Clinton: End Game


Senator Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House has ended and even she knows it. The math has not been in her favor for some time now.

She tried to run on her strengths as a US Senator and her "34 years of experience" in government service to no avail. Her record could not stand up to Senator Obama's charm. She was unlikable; he was eloquent, even enchanting. His record is not so bad either. She was part of the old Washington crowd that was part of the problem. Obama was a fresh face who promised change "we can believe in."

So Clinton tried different angles. She tried drama by shedding tears and launching sharp angry attacks against Obama. She tried comedy--by doing the comedy circuit on television. She tried adventure by claiming to have survived sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia. All these tricks worked a little; it kept the campaign alive, if barely.

They tried to change the rules--bring in Florida and Michigan despite the fact that they were penalized and could not be counted.

In desperation she tried the race card--claiming that white working class Americans were solidly behind her and that a black candidate cannot win in the general elections in November. Today her campaign used the gender card by claiming that her less than stellar performance was due to rampant sexism in the United States. It was the fear of women in power that drove voters to the Obama camp.

Her campaign will spin this loss in endless ways. The fact is that she was unlucky enough to run against a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Her tenacity in staying in the race against all the odds, against all logic becomes less admirable now. It verges on desperate and pathetic. It has been suggested elsewhere that her last stand is meant to prepare her for the next presidential campaign--she is packaging herself as the candidate who never gave up. If that is true, then that is truly sad--even in her campaign's death throes she has decided to put her interests above everyone else's.

I would have wanted to see Hillary Clinton exit with more dignity. But with the way she conducted this campaign that would be asking too much.

Comments

gilloup said…
Your article is well written. Did you know that some of your comments were picked up by a journalist for the French paper "Le Monde" ?
10:06 PM
dan gatmaytan said…
Thank you for your comments. I would appreciate a link to the article if you have one.

Merci.
4:11 AM
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