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Hillary's Hostage Crisis
Hillary's rhetoric of the past 24 hours has gone from conciliatory to cataclysmic, turning on a high-speed dime like some UFO over the Florida swamps. An awful lot of Democrats are shocked and outraged at her use of civil rights rhetoric over the primary dispute, especially after winning two primaries with the help of some white voters who admitted their choice was influenced by race.1
Some are suggesting a personality shift explains the change of tone, but she's cooler and smarter than that. It's more likely that this sudden transformation is premeditated, brought on by a simpler and more ruthless motive: She's demonstrating to Obama and the superdelegates what she's capable of doing if she's crossed.
Think about it: She's showing that she is willing to ignite a firestorm, amplify the misguided rage of her supporters, and split the party in two if her demands are not met. She no longer expects to get the nomination. She has another list of demands, which might include the vice presidency but definitely involve high-level appointments for herself and/or her supporters. She spent a couple of days showing how good she can be for the party. Now, the purpose of her recent comments has been to show how much damage she can do.
And she can do a lot. Many of her supporters remain convinced that not counting the Florida and Michigan votes (that is, honoring the pledge she and others signed) is some sort of disenfranchisement. She's made it clear she will push that argument until she has what she wants.
She's also making it clear she can keep the racial issue on the front-burner. What was most outrageous about her now-infamous WaPo interview wasn't her claim of media sexism, which undoubtedly exists. It wasn't even her claim that she's losing because of bias -- despite the fact that she was once the odds-on favorite and was a woman then, too. More outrageous was her claim that there has been no racism in this campaign -- this from a candidate whose last two victories came from white voters who, by 20% and 25% respectively, acknowledged that race played an important role in their choice.
What does that kind of talk accomplish? It inflames her supporters' mistaken belief that she's been unjustly robbed, while at the same time dismissing the idea that both nominees had hurdles to overcome. The ongoing rage of Hillary supporters is her best bargaining chip. It's the dynamite she can use to blow up the party.
And speaking of racial: Was it just coincidental that she invoked Zimbabwe, of all places, in describing the Florida election? And not just Zimbabwe, but the President of Zimbabwe: "the president lost, they refused to abide by the will of the people." Nice. The President of Zimbabwe is, of course, a scary and possibly corrupt black man. (No subliminal racial message there, of course; it's just one of the ongoing series of "accidental" inferences the Clintons keep innocently making.)
She knows these arguments won't sway the superdelegates to give her the nomination. What she's doing now is showing the Obama team and the Party's leaders that she has it in her power to cost them the election in November. Her surrogates are busy doing the same thing: "undermining the legitimacy of the Democratic nominee," as Scott Lemieux puts it.
It's a hostage crisis. She's showing that she'll destroy the party if necessary, even if it means destroying her own political future. She wasn't having a personality crisis when she switched from nice to mean yesterday: She was showing everybody the detonator in her hand. It was a Dog Day Afternoon moment, with Hillary as Al Pacino -- walking back and forth, smiling and nodding her head and saying "See what I can do? Still want to write me off?"
She didn't think Florida and Michigan were "rights" issues when she signed that pledge -- not until it was in her self-interest to do so. But a lot of her supporters either don't know that or don't care, and she knows it. She knows that a certain percentage of Democrats will chant along with her when she and her supporters start saying "Count the votes! Count the votes!"
What a moment that will be. Like "Attica State! Attica State!" but with a less sympathetic character leading the charge.
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1Don't believe race is a factor in this campaign? Watch this video about Kentucky - then ponder why no American news outlet bothered to interview these voters.
RJ Eskow blogs:
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"especially after winning two primaries with the help of some white voters who admitted their choice was influenced by race".
And how many states did Obama win by black voters whose choice was influenced by race?
I think you can start with North Carolina, and most of the other states in Obama's Deep South block of states.
Black voters that have steadfastly voted for many, many white candidates over many years don't have to prove to anyone that they are not racists regarding elections. However, white voters that have never voted for a person of color in their lives and freely admit to pollsters that they would never vote for a black man because of the color of his skin do indeed have something to answer for. It's a fair issue.
Obama will never choose Hillary as a running mate. Having the Clintons down the hall and operating once again out of the White House will invite uncontrollable political intrigue, double-dealing, unauthorized leaks, aggressive pressure to place their own people, in short everything that will advance their agenda and cripple President Obama's ability to act. Obama is much too smart to walk into that one. He started out on the high road but he has his eyes wide open now.
In fact, one of the "compromises" floated around is that Obama could offer the VP to Clinton who would then graciously decline as a sop to her supporters. Obama's people won't go for it because at this point they don't trust her to not promise to decline and then publicly accept once the offer is made. Many just don't understand how duplicitous the Clintons and their crew really are.
After Clinton loses the postscript on her nomination run is going to be horrendous. The intelligencia from feminist groups ... from the educated class ... from even blue collar workers as she is want to describe us (even though we know it is code for something other than just that ) are going to purge themselves of all the angst they've been holding inside at witnessing this lowball effort to seize a nomination.
My sincere hope is that no political post is offered to Clinton ... politics is better off without them.
Obama should offer Hillary his first Supreme Court Nomination if she drops out now and supports him. She does have a law degree and was a lawyer before her political career. Think about all the good she could do for the country as a Supreme Court Justice! It is much more prestigeous than offering her the VP slot.
She could champion womens and childrens causes from the bench. With her sudden interest in Civil and voting rights, what better place to make a difference than the Supreme Court.
She is not qualified. It really takes more than just an old law degree. How about some experience on the bench? It's the Supreme Court, for crying out loud, not a political patronage job.
Yeh, she's got everything a judge needs but integrity.
Her interest in the rights of women and children is not sudden. Her interest in Civil Rights is not sudden. I can conclude from your writing that you have no idea about Ms. Clinton apart from what you have read on HuffPo.
Perhaps she should become ambassador to Zimbabwe since she claims to care so much about what goes on there.
This is a terrible idea. For a lot of voters, supreme court appointments are the single most important "issue" of a presidential election. Obama would LOSE a great number of votes if he were to promise to put Hillary Clinton on the supreme court. While many of my conservative and libertarian friends like Obama (they no his policies, but trust that he will genuinely show respect and fairness towards voices of dissent), they do not trust Hillary Clinton. Come to think of it, neither do I. She is way too political to be a judge. Plus... her judgment appears to stink.
When he finally files for divorce, then we'll hear him say, "I never wanted Hillary to run, but that was the price I had to pay for my, mm...hmm wicked ways". ROTFLMAO.
Listen up democrats. Stop being scared of Hillary Clinton. This is the kind of mindthink that makes us losers! There is a reason why Barack Obama has defeated the most powerful establishment candidate, and we all know what it is. CHANGE. Get off the damn fence, and let our candidate be the winner he is. No wonder we're looked at as mamby pamby weaklings! STOP! This isn't about soothing Hillary Clinton's ego. This is about us, and winning. He won without breaking the rules, and having everything against him. Declare victory, and stop taking the wind from our winning sails! let him get on with it! He does not need her to win! Quit drinking the Koolaid!
Yes, we know how Obama played one part of the Dem establishment led by Ted Kennedy against the other part of the Dem establishment led by Bill Clinton.
Based on the electoral map it is pretty easy to see now:
http://www.diversityj.com/ElectoralVoteStates.html
1. caucuses in his Central Northwest block: IA, CO, MN, NB, KA, ID, AL, WY, ND. These Republican states are responsible for his total lead in delegates with typical voter to delegate ratios of about 1000/1.
2. the black vote in his Deep South block, which again will likely be Republican states in Nov.
3. the elite liberal vote in Pac NW, and Eastern coast.
Hillary, by comparison, has won the broad swath of Democratic states of the Democratic base contiguous from Massachusetts to California.
Hillary is ahead in popular vote and the count grows and she may win it no matter how many of her states the DNC throws out:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080523_In_most_inclusive_count__Clinton_has_the_numbers.html
Hillary's best move is to keep on the campaign path, consolidate her huge electoral and working class base, and use that as the foundation for her political future moving ahead. It looks to me like she could have immense long term influence in Congress with this base.
She is blackmailing the DNC, and the democratic institutions of this nation. She pushes lies to her supporters, who may be happy to believe the worse of a black man any way...she is not any kind of agent of change...she is the SOS that we have been having...a fearmonger...though she does not use abortion or gays, she uses the scary black man. I never thought I would say this...but as much as I respected and stood up for the Clintons..(Bill's dallience with Monica was Hillary's business), I believed the Right Wing Conspericy theory, I just knew that Hillary was innocent...and I was a fool. I hope that Obama can find some way to push past her evil...but I doubt it, I do not trust the people to see her as she is, just like they could not see past Bush and his good ole boy persona.
Her baggage and what the Repubs would do to her is what made me look at Obama. I find him to be honest, even when it is not politically adventagious to him. I am sick of the Clintons and their emotional blackmail that has turned into holding our democracy hostage.
Peggy Noonan is brilliant today. She has a great piece on the Wall Street Journal dissecting the difference between true women leaders like Golda Meir, Thatcher and Indira Gandhi who never complained about sexism and Hillary, who wants to win by complaining and blaming others for her failures.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121148557268715077.html?mod=todays_columnists
The article you linked is brilliant. I'm astonished Murdoch let her publish it.
He has some soft spots, His daughter, Elizabeth has endorsed Obama. She also has bi-racial children. Muroch has not disowned his daughter or his grandchildren.
I don't usually agree with Peggy Noonan, who has been critical of Obama, but she says it all. I think this country is ready for a female President and I resent the Clinton backers' sexist excuse. We are just not ready for THIS woman, named Hillary.
Clinton scandals are more interesting to watch, she will be deposed for their fraud case postponed until after the election.
Thats as good as any reason for her to drag out her lame excuses to the convention.She won't be any worse or any better than McCain As Pres.or VP
Is she willing to commit political suicide? If she gets blamed as the reason Obama loses in 2008, forget 2012, forget anything. She's toast in politics. Time to get real, Hill.
Is HRC willing to commit political suicide? Absolutely!!!! Right after she makes sure she's eliminated every peon who stood in her way.
Fortunately, the "hostage crisis" scenario is like all of HillaryLand delusions. These nuclear option weilding rabid supporters are vocal, but they are not the majority. Fortunately, for every one of them willing to vote for McCain if Hillary isn't crowned the nominee, there are plenty of others who have switched their support to Obama from Clinton as they've gotten to know both candidates better throughout this process. And let's not even mention the Independent vote that goes for Obama, but would swing to McLame if he is opposed by Hillary. Let's not mention it because we don't have to.
Yep. As Hillary goes further and further in trying to paint her campaign as a cataclysmic conflict between good and evil, the contrasts between the world she is describing, and the real world become greater and greater. Eventually, it becomes too much for even her loyalists to ignore, no matter how much they want to believe otherwise. The more childish temper tantrums she throws in the spotlight, the more of even her hardest-core supporters will start leaving her.
She'll try going nuclear, to push this all the way to the convention, but she will fail. By July, she won't have enough supporters left to matter.
In other words HILLARY CLINTON IS A TERROIST!
ROFL!
Unfortunately, that's a pretty accurate statement. *sigh*
You belong in Michigan.
Hillary stands for every stereotype of what is wrong with politicians and bad stereotypes of women. She is doing her party and women a disservice with her ignominious actions. She is despicable! As a woman I am doubly angry and feel ashamed of her.
And you belong in California.
To think the Democratic party has been so good to the Clintons. AND THIS IS HOW THEY REPAY US? What a tragedy!!!!
The Clinton's will say or do anything....
I'm so mad, my blood is boiling. This woman is a total disgrace!
I also like to think that in every crisis there is an opportunity and what I see is that after all this mess Hillary has created she destroyed the flimsy chance she had of being on the ticket and this is a relief. I don't believe the pundits. She has showed to be unstable, hateful and a divider. If her supporters don't come around it doesn't matter because her being on the ticket would a cause a bigger number of people to vote for McCain. Obama needs to show strenght when negotiating with the monster otherwise he will appear weak.
Or she can run as an independent and really make things interesting...
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