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Hillary Clinton's Disgraceful Exit*
"Denver! Denver! Denver!" chanted Senator Hillary Clinton's supporters in the middle of her "concession speech" in New York last night. Forget numbers! Forget reality! Forget the Democratic Party and unity! On to the Convention!
Presumably with some new criteria (states starting with the letters A-K, perhaps, or seniors who watch re-runs of Matlock).
For her part, Hillary Clinton gladly fueled her followers' desire for a fight.
In spite of the fact Barack Obama had won the necessary 2,118 delegates to secure the nomination, becoming the first African-American in history to be the standard bearer for a major party, she continued to speak of how she was the stronger candidate, how she won the important states, how she won more votes than any candidate in primary history (not counting caucuses and counting Michigan, where Obama wasn't on the ballot, of course).
I kept waiting for some kind of concession, some acknowledgment of what had just happened, some class and dignity, maybe, dare I say it, humility. This was no longer a matter of perspective or preference, after all. Barack Obama had won. Her chances of winning had gone from nearly impossible to impossible.
Yet instead of graciously accepting defeat , she told her 18 million followers to get on her website and tell her what they thought she should do next. Surely, in this way she might come to a rational, clear-headed decision for her political future. Here's a sampling of the pearls of wisdom being offered at HillaryClinton.com:
They have totally skrewed Hillary, lets get her on the ballot ourselves!!!We need each other not the DNC or Obama, I refuse to support him! [bb]
I sincerely wish that Hillary does not accept the second slot. I just cannot and will not support the Democratic party nominee. I will vote for McCain B4 I vote for BHO. The present DNC has stabbed Hillary in the back, I cannot continuing supporting the Undemocratic party. I will always support and Vote for Hillary but cannot support Chicago mafia(BHO) [bestpresident]
Let's take this to DENVER..........She is the only one. I will never vote for BO...Neither will my family or friends..We will either not vote or vote for McCain...Oh, today I just registered and my family and friends too as INDEPENDENTS....SCREW THE DEMOCRATES.... We love HIllary with all of our heart and we will always support and back her...but what the democratic party has done to her they have done to us....ENOUGH!!!!LET THE DNC HANG THEMSELVES........................DISGUSTING!!! [caspercat]
I say run as INDEPENDENT NOW!! Obama will want Hillary to campaign for him. Hillary is much greater than that. I hope Hillary goes with the "will of the people." She is the "People's President." I will never think of BO as my President. Nope, I just cannot do it. It is about the way they treated HILLARY. Call it whatever you like, dirty politics, etc. etc. She worked so hard, and every step of the way, they tried to diminish her, even when she won her landslide victories. I say, DENVER - DENVER - DENVER - DENVER [LillaBet]
Never mind that young people are dying in Iraq, that millions are struggling to pay the bills, that our policies on health care, education, and foreign affairs could sink even further under a McCain presidency. For thousands of Hillary supporters, it's been a long time since this race was about issues or rationality. It's been rather about a disturbingly insulated, narcissistic, monomaniacal candidate and a base (many of whom lack education) that has passionately followed her lead. (I recognize it's not "PC" to call people uneducated, yet that's what the statistics show and the historical reality is that uneducated voters are more prone to vote on emotion and fear, more prone to manipulation (see gas tax), and more prone to racism and bigotry (see West Virginia and Kentucky.)
In contrast to Hillary Clinton's "stoke divisions and rally the troops for civil war" speech, Barack Obama hardly spoke of himself in his victory speech in Minnesota. He thanked his family, campaign team and supporters, he spoke of the important moment we find ourselves in and how the issues are larger than any one candidate. And he generously complimented Hillary Clinton.
Continuing the trends of their respective campaigns, Barack Obama took the high road; Hillary Clinton chose the low one. When the Clinton's injected race in South Carolina, Barack gave Bill Clinton the benefit of the doubt and spoke of moving beyond our differences; when Hillary ran the infamous 3am ad, Barack continued to insist we act on hope not fear; and in the end, when Barack held out the olive branch, going so far as to say that Hillary's strength and tenacity paved the way for his own daughters, Hillary refused to show grace and help heal the party.
Regardless of what happens from here, Barack Obama's historic night will always be partially shadowed by a woman with an ego too large to do what every other candidate in both parties, including Mike Huckabee, understood was appropriate. Last night Barack Obama won the nomination. He made history. And Hillary knows he offers drastic change from both Bush and McCain. Yet instead of urging her supporters to rally in the name of larger principles, her message was much like another disastrous politician's: screw the pundits, the naysayers, the numbers, the facts. We can still win! Just stay the course.
For Clinton like Bush, it's the war that never ends.
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I feel saddened too as a former Clinton supporter way back when - you know that time when so many of us were counting on her to stand up to GWB and vote against this awful war. I watched and waited and finally, the tally was in and she miscalculated horribly and cast a vote in favor of the Iraq resolution. She lost my support on that day. Her answers in the campaign never added up and the campaign spun it her detriment. She even had surrogate Chelsea out on the trail giving arrogant and flippant responses to questions about the Iraq vote - she (Chelsea) didn't get it either! I believe she cast that vote with an eye on the WH, not on principles; that is unforgivable and so I and the so-called "Move On" crowd abandoned her never to return. I think her campaign was desperate to move beyond the Iraq war debate and never expected to lose - but she couldn't win in this age of change and against the backdrop of the utter incompetence of GWB because at the core of the resentment many Americans feel about GWB is the awful decision to take us into Iraq and Clinton was right there aiding and abetting the fiasco and so I submit that it was the War, Stupid - that is what cost her this race and now she needs to accept it and get out so we can begin to start healing and elect a new
Someone, anyone, explain to me just what the mission in Iraq is now that our original target of WMD has been debunked? My recollection, for good or ill, is of a warning from Saddam that any invasion would have a far different character than Daddy's did. Daddy's being the conflict in which we managed to kill more of our own troops than the purported enemy did . Saddam said the fighting would be house to house and would be complicated by the difficulty US troops would have in identifying those of the Iraqi population who were their adversaries. This was before we had managed to earn the contempt of the Iraq population at large. Perhaps they are disillusioned by the numbers of civilians dying every day in consequence of the mission proclaimed as accomplished those many years ago. As it happens, Saddam was the only one who offered a truthful estimation of the invasion. It is proved yet again, every day we remain in their midst.
*sarcasm*
We are there to promote democracy and free will throughout the Middle East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
*end sarcasm*
No matter that nobody bothered to consult with experts on Muslim faith and Middle East politics are currently conducted... no matter that nobody bothered to foretell what would happen when we took the one stabilizing factor, no matter that he was a dictator... and no matter that WE put him in power as a counter to Iran... Yes, kids, WE put Sadaam Hussein in power)....... George Bush had the imperialistic idea that every nation in the world needs to be a democracy and he figured that democracy at the end of a gun is better than no democracy at all.....
He failed to see that you do not achieve democracy by force... Democracy comes from within and from the ground up.... and now.. we are OCCUPIERS of a country that wishes to forge ahead... WE are stopping them because we say that they need to go OUR way.. not THEIR way.... this is fundamentally wrong... and it is what John McCain wants to continue.... to the cost of our own children's lives....
Hillary diminished the night for Barack, his supporters, and all of us who dream of one day living in a world where race really doesn't matter. But she diminished herself most of all.
Agreed. For one who called for "respect" she showed none to Obama.
I live very close to NY. I'll be watching closely when she is up for re-election as the junior Senator from New York. I intend on making a donation to any Democrat who would oppose her. She made a mockery of her legacy, and the Democratic Party with her egotistical speech on Tuesday.
Exactly the kind of clueless, unsympathetic, elitist crap that has so many of Hillary's supporters so angry. You even managed to slam those of us who've been Democrats through many more battles than either you or Obama. So get over yourselves. Read up on Eugene McCarthy, The last elitist children's crusade leader. Why aren't Obama's supporters as gracious as your candidate? Hillary is not destroying anything. It the followers of the guy who says he can bring everyone together that are causing the trouble. I guess you have to be uneducated to see that.
As an Obama supporter, I take umbrage to your remarks....
Yes, there is a lot of vitriole back and forth between both camps... and that is to be expected in a Primary campaign because we are enthusiastic about our candidate... I had once said that I would never vote for Clinton... I retracted that remark because I realized that it would be detrimental to the party.. I brought it back again when she mentioned assassination... and then I had to rethink... we live in an instant message world and it is so easy to scream out what we think at the moment we think it in this genre... whereas.. IRL.. we would be thinking our thoughts before they came out of our mouths... I am an optimist and I believe that the Obama and Clinton supporters will come to realize that it matters not who is at the top of our ticket.... He/She.. they have almost exact policy statements... but... Good God and Goddess... for anyone who is a Democrat to say that they will vote for a Republican... well, I have to rethink your purpose... was it to get a female elected or was it to get a Democrat elected? As men go.. he is the most metrosexual man I have seen out there.... his love for his wife and family is apparent in everything that he does... and her love for him is equally apparent... How wonderful to have a REAL family in the Whitehouse again....
If only I were properly educated, I would have supported Obama. I guess California is an uneducated state.
So does Hillary have one of those Special Math dealies where California is the only state that counts?
Superb post!
A big clue that she has a few hundred committed supporters, but not all the millions: She ran out of money and got into debt. Those few supporters cannot change the election. That's what she want us to believe. Her slogan: Its all about me
"Hillary is much greater than that." There are, indeed, Obama cultists; but none so fanatical as this, I have never heard or read an Obama supporter say anything as psychotic as this. I do hope the Democratic leadership is paying attention: Hillary is a danger to the Party and the Country. She must be stopped at all costs.
Well said, Joe. This should be a must read for all of her supporters,. She should read it too.
Very well written, and my sentiments exactly.
When Hillary began to speak last night I was really encouraged, and hoped that she was going to gather her wits, her scruples, and whatever was left of her dignity, and make a somewhat classy exit. Sadly she did just the opposite.
Many years ago I heard someone refer to a very assertive, aggressive and tenacious female, who I may add also showed illusions of grandeur as a PITBULL WEARING LIPSTICK. I thought that was horrible thing to say, and it is, but last night it kept running through my mind like one of those darned songs you can't shake.
I just visited Hillary's site and those people are nuts! They are all encouraging her to run as an independent despite the fact that one person has tried repeatedly to point out that she cannot declare as an independent after having run and lost in a declared party primary.
Hillary, you've created a monster and her name is your delusional supporters.
Incidently, there is absolutely nothing on that site about suspending her campaign or meeting with her campaign staff on Friday or getting behind Obama. There are, however, many ways to donate to her campaign. Her supporters are urging each other to flood the superdelegates with phone calls. Guess how well that will be going over!
Clueless! Many comments about how they never were involved in politics before. Of course they are expressing that they have been galvanized and excited about politics for the first time. However, it also explains their cluelessness about the Party, what we stand for, and the Process, how we select our nominee. They have turned Hillary's campaign into a cult of personality, and she encouraged it to happen. Very bad move for all of us.
Well, Hillary, what are you going to do now? Just let your supporters flap in the wind while you look elsewhere for some more profitable venture? Or are you at least going to try to bring them back into the fold?
Yes....but:
Let's not forget that her folks are hurting. Do we inflict more pain on them? I suggest we follow Obama's lead. Let's show some class. Those of us who, for whatever reason, didn't fall under the Clinton spell have to be patient, empathetic.
One thing I fear: Once the Clintonistas finally see (and most will) what the rest of us have seen all along -- the subtle racism, the insistance on entitlement, their inevitable obligations to the past -- their reaction toward the Clintons may be more harsh even than ours. Cheap KoolAid gives a nasty hangover.
Obama '08! One of Us!
I feel really bad for Hillary and her followers. The rest of the United States are celebrating the fact that the Democratic Party has just done something wonderful. We have nominated the first person of color to the office of President. Isn't that phenominal folks????
Doesn't it just make you feel great after the last 8 years for our country to actually be doing something that brings us into the 21st century instead of back to the Dark Ages?
I am ready for dancing in the streets.
If Hillary and her followers want to sit around an weave a wet blanket, don't expect us to wait around for it to be finished.
Hillary defenders, you are welcome to join us... winning is fun.
We're happy for Obama, too, even though we support Hillary. It's the Obama supporters who have caused the real pain. Winning is fun, but gloating is ugly and the way people on this website have talked about her is an embarrassment to the party and equal to the vulgarity of the far right.
I understand where you are coming from, I have read what some of us have said and if any of it were directed at me or at someone I cared about I would be deeply bothered.
But what you also must remember is that you can't take out on Obama the actions of his fans anymore than we can hold Hillary accountable for the words spat on sites like Taylor Marshall or HillaryIs44.
To be absolutely clear, and I think I speak for at least a large number of Obama supporters here, we are not asking Hillary to concede at once and praise Obama, but when she delivers a speech like the one last night, it makes us (me, atleast) feel like our win is being denied, and that is what bothers me.
But to be absolutely clear, Hillary Clinton did not lose this nomination -- Barack Obama won it. We have bigger fish to fry, and I hope you will join me. I hope you will join us.
This is the hyperbole that has led many Obama supporters to push back, not gloat.
I initially felt conciliatory toward Clinton supporters when it became obvious (to everyone except Clinton supporters) that Hillary had virtually no chance of prevailing.
My mother, in fact, has supported Hillary Clinton and I could tell she felt an almost desperate sense of sadness that a real opportunity for women and for America had slipped away. Being my mother, I felt real pangs of empathy.
Then she turned 180 degrees and commented that the primary was "stolen" from Hillary.
Stolen? Ahem, excuse me, mother, but what the, um, heck, are you talking about?
I guess personality is more important than substance, she said.
Now I was pissed. This is one of those bullshit talking points: that Hillary had been "tested" and that Obama was a joke, that anyone who supported him was shallow.
Hillary has no executive experience, mom, unless you want to count the Health Care Task Force, which didn't turn out so well. She's been in the senate 4 years longer than Obama and has been a principal in a handful of significant pieces of legislation. She's named a bunch of post offices and parks. Whoopie ding.
Since then I've heard Clinton supporters talk about crashing the convention, spreading viral smear against Obama and voting for McCain.
Bullshit: I would have held my nose and voted for Hillary had she won the delegates required to win the nomination. Because I'm a Democrat.
It was a tough campaign and we all need to do what's right not only for the sake of the country but for the sake of the world. Yes, the world. There is too much at cost for this general election. We have got to reverse the damage done over the last 8 years and don't count on that happening with John McCain. So I call on each and every democrat to put aside enmity, bitterness, and take the high road. It is essential we come together. And one last thought: Clinton may not end up being on the ticket but I'm sure Obama will find some position for her that will allow her to create some great legacy that will serve all of us. We all need to swallow our egos and focus on what's important. Everyone of us - reach out. Offer the olive branch to others. Let's come together.
I didn't really care that she didn't concede... I understand that she needed to talk to her people and needed a couple of days...
I would have been happy for her to simply ACKNOWLEDGE that he had won the nomination and comment on the historic significance... Just a... "You did an awesome job, Barack!"
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