Hillary Clinton, sore loser

[Darth Wong]

National Post

Hillary Clinton, Vice-President Sore Loser
Posted: June 04, 2008, 2:36 PM by Kelly McParland
Blogs, Politics, News, U.S. Politics, U.S.

Barack Obama can’t possibly be bright enough to capture the Democratic presidential nomination and dumb enough to immediately undermine it by offering second spot on the ticket to Hillary Clinton.

He certainly must know that. He can’t say as much at the moment, since blatant honesty would alienate the Clinton camp, and Obama could still use the Clintons’ drawing power in the months ahead as he sets out on the second leg of his White House quest, the one in which he actually campaigns against the Republicans.

In making her plug for the vice-presidency, Mrs. Clinton spotlighted all the elements that make her eminently unsuitable for the job. She refused even to acknowledge Obama had beaten her in the race for the nomination. He won it fair and square, playing by the rules and amassing the required number of delegates to make him the nominee, yet Mrs. Clinton can’t bring herself to acknowledge as much and accept defeat gracefully.

She clings to the notion that somehow she won -- that if results from the tainted primaries in Michigan and Florida were counted and the caucuses interpreted in just the right way, it could transfer enough support from Obama to her to swing things in her direction. She can’t bring herself to accept what has been obvious for months now, that the party couldn’t possibly ignore its own rules and pretend the primaries in those two states were in any way acceptable. She also can’t bring herself to understand that if the party did try to manipulate the outcome in Michigan and Florida to favour her, it would undermine its own credibility to such an extent that the outcome would become meaningless.

That’s because rules don’t seem to mean a lot to the Clintons. Winning counts, how you get there doesn’t. If Mr. Obama were to offer Mrs. Clinton a spot on the ticket, she could be expected to treat it as evidence of her own pre-eminence, and campaign on that basis. It wouldn’t be the Obama-Clinton ticket, it would be Me, Hillary Clinton and, oh yes, that other guy ... the inexperienced senator from Illinois, what was his name...?

She made this clear enough early in the race when, already trailing Mr. Obama, she floated the possibility he might just earn himself second spot on her ticket. In her mind she deserves the nomination, and awarding it to Mr. Obama is either a mistake or an injustice. The all-consuming nature of her ambition was evident again when, having fallen well behind Mr. Obama, she justified maintaining her candidacy on the basis that something might happen to him -- she pointed to the assassination of Robert Kennedy as an example -- and the party might find itself without a candidate if she departed too soon.

Hmmm. There are lots of ways to treat the glass as half full, but suggesting that someone might assassinate your opponent isn’t usually recommended as one of them. Mrs. Clinton can’t get that possibility of eventual victory out of her mind. Even in not-quite-conceding the race, she hinted her opponent wasn’t entirely worthy of the honour, that giving in would be to surrender her support to a lesser candidate:

“I want the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and to no longer be invisible,” she declared.
“In millions of quiet moments in thousands of places you asked yourself a simple question: who will be the strongest candidate? Who will be ready to take charge of the White House and ready to be commander-in-chief?
“I often felt that each of your votes was a prayer for our nation...I am so proud we stayed the course together.”

Put her on the ticket and more of the same could be expected. The vice-president is the fall-back choice, the viable alternative should something tragic befall the president; it’s not a post for someone who sees herself as the rightful winner and is just waiting for the opportunity to correct history’s error. She wouldn’t want to wait long: Mrs. Clinton is 60, Mr. Obama 46. Hanging around for eight years should he be elected to two terms isn’t likely the goal, since she’d have more power and prestige staying in the Senate. And can anyone imagine Bill Clinton as Second Lady for eight years, deferring to Michelle Obama? Nope, the only justification for wanting to be vice-president is the hope that Mr. Obama fails for some reason to become president, and she gets another chance.

Which makes her entirely unsuitable. Mr. Obama must know that. He just can’t say it.

Look carefully at her speech; she is still claiming that the people who voted for her will be "invisible" if she doesn't get what she wants. She's still using the same destructive "us vs them" attitude that the Bush Administration has used for the last 8 years. Fucking witch.

[Pulp Hero]

Uh Wong? I think you've got a typo in that last word there.

[Mr Bean]

Uh Wong? I think you've got a typo in that last word there.

No see, he's calling her a witch, it's much worse than a bitch, and it's possible that some person will come along and try and burn her. Which they won't do if she's just some bitch.

[Darth Wong]

She turned me into a newt!

I got better.

[Ford Prefect]

Uh Wong? I think you've got a typo in that last word there.

Yeah, he spelled 'lunatic' wrong. If one thing as struck me about this race for the nomination, Clinton is off her nut. It's been said countless times, but her perception of reality has become increasingly skewed as time has gone on. This alone should basically invalidate her as Obama's vice president.

[Elfdart]

When did politics in this country become Heathers?

We have people saying things like "We need time to heal." Someone lost a contest. Do you see this kind of mollycoddling for the little kids who come in second place at a spelling bee? The pussification of our republic will never end. Goddamnit!

[Galvatron]

Fucking witch.

Don't forget: Sassy. Smart. Sssssexy.

[General Zod]

"Invisible"? Shrieking, pissing and moaning for the last 6 months is being invisible? What the fuck kind of shit is she smoking? Because I want some of that.

[Patrick Degan]

Hopefully, somebody will throw a pail of water on her.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Hopefully, somebody will throw a pail of water on her.

heh. maybe she will melt. Personally I would prefer something a bit more certain. The dunking stool perhaps.

[Adrian Laguna]

[I am so proud we stayed the course together.”

I see that borrowing from the Republican playbook and quoting known Republican liars like Karl Rove wasn't enough. Now she's incorporating Republican phrases into her speeches.

[Ziggy Stardust]

"Invisible"? Shrieking, pissing and moaning for the last 6 months is being invisible? What the fuck kind of shit is she smoking? Because I want some of that.

Or what kind of shit is Terry McAuliffe smoking? That guy is fucking whacked.

[Isolder74]

Where is a Image of the Black Knight?

[Patrick Degan]

Where is a Image of the Black Knight?

In at least two threads now.