New School Politics

At Least She’s Not a Quitter

Zach | 5 06 2008

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It’s hard not to admire Hillary Clinton, even in times like these. As a Barack Obama supporter, I have every reason to be angry at her refusal to concede the nomination. For one thing, she’s stopping the unification of the party. Barack Obama’s victory speech Tuesday night, at once a call for unification and a beautiful complement to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, provided the perfect exit for her. Saying that “our party and our country are better off because of her,” Obama couldn’t have made a better speech, except for one little omission. Were Hillary on the stage with him, endorsing the victory he had uncontestably and mathematically achieved, it would have been symbolic. Not quite a dream ticket, but still nothing short of magical.

“The spotlight is on you, Barack!”

Image Courtesy of Flickr User Daniella Zalcman

It’s that kind of support that Hillary now needs to lend to the Obama campaign. The Republicans have already gotten their propaganda machine rolling, and it’s clear that they intend to do exactly what many Democrats feared - use Hillary Clinton’s attacks on Barack as their own. While she intended to make her case to voters as to why they should vote for her, she’s now convincing voters to vote against Obama. An appearance and a speech Tuesday night could have quelled those fears.

Her failures notwithstanding, there’s still time to assemble some sort of coalition to revive and unify the Democratic Party. In an election once thought to be impossible to lose, the Democratic Party now faces an uphill battle against John McCain. News has emerged today that Clinton does indeed hope to cave to the party’s wishes and concede the election at an event on Saturday. She and her campaign director, Howard Wolfson, have also turned down thoughts of a Clinton Vice Presidency. As Dick Morris says, a Clinton VP would be creating a White House menagé-a-trois. That’s not something we want a new President to have to put up with. Still, independent backers like Lanny Davis, the creator of Black Entertainment Television, persist in attempting to foist a “dream ticket” on to Obama.

Time for the Democratic Party to Move Forward

Image Courtesy of Flickr User Miamabanta

Obama’s victory is a symbolic moment for African Americans, and for the country. The pity in all of this is that there are several key figures, and many Clinton voters, who refuse to recognize this. The disappearence of a woman from the race has now led dozens of Clinton supporters, including some commenters on the NYT’s The Caucus Blog, to note that they’ll be lending their support to John McCain.

Someone who supported Hillary Clinton has a bundle of reasons to support Obama. The major differences between them were not even policy based, but instead character based. Feminists who supported Clinton because she was a woman should recognize that Barack Obama is a man doing the same thing for African Americans. In the process, he’s not just breaking down discrimination against blacks; he’s breaking down discrimination as a whole. Clinton supporters must also realize that Clinton still did something incredible for females everywhere, helping them to realize that the sky truly is the limit. She didn’t lose the nomination because she was a woman; she lost it because Barack ran a better campaign.

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In other news, The Caucus, quickly becoming one of my favorite go-to sources for political news and insight, has a new feature entitled “The Long Goodbye.” Informative and humorous, the series provides interesting insights into the race and Hillary’s potential strategy. I recommend you keep a close eye on it for more up-to-the-minute news on Hillary’s concession.