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.

Comments

[Whatwasthatallabout]

Joe, you are so right.

"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."

Is this what she would have done with a 3AM call. "Let me catch my breath. Go to my website and help me figure this out!'

If shoud could manage to pull some kind of coup at the convention or even run as an indepedent, the republicans would eat her alive on this alone.

With that said, I must also add.
I really do understand her pain and I do feel for her. Her whole world must be devastated. That's not an excuse for her actions over the past 4 months. She needs to repair her own damage.
However, her actions over that past few months are also not an excuse for me a bad "winner" either.

Please if you support Obama ~ accept his example "win" as graciously as he did.

[YellowPanties]

Great article, my thoughts exactly. I would have used a few more expletives, though.

[funnyguy]

What Hillary owes her followers is some leadership, not more reasons to be angry.

[eXcommunicate]

I don't see those many irate and irrational Hillary supporters as "uneducated" per se. What I see are uninformed or mislead voters. They are uninformed about what John McCain will really do in 4-8 years of government administration of the White House. And they have been misled by Hillary Clinton's campaign for over a month now about their candidate's actual chances. They are also mistaken about Obama and believe he is a "misogynist" or other things.

[CarmenCameron]

And you can largely thank the MSM for the "uniformed" status of many, both regarding Obama's character and Hillary's "chances."

[tommytoons]

I believe that HRC was and is an incredible woman who has with her husband done much to help this country. She is a bright intelligent woman who has come along way to prove that women are more than wives and mothers and sisters, but people who on a daily basis help all of us be better people and even better Americans.­Hillary will do the right thing and cast her vote to support Barack Obama because unity is what is needed in this Party, indeed, in our country. To heal the deep wounds that this President has inflicted on this nation and the world,Hillary knows this and also realizes it would be in her best interest politically to do so.

[Bramptonian]

Well said, Mr Vogel. My sentiments exactly, only that you're able to word it better. Thank you.

[e2008usa]

HILLARY OWES THEM SOMETHING.­....THEY"V­E LOST HOPE

Hillary... YOU STILL HAVE A LOT TO REPAIR... I HOPE She'll SHOW SOME GRACE AND HONOR... AND WILL NOT JUST SILENTLY RUN AWAY WITHOUT EXECUTING YOUR COMITMENT AND FAIR DUTY YOU"VE TO ACCOMPLISH FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN ORDER TO RESTORE CONFIDENCE TO THOSE PEOPLES YOU'VE BEEN MISLEADEDING TO NOWHERE DURING MONTH.

RESPECT THE RULES AND COMITTMENT WITH THE PARTY. YOU JUST CAN'T ABANDON THOSE PEOPLES WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE OR GIVE BACK TO THEM AN HONEST ANSWER AND SIGNAL TO WHY THEY SHALL BE LOOKING TO THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN ORDER FOR THEM TO GO FORWARDS AND PURSUE THEIR FUTURE WITH THE ONE WHO BEST CAN HELP THEM TO BELIEVE AGAIN AND SEE HOPE FOR THE NATION.

THEY MAY BE CONFUSED " THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD A LOT OF THINGS WHY THEY DESERVE TO FIND BACK PEACE AND REJECT DESTRUCTIVE FEELINGS

AT LEAST REMEMBER THEIR DONATION TO YOUR CAMPAIGN AND PAY BACK
TO THEM BY GUIDING THEM INTO A PATH THAT SHALL LIGHT UPP THEIR LIFE

THEY"VE LOST HOPE
AND WE HAVE HOPE
HOPE TO BE UNIFIED
WE WORK FOR THAT
HOPE BECOME A BELIEF - HELP THEM TO BELIEVE AGAIN BECAUSE OF...
A DUTY WE HAVE FOR TO RESTORE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[CarmenCameron]

Hillary needs therapy. Maybe if she gets it, she can help her other supporters who are so clearly identified with her various beliefs in her own "victimhood" and start taking responsibility for her own mistaken choices, instead.

That would doing her supporters a GREAT service (from one ex-"pitbull in lipstick."­)

[Jason357]

Anyone see Don Peebles onCBNC today?? I was impressed. I'm not a big fan of real estate developers, but he shared a lot of my views. He was trying to be polite, but he pretty much snickered at any chance in hell of Clinton being offered the VP slot. I think Clinton's black supporters are gong to have a hard tie getting re-elected in their districts. Anyone who's still helping that woman is pretty much spitting on the first black presidential candidate ever in US history. I'd be real surprised if they got away with this.

[SiberianRat]

HuffPost's Pick

I think her followers really need to take a deep breath and take stock--destroying the party and country will not help Hillary. She will not be elected as an independent. She had more that 17 million votes in the primaries, but more than 50 million Dems did not vote for her. Those17 million cannot carry her to victory. I'm really saddened by the hatred from her supporters, although I gotta say that some of the nasty comments by Obama supporters are not any better. Everyone, we must come together. Supporters of both candidates need to suck it up and work together. Obama supporters, follow his lead and welcome Clinton supporters. HRC supporters, please do not trash the whole process because of your disappointment. This election is too important important for our country to allow this sort of infighting to lift McCain to victory.

[gladys46]

We are not sore winners!! HC is a very poor loser! Personally, I'm just sick & tired of HC's tantrums and shameful behavior ... she claimed that she wanted "her" supporters to be respected, that's fine and what about O's supporters all americans, why would she hold hostage the most historical moment meant for the rightful winner of this nomination ... why would she do that! She had done a grave disservice to herself and to all too many others! It is too, too late for HC to redeem herself in my mind ... I take solice in the fact that O waged a very fair contest eventhough she did not and that he won! It was she who said stay out of the kitchen if it's too hot .... she has given new meaning to that awful sterotype, "emotional" woman ... she needed to breath, she needed, this and that ... today is her mother's birthday so she can't possibly concede not today!!

Her campaign is over dead and rank so let's just bury it so that O can be about the real business of beating J.McSame for our country's sake. Amen!

[huffy2001]

Tantrums? What tantrums? Let's use accurate language..­.not this hysterical hyperbola you like to bandy about. When and where was there ever a tantrum?

Yes she didn't concede. Perhaps she should have...I don't know. But tantrum? The only tantrums I see are right here..on this sight. Like the one you just had.

[huffy2001]

"hatred from her supporters"

From what I read on this post, most of the hatred comes from HIS supporters. And HE won!

[Cyril]

Absolutely. The bitterness between the Obama and Clinton camps has been a great disappointment to me. Joe sums it up extremely well in his post. It would be a tragedy to trivialise this election in terms that ignore genuine, important issues like the Iraq war, the future of the health service and America's place in the world. This election is about a vision for America. It's not about personality politics or battles about who "deserved" to be the candidate - Americans need to rise above that and consider what is really in the best interests of their country.

[Krikkit]

Nice sentiment, but sentiment alone is not enough to correct the delusions of supporters who were deliberately led astray. If you want to know why "playing nice" won't be sufficient, I suggest you spend an hour reading the blog on Hillary's site. Her supporters believe that the Party is corrupted, that the nomination has been stolen from Hillary, that the media, the DNC and Obama are in conspiracy to deny Hillary's rightful place -- among other things. None of that paranoid delusional thinking will magically disappear if we "play nice."

[5075]

And Hillary did nothing to dis spell the deluded sentiment that was happening on her website. If fact, up until yesterday, it you tried to post a rational comment, rude free, it wasn't posted. They all followed her lead. She is them and they are her and I think that she has exactly what she wanted bar the nomination. They keep touting 18 million votes but all of her supporters aren't that naive. Right now she is in pursuit of money, she needs money.

I can't wait until Saturday to see how she will endorse Obama.

[rkrenke]

Wow, Joe - you pretty much covered it - this was a great post!

Thank you!

[OrionGal]

Hey Hillary, shouldn't you start spending some time working on your own Testimony this November? Maybe that's how you & Bill can keep yourselves occupied this summer ........

[aaawyeah]

very well said. it's just disgusting to me how selfish she's being. if her support for him is lukewarm, i don't think i'll ever be able to vote for her in any capacity.

[USApatriot]

Hillary, do the right thing and tell your supporters to support Obama. This has to come from you, and the sooner the better. It's not about you, Hillary. It's about what's good for the country.

[orianna]

When you deduct those who voted for Hillary before they saw what she was like and when you deduct those who are not even democrat who voted for her to try to stop Obama because they are really republicans and were helping McCain, and deduct those that voted for her, but will vote democrat for either candidate.­.. I think her force is not so mighty as she is fantasizing.

[Jason357]

That's what I'm thinking too. There's still the hard fact that Obama has plenty of funds and Clinton is $40 million in debt, the massive favorite from the start, and she still lost. Obama schooled the DNC on hw torun a campaign. Now, it's the day after the race is over, and she's stirring up her base against Obama, saying she was robbed. There's something very wrong with that woman. She lost because she wasn't the best candidate. Besides that, she has validated the fears about a woman president not being able to control her emotions. Clinton is acting irrational!!!

[maribelle1963]

Hey, these are good points. Seriously.

[egal]

She has definitely lost more than half of her support, if polls are right. I'd bet waaaayyyy more than that, too, with her unpaid debts and attacking of everyone who doesn't fall in line.

[ghop]

It is both strange and sad to see Hillary shoot herself in the foot like this. Last night was a golden opportunity for her to win back Obama supporters. I sat there watching the speech, hoping she wouldn't take jabs at Obama, wanting to like her again. It was just sad. I don't know if Hillary supporters understand how many Obama supporters used to really like Hillary, we've just been turned off by her conduct during this campaign.
I suppose the silver lining is that it decreases her chances for a VP nod. If she had been the magnanimous loser, more folks in the party would be calling for Obama to choose her for VP. Instead, they are just annoyed.

[huffy2001]

I don't know how if you know how many Hillary supporters used to like Obama...be­fore her campaign ordered the wholesale character assassination of her. It goes both ways.

Also, why does Hillary need to win back Obama supporters? Seems to me it's the other way around...O­bama needs our support if he is going to win in November. We are 18 M strong...m­ore voted for Hillary than Obama. Perhaps we need a while to get used to this.

Can Obama let us have that time? Absolutely. Can his spoiled, bratty supporters? NEVER. You know, I just had an epiphany.

I actually quite like Obama. It's his supporters I can't stand.

[ghop]

Hillary had an option on how she handled herself. Many in the party (including her supporters!) felt that she had an opportunity to mend fences, and she blew it.
And, yes, she does need to mend fences. She still wants a career in politics, she needs to convince folks she is not a poor loser who is willing to burn bridges.
Politics is a group activity, politicians who do not play well with others get sent to the corner.

Her 18 million supporters are not all like you, many of them place the good of the party and the ability to fight for their issues above their own wounded egos.

[deutchs]

By your logic, if your 18 million fellow Clintonistas come to support Obama, then the majority of his supporters will think like you. Just saying.

[e2008usa]

You may be right... It's just because We have been through TORTURE with personal attacks ... again and again.... and the Blogs may give us the opportinuity to express our opinion...­Sorry because of the tone and style of Hillary but I hope we'll all find peace back.

[OriginalScreenName]

Hillary most certainly has a duty to the political party that put her on the map. She has a duty to her supporters to make sure the causes she fights for win in November - not sabotage them. If she doesn't win over Obama supporters and allow this rift to continue, she will be sacrificing her own proclaimed principles and causes.

More people did not voted for Obama - period. It's time she and her supporters show some respect and stop spreading that blatant lie. The reason it's so disrespectful is because you don't count the hundreds of thousands of voters in MI and all the caucus states to make that claim. It's grossly hypocritical and it needs to stop.

Obama was more than gracious in his speech and gave her more conciliation than any other winner has given to a loser in history. No other loser in a political campaign has ever received the time you ask for. Hillary's supporters are now asking for a concession to be given to her that's never been given to any other losing candidate in history when she's already gotten more than any other candidate.

[OriginalScreenName]

Correction - more people voted for Obama in this Primary.

[jackinhack]

I couldn't agree more. This is really sad to watch. I thought she was a lot better than what she's showing the world and those of us who supported her earlier.

[MissKaren]

Mark Shields and David Brooks were just commenting on The Newshour about how "flabbergasted" some Democrats were by her performance. From Terry McAuliffe's introduction of her as "the next President of the United States," which was about as relevant as him screaming "Heil Hillary" to her ME ME ME speech, this was almost frightening. I used to work in a mental hospital and I remember listening to delusional rants by undermedicated patients. It was weirdly familiar to me. She needs lots of sleep, a week at an expensive spa perhaps. She needs to get away from politics for a week and think clearly for a change.

[Yvaughn]

I just caught that, and was glad to hear it coming from a fairly objective person. I was afraid it was just we Obama supporters (who, rumor has it, don't think straight ).

They also said that if Obama chooses Hillary as his running mate, he will be perceived as "weak," and that a liberal needs to appear strong just as much as a conservative needs to appear "compassio­nate." Also interesting stuff.

I've never worked for the mentally challenged and so won't even APPROACH your comparison there.