May 19, 2008
Just what is she running to
In the past I’ve said Hillary Clinton should not be forced to end her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination until she is mathematically eliminated from the contest, and I’m sticking by that stance. It’s just that right now I’m not really seeing what she has to gain by staying in this thing.
It’s pretty easy to see what she has to lose (the race) since she’s behind in pledged delegates, popular vote, states won and now, and likely most importantly, super delegates. In most counts she’s still set to lose even is she gets her desired change in rules to allow the too-early Florida and Michigan primary votes to count. So basically, Clinton is now clinging to an extremely long shot plan where she somehow hopes to convince party insiders (those aforementioned super delegates) to buck the current results and support her candidacy.
If that happens it will be extremely surprising, and demonstrate her willingness to be completely hypocritical when it serves her own purpose. While arguing for those Florida and Michigan results to count, Clinton has been firm in her stance that every vote needs to count, but in cynically hoping the Democratic Party honcho’s pick her, she’s asking them to discount those voters from the many states and districts that turned out to support her main opponent and the likely Democratic nominee, Barak Obama.
So, if she finds a way to get this thing to fall her way at the convention she’ll be a hypocrite, but her staying the race until them has the potential to be even more devastating to her political career and legacy. Thus far she’s run a tough campaign that’s been willing to embrace tactics perfected by political enemy Karl Rove, with her personal swipes at her opponent occasionally rising to the level of race baiting. She’s come within a few hairs of stating that she should be the nominee because the country is not ready for a black president. (Or I guess a bi-racial one since that’s the case with Obama.)
Her aggressive campaigning has involved much picking apart of Obama’s record, statements, allies and background. It’s been such a torch job from her campaign that Republican nominee John McCain and the GOP proxy groups will be using many of the same arguments in the general election. By doing this, she’s set up for a fall. If Obama loses, many people will throw a share of the blame her way, and this too-long campaign failure might serve to doom her in future races. If McCain gets in and does even half as badly as Our (current) Fine President, there will be some who (fairly or unfairly) blame Clinton for helping McCain get to the White House.
So continuing her run could do even more damage to a reputation that’s already been taking a beating. It’s been a while since anyone has had reason to question Clinton’s toughness, dedication or drive. Those admirable traits were proved long before she started this run, and they’ve all shown up on the campaign trail. However, they’ve also shown up as negatives and her increasingly Quixotic run is starting to look a lot like a certain war in Iraq she once supported but now opposes.
In her willingness to change to rules and measuring sticks for how to win this campaign she’s shown the same flexible vision as Our Fine President when he constantly steps back what it might mean to “win in Iraq.” These efforts to rig the game to her advantage even if it means alienating former allies and pushing things on tenuous arguments seem a lot like the efforts made by the current White House residents when they were trying to sell the public on the unnecessary Iraq war.
In embracing the negative slash and burn campaign style perfected by Rove, Clinton is adopting tactics of the enemy in an “anything that gets me victory must be good” sort of way, which seems to be a lot like our government trying out an “ends justify the means” approach to torture. Even if she gets the nomination through her current push, she might just destroy the Democratic Party in the process, and that sure seems similar to the way we destroyed Iraqi society in our efforts to save it from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial rule.
Besides all that, Clinton really hasn’t shown that she’s prepared to do better in a general election than she has in this primary. While Obama draws record crowds and outperforms expectations in many states he loses, she has played to smaller audiences and has offered few surprises. She can’t touch Obama’s fundraising ability and if her massive campaign loans are considered, she’s certainly not shown that she understands how to work within a budget. Her willingness to loan her campaign $11 million and counting might speak well of her dedication, but throwing a starting pitcher’s salary at a wish of a chance of securing the nomination doesn’t seem like a sound investment.
So, unfortunately her push toward her goal of the nomination really seems to be showing just how unworthy of that nomination she is. It’s sad to say, but her campaign has continued to lower my regard for her as a leader and as a politician. I’m not saying she has to go, but with all that considered, I really don’t see why she’d want to stay in this race any longer.