On the eve that Barack Obama reached the magic number of delegates to clinch the nomination, Hillary Clinton refused to concede. Instead, she asked that her supporters send her suggestions of what she should do next. Afterwards, pundits, politicos, bloggers, and Obama supporters across the country complained that Clinton had wrestled the spotlight from the stagehand and stolen Obama's crowning moment.
Clinton did not take that historic moment from Obama. She took that moment (and so much more) from the American people. It is gone forever. Clinton cannot go back and concede and congratulate now -- the moment has passed.
It is time we stop coddling Hillary Clinton. It is time to stop using euphemisms. We cannot be "good winners" when the other team won't stop being sore losers. It is time to stop lamenting Hillary supporters who may or may not vote for Obama in November. It is past time to stop giving her time to come to terms with her loss. She claims to be a leader -- she should lead by getting the hell out of the way.
Last night should have provided our nominee with a substantial bounce in the polls, an avalanche of new support, a mega money bomb for the coffers, an influx of new volunteers -- resources to win in November so that this country is not forced to suffer through four more years of incompetent leadership.
Obama has already spent too much money fending off Clinton's baseless attacks. Obama has already spent too much valuable political capital convincing superdelegates to support his campaign instead of gaining support for progressive programs. Obama has spent too much of his limited time concentrating on primaries when he should have been focusing on the actual goal -- to win in November so that this country is not forced to suffer through four more years of incompetent leadership.
I cannot listen to another pundit or blogger imploring that Clinton "needs time" or that she needs to go through the stages of grief or that she needs to be allowed to come to terms with her loss. This primary, this election, this year is not about Hillary Clinton. This election is not about the presumptive nominee, Barack Obama. This election is about ensuring that our children and their children live in a better world.
This election year is about a broken economy, torture, secret military tribunals, melting icecaps, health care -- and the list goes on. I could fill whole pages listing the important issues that will be decided by this election. The course of our country -- the course of the world -- rests in our hands.
Every bit of every resource -- time, money, supporters -- counts on the way to November. Clinton has put herself above the people of her country and party by taking valuable election resources from us.
Do not be fooled, Clinton supporters. The Clintons have put their own selfish interests ahead of your needs. Clinton has said again and again that Obama's policies closely reflect her own, that McCain stands against everything she supports. Yet, she continues to spend the money, resources, and time that we will need to defeat McCain.
Because the Clintons have been important figures in the Democratic Party, we have let them take from the American people what is rightfully ours. After giving Clinton the time that she supposedly needed, after allowing Clinton to take so much, she now has the audacity to ask for more time to determine her next steps, and she asks for advice on what those next steps should be.
I am incredulous. She is taking valuable resources from the American people -- resources and moments that we can never replace -- for what? So that she can negotiate terms for... for what? Even Clinton does not know for what -- she asks us to tell her. She asks to lead the free world yet, in her own campaign, she flounders for her own direction.
The pundits are divided regarding Clinton's strategy and plans. Some say that she is playing a game of brinkmanship, pushing her supporters to the edge of the party, hoping to leverage something from her concession. Others have gone as far as calling her delusional. Jeffrey Toobin called it deranged narcissism. She appears to be completely consumed by an obsession with becoming president and unable to make a rational, well-informed decision that would serve the greater good.
Hillary Clinton is holding our party hostage, and she does not yet know what ransom she wants. The value of her leverage decreases with every passing minute as more of her supporters and superdelegates get behind the nominee. As time passes, the value of a negotiated concession grows smaller for Clinton, while the cost to the party unity grows larger because healing will not truly happen until Clinton enthusiastically and sincerely supports the nominee.
Tuesday was not Obama's day. It was our day. It was a historic day that belongs to the American people -- a day that we were supposed to use to garner resources for the general election. Clinton did not steal Obama's moment, she stole our moment -- one of the most important moments of our lifetimes.
None of these moments belong to Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. Nor are these resources theirs. What Clinton took, she took from the American people.
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This may be the best blog I've read about the whole messed up affair- and to help explain my own residual anger as well. Well done, Ms. Teo, well done.
Part 2 of comment
If there was any thievery going on here it was by the DNC who rigged the MI and FL delegate counts to insure Clinton"s demise. Those states broke the rules and shouldn"t have been counted. Let"s face it folks, the machine wanted to pretend like they were being fair, but all they really wanted to do is to railroad Clinton out of there without having to be accountable for voting at the convention. In retrospect, Clinton must feel she made a big mistake by pushing to have those states counted.
Dawn shouldn"t fret over Obama spending resources to battle Clinton. Obama has gotten unprecedented adoration by the media coverage because of the spat with Clinton, so if anything he has come out ahead. There is nothing the public likes more than comic soap operas, which this has been since day #1.
Clinton has got some real bargaining power by holding out. It's too bad because Obama is probably going to have to give Clinton the VP position. Had he been more patient in announcing victory he could probably let her waste away and then choose a much better VP like Webb.
This is blogflogging, but I've got a very different take than guyinAZ and it seems silly to repeat:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/time-and-tide-wait-for-no_b_105533.html
Dawn, really nicely written, nicely thought out piece! You're absolutely right: those moments belonged to us, and the race isn't about "Hillary's right to..." -- it's bigger than the individuals. Thank you.
"the DNC who rigged the MI and FL delegate counts to insure Clinton"s demise"
Not quite. They could have given her all of it and she would still have lost on all counts.
That"s a very a very well written blog. Dawn must be a professional political pundit in disguise!
I don't agree with the main point that Clinton stole something. It's totally in her right to stay in the election until the convention, and if she is holding out to leverage something, well that's how politics is played. Obama would do the same thing if the role was reversed.
Actually, I thought it was circus-like to watch Obama give a victory speech when most of the election results weren't even tabulated. It was a shrewd move on his part to pound the final nail into Clinton's coffin but he could have looked like a fool if he lost both states " and Clinton decided to stay in. The primary race was far from over until Clinton decided to relent. The entire spectacle made the process appear to be so rigged, although Obama people will of course deny it.
Obama pulled the trigger way too early when he gave that speech. If Clinton decides to play hardball by stalling her withdrawal, things could get very ugly.
to be continued ...
It's over, your over, now get out and support Obama already!
How was she able to convince 18 mil(?) people that her quest for power, her undeniable personal ambition was about them?
How were they swayed by her endless "I am, I can, I will" arguments.
How is it she can ask for more time after asking for more time after it was clear she couldn't recover from February? How much time is needed to sway the superdelegates? Enough for them to award her the nomination, how ever long it takes?
I will be watching her on Saturday.
In part, because they had no one else to vote for.
A victory is a victory, but narrowly winning an election despite being unopposed is hardly the kind of thing you should be boasting about.
But I guess if you're Hillary Clinton, you have to take your victories where you can find them.
Well, someone pointed this fact out to me some time ago:
"By definition, 50% of the US population has IQ less than 100"
...which (to me) answers questions similar to yours.
Excellent article, Dawn!
Yes, she has stolen our moment and is wasting valuable time and resources. Supposedly she will end the campaign and endorse Obama tomorrow - I will believe it when I see it.
What I fear now leading up to the GE is McSame using her attacks on Obama ("even a fellow democrat said all he has is a speech in 2004").
Nothing else is left to be said. Great job!
Ms. Teo:
I sincerely hope this article gets honorable mention and excellent exposure. You have done an outstanding job articulating the reality of this present situation.
Hillary and Bill have only one possible chance for redemption: They must work as hard FOR Obama, as they did providing fodder for the Republicans, and maligning and denigrating him in front of Kentucky, West Virginia, and the hard working "WHITE" voters (as she became so fond of spouting).
They must now go back to those places... as well as OH, PA, FL, & MI, and undo the tremendous damage that they did. If she throws herself into this task, with the same abandonment with which she assaulted Obama... then and only then, can she and Bill possibly be forgiven for how they crossed the line. If she ever hopes to redeem herself in the eyes of millions of Americans and millions throughout the world, she AND Bill must begin by doing the right thing by Obama.
We all make mistakes. And sometimes, we even make atrocious mistakes that border on unforgivable. But the way to right the wrongs is first by contrition, followed by demonstrating true repentance, remorse, and a regaining of the senses.
Should she fail to do this... there are countless Americans that will never forget her utter selfishness, displayed for all the world to see. I hope she does not feel as entitled to "forgiveness" as she did to the Presidency. It will not be an automatic thing.
It may be a lttle late for the Clinons to offer up the olive branch.
McSame has (in the last couple of days) started to slam Obama really hard using Hillary's talking points that have been in play since Feb. They are also trying to de-legitimize Obama's win using Hillary's arguments for staying in the race....
We may be already paying the price for her self-centered campaign.
I hear you Shibiwan. She has definitely done irreparable damage that the Repub's will definitely use. My main point is that if she were to turn on that ferociousness in favor of Obama... she could not only score serious points for him, but she could eat McCain alive!
She reminds me of a sparring partner. The job of a sparring partner is NEVER to beat up the main fighter. But if anyone else steps into the ring... the sparring partner does not have to hold back.
Think about it... if she were to go nuclear on McCain in the same way she did on Obama... that would be a formidable 1-2 punch... Obama hits him high... the Clinton's hit him low. McCain could not handle that, and he does not have the support to effectively battle it. And we have clearly seen that she is definitely a tiger.
And then there is always the possibility that she does run in 2016. She would be younger than McCain, and a 2-term Obama would be fully ingratiated to her, despite the fact that she was not his VP.
Just a thought.
It is a sad moment in history to see an inevitable candidate behave in such a manner. It is even sadder to see that she had to be dragged out by her collegues. I extol your article, you have said all there needs to be said. Let her leave, let the healing begin and lets go forward together. Thank you for the truth.
Great article Dawn. I agree. I think a lot of my still lingering anger and bitterness towards HRC is that she stole this moment from us. It was a great evening none-the-less, but it could have been so much more. It could have been a huge celebration of unity and a coming together. I wrote a blog on the Obama blog about how I was grieving the night that could be whilst celebrating the night that was.
I heard pundits say she has to bring on her supporters carefully. What, are they such babies too that they need coddled? This is politics baby, get used to it. She could all the kumbaya stuff with her people AFTER she showed tremendous grace, courage and leadership. Most of them would grieve and be upset, but they'd come along. And they'd be proud of their candidate. She cheated them too and disgraced them. And for what. A few more days in the media---will she, won't she, what does she want? She still is on the stage and I'm tired of it.
Everyone treats her with kid gloves and I don't get it. She hunts and shoots and drinks shots. She's no fragile, fainting Victorian maiden and neither are her supporters. Put on your big panties girls and come on over. Sheesh. Her not conceding gracefully on Tuesday was the final straw for me. But now, I just want her to go quietly into the dark night and leave us alone!
Very good article-it says everthing that is the truth and thank you for such a great article....No one could of said it better...
Let's get real. Her campaign was over on Super Tuesday. The media kept this thing alive because it made for good television.
You've heard of vanity publishing? This was a vanity campaign.
Just wanted to say...."bravo". Excellent article.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I am so dense. She demands and gets special treatment because she is a woman and screams sexism. I have never seen a male get such consideration. If she wants to play with the boys, she has to suck it up and the media has to decide to treat her as an equal and not make excuses for her selfish, self serving, greedy, power hungry quest. I won't even get into the personality changes from event to event.
She has never shown grace, or class and acknowledged her opponent of the same party or his victories. This woman has calculated a most divisive campaign and set women, race and classes against each other. She leaves a legacy of hate.
Thank you Dawn, your feminist hillbilly fan.
Thank you concerned2, from your hillbilly blogger :)
Excellent article! You managed to articulate what I've been telling everyone!
Keep Blogging.
Great article again! You are absolutely right. It's not about Obama or about Clinton. It's about us- the people of the USA. We were robbed of a historic moment when Clinton did not show the grace to recognize Obama's nomination. Instead, she used the "18 million votes" argument- as if to say, this is what you lose when you win against me. That's poor sportsmanship, and poor politics. Even politicians join hands after a fight is over. Even boxers hug after the results are announced. They don't wait until the next day or next week to do it.
I understand that Hillary is hurting. She started the campaign with the concept of 'inevitability'. I never thought in my wildest dreams she would lose this nomination, but she did. It has to hurt, and I feel a tinge of sympathy for her. Still, if she wants to be a leader, she has to do what a leader does- leave her personal feelings aside, and accept defeat graciously, for the sake of the people she wants to serve. Being tough also means being humble. She missed out on an opportunity to earn the respect of Obama supporters, and possibly lost the respect of even her own supporters as a result.
Let's emphasize leadership. A true leader leads by example.
Aren't we Americans first? Isn't this what this was truly all about in the first place?
Yes, she stole a moment from our history. This makes me wonder what kind of leader she really is? And asking others what she should do? This doesn't sit well with me.
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Posted June 4, 2008 | 03:31 AM (EST)