June 5, 2008, Sportsmanship
Maha's Barb says about all that can be said re: the just-about-inconceivable (except for a Clinton-- any Clinton) lack of class shown by Sen. Hillary Clinton in stubbornly refusing to concede to, let alone endorse, her party's nominee for President.
Many have been suggesting that she must be "given time?" For what? Tell me, boys and girls, when have you ever seen this much deference paid to a loser... of anything? Yes, this was hard fought. Yes, it was close. No, Obama never did manage to put that proverbial stake through her heart (even as Hillary suggested not so subtly that someone put a bullet in Obama's head). Yes, she got a lot of votes. And a lot of delegates. And won a lot of states. And so did Obama. More, in fact, which is why he is the nominee, and the unwritten rules (and the written rules, btw) say that therefore he gets to run as the party's nominee in November, and Sen. Clinton does not.
And so we move on (even if Sen. Clinton and quite a few of her supporters-- but evidently not a huge number of her super-delegates who seem to have threatened to publicly bolt on her if she didn't beg off-- refuse to do so, and have now extended the tedious, never-ending, as-if-directed-by-Michael-Cimino-as-an-outtake-from-a-Heaven's-Gate-death-scene denouement and non-concession concession to Saturday, nearly a week after it was mathematically over.)
In simple, terms, the HillBilly McBeths are now angling to destroy Obama's campaign from as inside a position as can be: the vice-president spot (you don't really think she wants to be the veep, do you?) Bruce the Veep sends us this WSJ snippet as to why it won't happen (hint: it's those bribes Bill has been taking for the last seven plus years that he won't publicly release details about, stupid).
The Unseen Editor, never much of a Clinton fan he, suggests:
The reasons that Hillary (hopefully) won’t get the VP nod are that: 1) Obama hates her; 2) Obama hates Bill; 3) Obama’s supporters hate Hillary and Bill both; 4) Obama needs to look decisive and picking her will make him look like a [wimp].
It's that last point that's so important. Core Obama supporters can overcome their personal hatred of the Clintons in the greater interest of winning. The last point, however, perceived weakness-- the reason that Al Gore chose Lieberman
(to overcome extraordinary negatives thrust upon him by Bill Clinton and his God damned philandering and dissembling) or the reason John Kerry picked John Edwards (to overcome his wishy-washiness on everything, he went with the expedient and "popular" choice)-- is the rub.
In short, if Obama gives in to Hillary and Bill's current round of political blackmail, it will then be a gimme for McCain to win, by repeating the mantra: "THIS is they guy you want defending America's interests in a world of OBL and Iranian mullahs and a potentially hostile Russia, China and who knows who else?" As we say in my beloved home borough: fuggeddaboutit. A Jedi-master like Obama will not throw it all away at this point. He will be deliberate, and he will pick someone who will help him, not saddle him hopelessly with baggage like Bill and Hillary's God damned Iraq war vote (sorry Edwards; that takes you out too). Retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni would be a great choice. Not good, great. Sen. Jim Webb (VA) would be good. Govs. Richardson (NM), Sebelius (KS), Napolitano (AZ), or Henry (OK) might be good too; all bring something to the table (unlike Sen. Clinton). And there are lots of excellent non-Clinton choices out there (what's Al Gore doing these days?)
Now that that's out of the way...
Comments
You sleazy, slimy scumbag.
You haven't heard the last from me.
Posted by Bubbalicious at June 5, 2008 12:31 PM
Wow, Bubba! That hurt!
In all seriousness, I have no doubt that in the end, Sen. Clinton will exit this in a gracious manner, as indeed, I suggested myself on May 23rd:
Now, as that party gets ready to unify behind its candidate (and no matter what some say, Sen. Clinton will withdraw in a most gracious manner shortly after either Puerto Rico or South Dakota/Montana push Sen. Obama over the top), we will see just how far the nation as a whole has come.
I do not mean to cast aspersions on Sen. Clinton; she has run a long, tough campaign, and frankly, since she was the front-runner longer, drew the harshest media fire (always reserved for Democratic frontrunners, btw) the longest, and many people feel she wasn't treated fairly. I myself have pointed out the near impossibility of a woman candidate-- any woman candidate-- being both "tough enough" while still "feminine enough" at the same time, and doing so in an environment where in too many circles misogyny is still fair game, and frankly, despite all this, Sen. Clinton still came within a hair's breadth of pulling it off anyway.
But the ultimate point is, she didn't pull it off; a guy who was a state senator three and a half years ago, without Sen. Clinton's name recognition, organization, or fund-raising head start, did pull it off, albeit by a very close margin. But he ended ahead in delegates, the only relevant metric, and has finally clinched. Continuing to espouse irrelevant metrics that only serve to undermine Obama's quite impressive achievement (that the Republicans can seize on)... is just not appropriate.
I respected Sen. Clinton before the campaign, I said that had she been the nominee, I would fully support her, and I still respect her now. But to paraphrase the sainted Al Gore... it's time to go.
Posted by the talking dog at June 5, 2008 2:03 PM
And now polar bears could face extinction in 50 years. Alarming really.
The Veterinary
Posted by Veterinary at June 5, 2008 4:56 PM
TD:
As my new BFF Michelle has been reported to say,
you are a typical whitey.
Posted by Bubbalicious at June 6, 2008 6:59 PM
Bubba:
I believe that's a typical "why'd he". Rumors of Michelle's "I hate America" video emerging appear to be greatly exaggerated.
Posted by the talking dog at June 6, 2008 10:31 PM