In her most definitive comments to date on the subject, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Saturday to put to rest any notion that she will drop out of the presidential race, pledging in an interview to not only compete in all the remaining primaries but also continue until there is a resolution of the disqualified results in Florida and Michigan. A day after Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean urged the candidates to end the race by July 1, Clinton defied that call by declaring that she will take her campaign all the way to the Aug. 25-28 convention if necessary, potentially setting up the prolonged and divisive contest that party leaders are increasingly anxious to avoid>…Her remarks come as Clinton faces a mounting drumbeat, driven by the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his backers, for her to bow out and avert a party crisis.
It seems that Sen. Hillary Clinton, despite all her other remarkable achievements, was not a math major at Wellesley. Theoretically, she still has a chance to come out on top in the pledged delegate count…but then I suppose there’s still a chance tI could become the next American Idol (trust me, you do NOT want to hear me sing). At what point, then, does the primary consideration become the good of the Democratic Party and it’s chances of taking back the White House in November? When does Sen. Clinton wake up and recognize the harsh, unpleasant reality of her situation? Well, if you listen to her, the answer clearly seems to be that the game isn’t over until she says it’s over.
In the meantime, the question becomes what sort of damage is being done to the Democratic Party and it’s chances in the general election? Surely, Sen. Clinton isn’t so self-absorbed that she’d be willing to take the party down with her…or is she? I don’t really think I need to address what’s already blindingly obvious.
On the one hand, I can understand her wanting to continue the fight until the (metaphorical) last drop of blood is drained from her (again, metaphorical) inert and lifeless corpse. After putting as much of herself into this campaign as she has, it’s got to be tough to have the sad, cold reality that you’re unlikely to win slap you in the face. Nonetheless, there are bigger considerations in play here than Sen. Clinton’s outsized ego. Now there’s a growing drumbeat insisting that it’s time for her to step away from the fight and concede what increasingly appears to be inevitable- that Sen. Barack Obama will win the party’s nomination.
As time drags inexorably on, and as Sen. Clinton’s commitment to the truth becomes increasingly tenuous, she’s becoming an anchor dragging down the party’s prospects in the general election. She’s also becoming fodder for late-night talk show hosts, who are skewering her for commitment to “win or lie trying”. Among the Clinton cognoscenti, winning is not everything…it’s the ONLY thing. This means that the end justifies the means and the faint of heart might be well-advised to get the Hell out of the way if that can’t take it. We’re better than this…aren’t we? Lord knows that WE DESERVE BETTER.
Jeebus, Sen. Clinton…don’t you think it’s time to say goodbye? You’ve already managed to bleed out every milligram of respect I at one time had for you. Are you really looking to become the next Joe Lieberman??
It’s. time. to. go.
