What Should Hillary Do Next?
What Should Hillary Do Next? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)
I took a stroll down my list of over 400 women political bloggers to find reaction to yesterday’s primary in North Carolina and Indiana. There is no shortage of bloggers blogging on this topic, so I’ve randomly picked ten. Enjoy…and let me know what you think in comments.
This is from Anderson@Large…
As expected, Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary. Hillary Clinton eked out a slim victory in Indiana. The election outcomes were preordained by the demographics of the two states.
CNN exit polls show Democrats have not moved beyond race. In North Carolina, African Americans made up one-third of Democratic primary voters. Obama received 91 percent of the black vote to Clinton’s seven percent. Sixty-one percent of white voters supported Clinton, 37 percent supported Obama.In Indiana, Obama received 90 percent of the black vote to Clinton’s 10 percent. Sixty percent of white voters supported Clinton, 40 percent backed Obama.
From Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast…
The question now is just how long the bigwigs in the party are going to be willing to let Hillary Clinton damage the party’s nominee. Clinton can still find redemption if she can somehow put her ego back into its cage. She can drop out and put her formidable strength behind Obama, perhaps with a promise of a high-level Cabinet position or the leadership of the Senate. And in no time at all everyone will forget what she’s put us through.
From Gloria Feldt at the HeartFeldt Politics Blog…
That’s the lesson of the Indiana primary.
What is winning? In the latest polls, Hillary is besting John McCain by more than Barack Obama in a general election hypothetical matchup.
Yet there’s Obama making a victory speech in North Carolina, sounding for all the world like he’s accepting the Democratic party nomination. I’m struck that the first part of his speech, which focused on middle class economic hardships, sounded as though he was channeling Hillary Clinton.
To date, Clinton has won the big states necessary to Democratic victory in November. Obama’s lead in the popular vote—not counting the currently uncountable Michigan and Florida which went for Hillary—only matches the 500,000-vote margin he pulled out of his home turf of Chicago, and the delegate count remains close.
Conventional wisdom had Obama winning Indiana just a few weeks ago. He himself predicted she’d win Pennsylvania, he’d win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tiebreaker.
Turns out Indiana wasn’t a tiebreaker; it was more like, well, a tie.
This is from Sue at Nailing Jello to the Wall…
Next stop, “West Virginia, mountain momma.”
You’re probably hoping this nomination decision is over soon — if for no other reason because then, and only then, will I stop using song titles from the seventies in my posts. (C’mon, you know you’re lovin’ it!)
Everyone, including Hillary Clinton, knows at this point that Barack Obama will be the democratic nominee. But my prediction is that she will not concede the nomination until after the West Virginia primary, and I think she deserves the right to do that. After all, she is currently ahead in the polls there at 56% versus Obama’s 27%, according to Rasmussen Reports. She’s going to win, and probably win big. And although it will be merely a symbolic win (there are only 28 delegates at stake), it will be a strong win. She can announce she’s ending her campaign and balance that news with the joy of victory. It will make her supporters happy, and it will allow her to bow out with a positive image (“See, she can win primaries”). Her political future will still be bright.
This is from No Blood for Hubris…
I attended a SL Democratic Primary social event last night where there was so much mud being slung at Hillary Clinton you’d have thought I’d infiltrated SL Republican Party Headquarters by mistake. But no-o-o, it wasn’t coming from “them,” it was coming from “us.”
Well, no, the slung-mud was not from the part of “us” that includes “me.”
That was not my party. That’s your party, maybe, dudes, maybe it’s Keith Olbermann’s party and his ilk’s, but it sure ain’t mine.
I don’t seem to have one anymore.
It was no mistake, last night, this is how things are now: one must assume that Karl “Miss Piggy” Rove is laughing his chubby pink butt off.
This is from Pondering Penguin…
Obama, in his victory speech, said he would not be focusing on ‘distractions’ as his opponent will. He doesn’t know John McCain. That’s the problem with a rookie. Obama is lucky he’s running against John McCain and not a more traditional candidate. Mr. Change is just another politician groomed by the machine on the south side of Chicago and thanks to the long primary process, there is no more denying who he really is. Obama thought he’d write his own story, like in his two books at such a young age, and repeat catch phrases that intrigue audiences as he used his oratory skills in speeches on teleprompters, never really fleshing out specifics and slide on into the nomination.
This is from Queen of Spain…
I’m not really sure how to make up with my Hillary Clinton supporting friends.
I got damn mad at them. They got damn mad at me.
Even when we tried to be civil, we were gritting our teeth and muttering swear words.
I accused their candidate of turning GOP. Of dirty tricks. Of lies. Of stealing delegates. Of race baiting.
They called me a cult member said my candidate was inexperienced, a dreamer, filled with talk and no substance. They called my candidate unpatriotic and went after those in his past and present.
I got angry enough to spew very hate-filled speech post South Carolina.
I’m still not sorry.
I’m pretty sure they are not either.
So now what?
From Vim and Vinegar…
You see, the shrillness and meanness and nastiness that overtake people in this country anymore when it comes to political elections … it’s just impossible for any normal person to handle. As a blogger who immerses herself in the political stories of the day, I wade through a lot of shrillness and meanness and nastiness just to get to work sometimes! Which brings me to last night’s election results.
Some people are happy with last night’s outcome and some are angry and some are just sad. In my opinion, we do much better when we allow ourselves some sadness first; some slow moving sadness that eventually leads us back to our own hope. Not that I am not shrill, mean and nasty when it comes to politics. However, I’m still at this because, once upon a time, I let my sadness lead me back to my hope, which in turn made me willing to fight. And, sometimes, in a fight, I get shrill, mean and nasty. It’s all very … circular. However, in my own defense, I didn’t draw first blood in the fight I’ve been in since 2004.
When the political machine behind the current administration hi-jacked faith, patriotism and the Constitution, stinking up the flag when they wrapped themselves up so tightly in it, I decided I would get into the mud too, if I had to do so, in order to have some say-so in the kind of nation my child will inherit. When that same political machine added insult to injury by one-upping the stolen election of 2000 (thank you, Florida and Governor Jeb Bush – who is also going to make a nice emperor someday) with a second theft in 2004 (Ay-oh-ay way to go Ohio), I had to quickly get over my sadness about the fact that there was no one to turn to: it seemed Congress, parts of the judiciary branch, and the media were all in on it. Then I had to get ready for a fight and I’ve been doing my best ever since, continually trying to think of ways to fight better and harder.
From Tammy Bruce…
Would-be First Lady Michelle Obama illustrates how she’s more Non-Mean and Morally Superior to all of you who simply want the Clintons to go away. She actually imagines doing physical harm to those with whom she disagrees. When you start thinking it might be a good idea to install padded walls in one of the White House rooms you know we’re in trouble.
‘I want to rip Bill Clinton’s eyes out. Kidding! See, that’s what gets me into trouble’
…She is often called ‘regal’ but her bearing is less royal than military: brisk, often stone-faced (even when making jokes), mordant. Obama works out like ‘a gladiator’, a friend has said. When people – they’re almost always shorter – ask her to pose for pictures, instead of bending her knees she leans at the waist. Her smile is doled out sparingly, a privilege to be earned, rather than an icebreaker or an entreaty…
In Wisconsin, I asked her if she was offended by Bill Clinton’s use of the phrase ‘fairytale’ to describe her husband’s characterisation of his position on the Iraq war. At first, Obama responded with a curt ‘No’. But, after a few seconds, she affected a funny voice. ‘I want to rip his eyes out!’ she said, clawing at the air with her fingernails. One of her advisers gave her a nervous look. ‘Kidding!’ Obama said. ‘See, this is what gets me into trouble.’
Yes, Michelle, despite efforts to mask what you and your husband think and who you really are, being honest and exposing the truth will indeed always get you in trouble. As it should.
This is from Mauigirls’ Meanderings…
I think even Hillary’s ardent supporters would admit that Hillary has run the gamut of methods to try to win the White House, and these have included saying or doing whatever it takes to get there. Dowd asks the same question I had asked not long ago; if she were to be elected, who would she be?
I think it’s time for her to realize that, no matter how hard you try, you can’t always get what you want. If Hillary truly wants to help the country and prevent John McCain from “serving out Bush’s third term,” as Barack Obama said, she needs to do the noble thing and stand aside and support Obama. No, it isn’t fair. Yes, she had the experience, she had the bona fides, the credentials, the grit and intelligence. But she is not winning. He is.
If she wants to maintain her standing in the Democratic Party, and have a good chance of an important position in the new administration, it is time to unite the party and move forward. If she really wants universal health care, if she really wants to help the American people, now is the time to help Obama rather than continue to fight a useless and divisive fight. Because now the tide is turning against her and she can only cause harm if she continues.
So, this is what bloggers are saying. What do you say?
