different when you are sitting in the hot seat.

And there is no way I am a Hillary fan.

[allyiniowa]

Well, there's always the age-old wisdom: If you can't handle the heat, get your ass out of the kitchen. And that's not sexist, I'm a woman. I'm just being honest. If she can't handle it, just like Bill Clinton told Obama a month or so ago, the exact same quote as above.... she is derranged!

[JamesInDenver]

The Clinton apologists say "Relax, give her a night to celebrate.­" The only problem is, they will be saying this every day until the convention. "Just give her one more day." The Clinton's are a disease in the Democratic Party. No matter how badly they behave, their supports seem to always make excuses.

[BluesDogLefty]

If you want to see this exchange in a larger context:

http://www.wikio.com/video/261404

[murphysgirl]

This morning on the Today Show Matt Lauer asked Howard Wolfson if a newspaper headline claiming Obama the presumptive nominee was accurate. You know what his response was? "Well in a couple of days we will consult with our advisers before we make a decision." The look on Matt Lauer's face was priceless. Every news organization across the world has proclaimed that Obama won, and Wolfson can't enough acknowledge it.

I understand that it is probably difficult for Clinton to accept defeat. But on the other hand, she has to realize that she can't sit and pout in a corner, and hold her 17 million voters hostage if she doesn't get VP. Last night she should have acknowledged Obama's accomplishments more gracefully and she should have encouraged those chanting "Denver!!" "Denver!!" to begin to envision a unified Democratic party and not a divided one.

[Abo]

Damn straight.