Not Until the Fat Lady Sings
As an ardent Obama supporter, I am calling on the Senator from New York to stay in the race for as long as she can stand it. Longer even. I think the calls for her withdrawal are deeply troubling, and even hysterical. Anti-democratic even. This is how an election works. And even though this particular one seems to be poorly designed at best, we are in the midst of the process. Voting: A right, may I remind Mr. Leahy, et al -- for which people have fought hard and died.
Let me be clear: I believe that the Clinton campaign has been simply tragic. It is an object lesson in failed promise and panicked, unstable, virulent war-game tactics. It has been marked by shallowness of the first order, and by the relentlessly divisive behavior of a cynical staff. She is fatally compromised in her stature as a credible voice, even perhaps in the senate, and her husband, an ex-president of the United States, is in danger of squandering what is left of his tattered reputation. The utter absence of statesmanship from the Clintons actually is painful to watch. There are lies about being under fire, there are semi-secret conduits to Matt Drudge, there are methods worthy of the Nixon playbook, in terms of sheer cynical zero-sum brinksmanship. There is an endless contempt for Obama's brilliant oratory, his ability to speak to adults like adults, which makes the Clintons suddenly seem like Bushesque boors, frankly. The sneering at his ability to connect reeks of school yard pique. It need not have been this way. There were early signs of a different kind of race, and they evaporated a long time ago. One day, we may live to see such a race. I doubt it.
However, I utterly disagree with those who cynically are calling for her to go quietly into the good night. I think that would be deadly for the fragile unity of the party, a party that should be on the brink of reclaiming control of the White House, and all that goes with it. A huge percentage of Clinton believers would be turned off. I think any Democrat alive knows what it is like to feel disenfranchised after the chaos of the last few elections.
And as any reader of the Huffington Post knows, she has fervent and patriotic supporters. (They will be writing angry letters even before they finish reading these words.) Supporters who still see more of what's good and great about her, who see her brilliance, her stamina, her staggering capacity for survival, as purely admirable, and even vital to whomever is going to be our next chief executive. I do not disagree with the need for a powerhouse in the Oval Office, I just think we need the purging energy of Barack Obama more. Senator Clinton has people who believe in her just as passionately as I believe in Senator Obama. Those supporters deserve to see their nominee fight for as long as she can, as long as she needs to. Well past the point of reasonable hope. That is America. It's in our sports, it's in our business, it's in our blood. And frankly, there is something admirable about the indefatigable Clinton appetite for power. I find it morally vacuous, not to mention shallow as hell when Bill remarks that if you can't take the hits, you shouldn't run. Really, Bill? Did you love your ongoing and disgusting hazing at the hands of right wing zealots so much that you think those tactics are a reasonable litmus test for the presidency, rather than say, oh, profound and inspirational moral force and an utterly unifying presence? Just asking. And as stomach turning as is the new college campus mini-trend of questioning of the Clinton's daughter about Ms. Lewinsky, well, so long as the Clintons are willing to put her out there to play that particular game of tennis, well then, who are we to stop 'em? Go. Go. Go. Go to town.
Maybe there's something purging about it for them. More than anything else, for purely selfish reasons, I do not, for one, think this race should end until William Jefferson Clinton is asked, and exhaustively and comprehensively answers each and every last question pertaining to the unconscionable pardoning of the crooked financier Marc Rich. Because, he too will be in the White House again, powerful, cynical, and hungry. Who knows what favors would be traded in exchange for God only knows what?
No, Hillary should remain in the race. As Frank Rich pointed out last Sunday, she knowingly fabricated the details of her landing in Bosnia, and she did so repeatedly, shamelessly, even after she was entirely revealed as a fabulator worthy of the hoariest backlot Hollywood schlockmeister. So -- Let it go on and on and on and on. The truth, as it did in the case of her trip to the "war zone", will come out. It always does. the last aria has not been sung, and the Valkyrie has yet to exhaust her lungs. And as the race continues to the bitterest end, I hope that Senator Clinton's many supporters are entirely satisfied that she did this to herself. That she exhausted her every chance.
It could have been different. As I have said before, character is fate, and that is what we are witnessing, as her campaign falters. Let it go on until all hope is exhausted. Those of us who look at the Clintons and see the full dimensions of the failure of their promise to America will also feel some sense of loss when she withdraws. She shied away from greatness, so as to hold on to power. Character is fate.
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Nice post Mr. Baitz. You hit it on the head. Hillary, when all this started at Iowa and thru New Hampshire, had my respect. I wondered about why there was talk about Hillary's "negatives" and if there were really so many "Hillary haters". I just did not see it. Beginning in South Carolina I started to see a pattern. Hillary and to my chagrin, Bill, began , in my eyes, tarnishing their image. I first started to become disenchanted with Hillary when I watched her dodge questions during a debate about her "tax filings" and the 1000 or so White House papers at the Clinton Library. I started to get angry when Hillary said Obama plagiarized material for his speeches. I got more angry when Hillary compared Obama to Ken Starr. The anger dissolved into total disillusionment when Hillary stated McCain was a better presidential candidate than Obama. By the time her sniper fire story and Nobel prize winner for Northern Ireland remarks on her "silly" claims were media ventilated I became truly afraid for the Democratic Party. She has truly done it to herself by showing contempt for Obama. Luckily, there is no "heir" to the Throne in this country. I believe Hillary actually thinks of herself ( and McCain) as some type of American Royalty. And, her Hubris, much like AggAmemnon's caused her to assume the duel role of AggAmemnon
Mr Baitz patronizing tone and rhetoric demonstrate what is really wrong with Obama supporters, if not Mr Obama himself. They do a better and more through job of trashing the Clinton's then the Right ever did. They cannot abide a single word of criticism of their self manufactured black JFK . And they will get their wish. Mr Obama I am sure will get the nomination and he will lose to Mr McCain, badly. And then the Liberal Obama supporters will blame Hillary and Bill all over again. But the truth is they lost the election when they decided to take a good candidate like Mr Obama, who happened to be of mixed race, and repackaged him as the Black Candidate. And they transfered all of their hopes and fears on his shoulders and began talking as if The First Black President was a necessary and sufficient reason to vote for him. The Liberals always hated the Clintons and now by throwing them under the campaign bus they can feel good about going down to defeat in another worthy cause. Much better than actually winning I am sure.
Actually, it is the Clintons who hate the liberals. And some liberals, me included, have taken almost a decade and a half to realize it. It was the Clinton branch of the Democratic Party that decided to marginalize the progressives, even after it was progressives who worked their butts off for the 2006 congressional victory. Hillary and her DLC attempted a coup d'etat of Party leadership,, sent Carville out to demand that Howard Dean be fired. That didn't work for them, but we still don't know if the rest of their scheme has succeeded. What do you think all of that "triangulating" was all about if not to turn the party over to her corporate sponsors, her REAL friends?
It saddens me how many working people have been bamboozled by HC's talk of wanting to do something for working people and by their faulty and incomplete memories of the 90's....th
The Clintons would sell their grandmothers' gold teeth and give the money to their corporate pals, then take it back again in the form of political bribery for political favors. That is how we got NAFTA. That is what she did with her designed-to-fail healthcare plan. Accepted more money from big healthcare corporations after they lied to kill it than did any other candidate, including Republicans.
What a spectacularly well written piece, Mr. Baitz. You singlehandedly made me break my Huffington Post commenting fast.
HILLARY wanted to ’shut down the vote’ by Feb 5, remember? Back when she was ‘inevitable’?
NO ONE can, or will, shut down the vote. IF Hillary suspends campaigning, as Edwards did, the remaining primary contests will be held, Hillary’s name will be on the ballot, and the votes will be counted.
I am sick of the deceptive statements by the Clintons and their supporters.
obama supporters are a lot like rabid christian talabangelists. they're so insecure that the whole world won't see things their way (and only their way) that they'll try just about anything to change the script to fit their belief in obama manifest destiny.
it's a democracy. i have my reasons for wanting hillary. they're just as valid as your reasons for wanting obama tho, unlike you, i'm not prostrate at his feet writing in heavenly bliss.
i'm for letting the process run it's course and may the best person win. i'll support whomever is on the democratic ticket. but unlike obamamaniacs, i'm not one for telling everyone else how they should think. you vote for whomever you like. that's your right.
I'm a "rabid christian talabangelists?" I thought I just supported my candidate. Thanks for your open minded ways. I guess you didn't like the post so you decided to insult the entire other half of the process. Now there's brains for you. Almost as dumb and using Wright to call Obama a racist. You are so off the hook we chuckle.
Yeah, I guess I'm rabid also......
deedrdo...
BUT, but, but... Barack supplicants assume only he can and will WIN... The Democratic Party may be in a 50/50, or even if 55/45, Obama/Clinton split right now, with actual outcome unknown, but, but, but... Somehow, after trashing the Clinton's and supporters, suddenly, tah dahhhhh, ALL those Voters that Barack the Great needs to WIN, will magically Vote for him... Hmmm, one could make a case, I suppose, that Barack the Great ran such a clean and positive Campaign, that ALL those trashed Clinton People would have to Vote for him... Not should Vote for him, but instead, will choose him as the lesser, Recompensentative Force of Eeville...
But, but, but... What if the badly trashed Hillary wins? Uttt ohh!
One can also wonder, since Barack is such a Model of Pedestal standing Positivity, just who trashed the Clinton's and all those who supported them as a choice... They're kind of like those who supported Hitler, apparently
For such a Model of Pedestal standing Positivity, isn't it interesting how negative this Campaign has become? Barack supplicants only brag him up, of course... They never, never, put the Clinton's and their supporters down... Same with Bloggers..
Cool. Just keep in mind what you're really voting for when you are voting Democratic.
Rommney could have chosen to still be in the race and be tearing down McCain in a vain attempt at a longshot win. He chose to step aside for the good of the party. And the republicans are a lot better off for his sacrifice.
I'm not prostrate and/or writhing. I was a Biden suporter. I now support Obama but like many, I'm nervous.
Like all of them, Hillary will have to prioritize her ambitions, the good of the party and the good of the country and then act on that. Unlike Rommney, she has chosen to stick with it... and that's fine... but also chosen to try to tear down Obama in the process (not so fine). Makes me wonder what her priorities really are. One of the concerns Americans have about Hillary is the notion that she would do ANYTHING to win. Are we seeing some of that now?
Sad to say that the Republicans are able to coalesce better than the Democrats. You mentioned Romney's wise decision to step aside when it was clear that he could not win. Since he stepped aside, he has been a loyal McCain supporter. Mike Huckabee campaigned until McCain scored the necessary delegates to become the nominee, but there was never any bitterness or mudslinging in his campaign. He never disparaged McCain or disrespected him: he just said voters deserved a choice. But when the time came, Huckabee stepped aside, instead of pulling a Hillary and lingering like a bad cold.
I don't think Hillary Clinton knows the definition of class. Even if Obama becomes the nominee, as he should, she'll probably still be screeching on the sidelines.
I agree whole-heartedly. Hilary Clinton is no Mitt Rommney. Mr. Rommney behaved as a gentleman!!!
Did they not tell us that they would be releasing her taxes this week? I think that will tell us as much as anything if she is still a viable candidate.
Nothing to disagree with there. Let the string run out and let the people send the winner to the White House and the loser to the doghouse from which there is no return, thankfully. The winners tell jokes and the losers holler "deal." Allons-yi!
I really appears that Hillary Clinton has LOST IT....She is shooting hersElf in the feet. Why would a sane person lie aBout Bosnia when there were so many witnesses and put her daughter in harms way? There is something seriously wrong with her. She would be another NIXON IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH HER SECRECY , ENEMIES LIST AND IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR. GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE A SHED OF SANITY LEFT....
Maybe not shooting herself in the feet. If her goal is to get in the White House ASAP, then her best shot is to win in 2012, and that means getting McCain elected this fall. Tear down Obama, split the democratic party, have Bill characterize McCain as having superior experience and being a true patriot like Hill, and just maybe McCain will win.
Many have always questioned her priorities and maybe we're seeing some of that now.
Hillary needs to stay in the race through every primary and every last maneuver at the convention. She needs to have the opportunity to play every trick, tell every lie, stick every knife. And then, when she is ground into the dust, she and her supporters will have to agree that she had every chance but failed. And they will have no choice other than to help elect Obama President.
You are are so correct!!!!!
No other choice?!? Is this your first election or something? Of course there would be other choices if Hillary by some chance did not get the nomination. Vote McCain. Vote Nader. Write Hillary's name on the ballot. Leave the presidential choice blank while voting a further straight Democratic ticket. And that's just off the top of my head. After enduring an election cycle filled with self-righteous, mean-spirited, arrogant assumptions on the part of the hysterical rabble surrounding Obama, what makes you think we who support Hillary are going to automatically come to heel just because you think we should? I'd really like to know.
I agree and I don't agree. I don't agree that they will lift a finger to help Mr. Obama when he gets the nomination.
I do agree that she should stay in the race. There is no doubt that she will win, even unfairly. We has asked the Clintons nicely to go home. WHEN AMERICA TELLS THEM TO GO HOME AND NOT COME BACK, THEN THAT WILL BE THE END OF THE CLINTONS.
However, NOT UNTIL!!!
I meant to say, Hilary won't win and then WHEN AMERICA TELLS HER TO GO HOME, SHE WILL TAKE THAT HUSBAND AND GO HOME.
Then Chelsea will go on one of the afternoon COURT TV shows and DISOWN her parents!!!
It would be better to not speculate and go out and do something positive, and that does not have to be anything to do with politics. Try to imagine improving the dignity of the human condition. That dear readers, is certainly a full time job.
I wish that I could believe that Hillary supporters would come to recognize that she did herself in. The few among my acquaintances who are still among her faithful are insisting that it is all Obama's fault because he chose to run against a female....
These creepy harridans are setting the women's movement back a hundred years, as well as playing into McCain's hands, but hey, if they can't get their candidate the nomination, at least they can insure that her opponent isn't elected either. I have never seen such petulance and such shrewish narcissism. If these women want a female president so badly, why didn't they support somebody with integrity and decency...
The CIVIL RIGHTS WAS THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT, although coattail. And it continues to be.
READ MY LIPS: DON'T EXPECT A WOMAN PRESIDENT UNTIL AMERICA DEEMS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN AS ELECTABLE TO THE PRESIDENCY.
Great article.
I agree that HRC has every right to stay in this race and as an Obama supporter I have no fear that our party will survive intact. .
I am concerned however with the way in which the Clintons will emerge from this. They will continue to be a world powerhouse, but will they be cut from the Democratic party and become some sort of "free agents"? We can all see in the light of day now how they wield their power and it seems to me that it is somewhat irresponsible. .
I believe Obama will be stronger for his vetting, but the Repubs will surely capitalize on all the sound bites HRC has provided them. It may be in the parties best interest to distance themselves from the Clintons, at least until the election is over.
Excellent point both about the Clinton's being free agents . but weren't they always? Isn't that the great problem from Marc Rich to sale of Lincoln bedroom, to trashing Clinton's gals a trailer trash to goodness only knows what future access has been sold...As for sound bites being used against Obama... so be it... they may have trashed their reputations so badly by the time it comes to that that it may even actually help Obama to have been trashed by their likes.
Remember when Iowa and New Hampshire choose our candidates? Look at the loosers we got! Look at George W. Bush! Kerry. etc. Talk about a lazy electorate. Just think how undemocratic our selection has become...l
Are you afraid of hard work and competition? I like the competition, and don't believe the Republicans aren't looking wisfully at the Democrats wishing they had better managed their primaries -- winner-take-all is not too smart. They are not too happy with Walnuts.
Clinton is a fighter. Obama is a dreamer. Since he is now the media darling, how long before people seriously question how little he has done in any legistature, and bragg about bringing us together..
I think that is the best of part of Hillary continuing to run. We will all get to see the Clinton's for who they really are. Perhaps then we will come out of the trance that the Clinton years were good for Democrats. Maybe we will realize why the under his presidency the country moved to the Republicans and Democrats lost the senate, the house, state legislatures, governors, big city mayors. Perhaps then we will learn the sins of triangulation and once again stand up for Democratic values and let the power of ideas and intensity of the grassroots move the political debate. Hillary lost a delegate in MS because one Obama supporter spotted a net 132 vote error!!! That is great example of the power of the grass roots.
This sort of hypocrisy is interesting and alarming. Anything Ms. Clinton says will hurt the Democratic nominee, but everything Obama says is justified and is never mentioned as harmful. Given that Obama has engaged in race-baiting, smears, and outright lies it is sad to read how his supporters attack Ms. Clinton while giving a pass for language much more venomous and harmful to Obama.
Please give an example or two of Obama's "much more harmful and venomous language." Also, an example of his race-baiting would be useful. I've followed the race closely and have not seen any of this language, so I need to be educated. Thanks.
I enjoy self-described ardent Obama supporters. It reminds me that kids can still believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Keebler Elves.
Obama's public record is so scant that it's vanishingly small. I see no problem with ardor, but I do see a problem with grown men and women behaving like high school sophomores.
That anyone outside of his immediate circle of friends and colleagues can announce their ardor for this cypher, this child, this blank slate, just makes me shake my head and wonder just how much sanity remains in the Democratic party.
As evidenced by the editorial position of this site, many of the posters, and many of the bloggers, not much, friends.
Not much.
I guess you prefer being lied to!!!
Just to sum up:
Obama is a: child, cypher,blank slate
Obama supporters are: like small children or high school sophomores, lack sanity
JohnBarleycorn is a: hardcore realist, smarter than all of us
How can we have a civil discussion if we don't respect each other?
Is Ms. Clinton teaching her supporters how to misrepresent and disrespect Obama?
Aw, don't worry, his "handler" (Zbigniew Brzezinski) has everything under control.
I just have to say this Mr. JohnBarleycorn (who?) - if you're going to make a comparison that Obama is somehow Santa Claus, an elf or the tooth fairy and those who support him are mesmerized kids who don't know their a*%$# from their elbow, I suggest you substantiate your claim about his "scant public record" with some proof b/c there isn't a word to describe the work of the Republicans and what they've done to the American people over the last 20 years.
Oh yeah there is...can you say Ogre, bloodsuckers, liars and leeches? Should we believe in that for the next 4 years. I'd say NOT!
I'll take the toothfairy, cornboy.
"Obama the blank slate", did you just read that or did you actually check out his record. Did you know that he got a bill through the Illinois Congress that got a unanimous vote in the Senate for taping police interviews, and got police support for it as well? Bet you didn't. I frankly don't think you know much about Obama. I know a lot about Hillary, and I don't like it much. So, I'll take what you call "Obama's blank slate", both knowing it's not blank, and knowing it's good over Hillary's trash-filled slate, any day you like.
She voted for an anit-flag burning amendment. When this is anything other than pandering to the right, you let me know, OK? She voted to loose Bush's leash with the AUMF; stupid, but she was triangulating at the time, wasn't she? "I was mislead", she says; funny lot's of other people were better informed than her just by reading McClatchey newspapers, and if she doesn't have people on her staff that keep up with all the papers, then she's less competant or a hell of a lot less thorough than I'd like to elect president. And the NAFTA stuff that has supposedly besmirched Obama's honesty? It has come to light that the story was misreported from the outset, it was someone from the Clinton camp who was saying that the anti-Nafta rethoric was only campaigning, not anyone in the Obama camp. Hillary Clinton, hypocrit.
Hi Robbie, Jeff from CBH here. You constantly amaze me with your articulate expression of so much of what I and so many others feel so deeply. Another former Clinton fan, totally disillusioned with their behavior over these past many months and hoping and praying for an Obama presidency. Keep up the good writing. Your voice is vital.
I wish people would stop calling for hillary to get out of the race. Hell she can't win so let her stay as long as she likes, "her name is on the ballot"...
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