Hillary Clinton's Next Step?

Hillary should do whatever she wants. She has earned it.

After Tuesday's night's resounding and racially polarized win in North Carolina, the Democratic presidential nomination is within the grasp of Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton was hoping for a "game changer" on Tuesday, a strong win in Indiana and a tighter result in North Carolina, and, just the opposite happened. The huge popular vote margin Clinton earned in Pennsylvania was wiped out by Obama's win in North Carolina. Clinton is behind in almost metric and her path to the nomination, which once seemed a foregone conclusion, has become a cliffwalk that almost defies gravity.

"The math" is not in Clinton's favor. So be it. There are only three remaining weeks in the primary roster and Clinton will continue to compete. Good for her. That tenacity is probably one of her Bill and Hillary Clinton's best qualities and this explains why so many Democratic presidential losers—Hart, Kerry, Kennedy, Dukakis, Richardson, Dodd, Dukakis!—have come out against them. Particularly amusing is George McGovern's "advice" for Clinton to drop out. Thankfully, this is not the tone adopted by Obama, who recognizes Clinton is favored to win West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico by sizable margins, and, apparently does not want to marginalize Clinton or the 16 million plus voters who supported her. Bravo. Obama is willing to wait three or four weeks and let the process play out. So should everyone else.

Most of the shrill and faux calls for "unity" and for Clinton to "drop out" are coming from the same repeat offenders who have threatened a race riot and engaged in a relentless smear campaign. Special mention goes to "progressive" bloggers, fellow "Democrats", cable "news" network MSNBC and black talk radio. They have perpetuated a breathtaking and fantastic virtual gangbang, a daily exercise in ridiculous racebaiting, lies, doctored videos, edited audio tapes, name-calling, offensive sexist jokes and double standards. Many of these "progressives" have used discredited right-wing sources such as Bob Novak, headline writer Matt Drudge and anti-gay racist Rush Limbaugh as their assignment editors. Trash is trash, no matter who sweeps it up. If "bloggers" or "news" sources "report" doctored videos, blatant lies, inaccurate information, then everything they "report" is likely to be doctored, lies or inaccurate. It's called credibility, and, sadly, many self-described "progressives" and "Democrats" no longer have any.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama waged historic candidacies for the Democratic nomination. Only one of them could emerge as the winner. In the final weeks of the Democratic presidential primary, Clinton and her historic campaign should be allowed to continue its run, and, if needed, develop a graceful exit strategy. The same consideration would be given if she were ahead and Obama were behind. It's about fairness, its about decency, and, most of all, it's about respect.

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PA Debate: Meltdown and the Morning After [R20]
Behind the Gay-Friendly Faces [The Advocate + PDF]
A Tale of Two Cities [The Advocate]
I Have a Dream ... Ticket [The Advocate]
Gallup: Clinton and Obama Now Tied [R20]
Gallup: Clintons Leads Obama 49 to 42 [R20]
Hillary Clinton's Big Night, Wins TX, OH and RI [R20]
Explaining Clinton's New Hampshire Victory [R20]
Super Tuesday Analysis [R20]
Ten Things Obama Can Do to Win Pennsylvania [HuffPo]
Yes, Virginia, There is Such a Thing as Post Racial Politics [Daily Voice]
Clinton and Obama Debate: "Meet Me in Ohio!" [R20]
Clinton Raises $35 Million, Debuts Security Ad [R20]
Explaining Clinton's New Hampshire Victory [R20]
Behind the Gay-Friendly Faces [Advocate + PDF]
Paging John Edwards and Barack Obama [HuffPo]
Barack Obama Should Tell Bob Novak... [HuffPo]
Welcome to the Campaign, Barack [HuffPo]
Rove on Obama: "Lazy" and "Basketball Playing" [R20]
The Advocate: Clinton vs Obama [R20]
Democratic Debate Addresses Homopohobia, Race [R20]
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The Advocate: Clinton vs Obama [R20]
Super Tuesday Analysis [R20]

Comments

[TheRevKev]

I, too, am completely in support of playing the process out, so that there is no doubt or debt.

HOWEVER, Senator Clinton's recent interview with the USA TODAY reporter that revealed her "I HAVE THE WHITE VOTE" statement is so completely off-putting that I really don't know what to do with her or her campaign! I know that there are concerns with Sen. Obama and white voters in some states, but those were white folks in IOWA and KANSAS and MISSISSIPPI, so...!?

To say that she has the white vote is to say something that I don't even want to put in writing. It's vile and so divisive that it makes my soul ache.

Madam Clinton, your fear is showing and I am going to be intrigued to see how you clean up the mess that was your campaign after the dust has cleared and these statements all come back to not haunt you, but shape you and show you what you were willing to do to win the illusive title of Commander in Chief.

At the end of the day, it is about WOMAN AS PRESIDENT. It is THIS WOMAN as president and daily she shows me and the nation why people qualms about her are surely framed and founded in the belief that she will do anything to win.

FIGHT ON, GIRL, BUT WATCH YOUR STEP, BECAUSE YOU MIGHT HAVE TO COME THIS WAY AGAIN AND YOU ARE MUDDYING UP THE WATERS!

[Josh Green]

I also think it is a good idea to let the process play out.

Let me ask you a question Rev. Kev, because I respect your writing and your words. Obama is getting 8 or 9 out of every ten black voters. All along, he and his campaign have boasted about this and many prominent blacks have said if he isn't the nominee, "there would be blood on the streets." Okay. Clinton gets a majority of women voters, white voters, Latinos and seniors. Is it bad to point that out?

[Greg G]

Clinton should absolutely be able to finish the process. She is the first viable female presidential candidate. If the shoe were on the other foot, the black candidate were slightly behind, people would be saying ... OH WAIT. They've already been saying its racism if people don't vote for Obama or if he doesn't get the nomination.

Never mind.

[ATL Kid]

Rod, thanks so much, this is great. Give the women her respect, heaven knows so many "progresives" and "Democrats" have tried to take it away. This primary has been a ridiculous game of Chicago style race politics. We had three very good candidates, now we have two weak ones, and, the weaker one is the likely nominee. That advice and "switch" by George "I lost 49 states" McGovern was incredible. McGovern recognizes an unelectable nominee when he sees one!

[Tyler Gray]

Many, many thanks Rod for putting this out there. Three or four weeks, what happens, happens.

I'm really glad you have always called the double standard and racebaiting by the Obama bloggers and media. It's ridiculous for some of the same people who were spreading lies last week to call for "party unity" this week. Like they care. More wanted to destroy Clinton than cared about the Democratic Party.

[Tyler Gray]

BTW, loved this line: "They have perpetuated a breathtaking and fantastic virtual gangbang, a daily exercise in ridiculous racebaiting, lies, doctored videos, edited audio tapes, name-calling, offensive sexist jokes and double standards."

[Jim Pickett]

Fairness, decency and respect are not exactly terms I would use in connection with the Clintons' campaign. They behaved, for the most part, in ways that were, and continue to be, completely at odds with what those words mean.

[Chad]

>>>FIGHT ON, GIRL, BUT WATCH YOUR STEP, BECAUSE YOU MIGHT HAVE TO COME THIS WAY AGAIN AND YOU ARE MUDDYING UP THE WATERS!

As always, the fabulous "Rev Kev" is just fabulous. He always knows what to say. This very well may be Obama's moment. Or, the last couple of weeks could turn the tide for Clinton, who knows. But she has to watch her step, you don't want the well to run dry!

[Ryan]

Rod: I step away from the computer to write and see this..Boy, you spittin FIRE today! Very thorough analysis indeed.

RevKev: i respect your words here. You have been one of the most educated Obama supporters here. I see where you are coming from, but taking a que from Josh Green, how can you call Hillary out for the things she's done to "get ahead" when Obama is doing the same things?
How is what she does foul and questionable, but obama bringing constant attention to mistakes she's made, etc. not the same thing?
Sorry, but Hillary DOES have a sizeable amount of the white vote--white women, and working class white people. Obama doesnt...that's been proven time and time again. Just as much as you criticize her for saying she has the white vote, Obama has taken it for granted that he has the black vote...he's just as bad as she is on that front, since you're laying blame.

Jim Pickett: wow, you still drinking that Clinton Derangement Syndrome Cosmopolitan, eh? Hillary behaved in the same way Obama did..you just choose to ignore that. Which is fine...will you still think Obama is a "ckean" candidate when he and McCain go at it? Just wondering....

Give Hillary her due respect...she is giving Barack a tune up for the coming summer AND fall. Call her what you want (and im sure the lot of you Obama supporters are doing just that), but Hillary is a TRUE and POWERFUL person who is running the only campaign she can: a THOROUGH one. whether or not you agree with her, you can't even take away that she is keeping the democratic party in the headlines...think about it. No one is TALKING about McCain. It's only about Hillary and Barack.

So, rest assured, this can only be a win-win for the Democratic party, who is seriously falling apart.

I just hope the Democrats stand behind Obama because they feels he's qualified to run this country, and not because they are soothing their white guilt issues and just fighting to get the nomination...

[Cutler]

That's interesting, Jim. Many Clinton supporters say the exact same thing about the Obama campaign. You know, Jesse Jackson Jr and Axelrod starting the whole race riot and all, Clinton's "claws coming out", Obama wiping the dirt off his shoulders and shoe, "bros before hoes" and all that ridiculousness at MSNBC. And calling every Clinton supporter a "racist." Who knew there were so many racists Democrats? Maybe the REPUBLICANS are less racist. We'll see in the fall.

But thanks for your hopeful words of bringing the party together!

[Just Jack]

Cutler, don't waste your time. You're being rational just like Rod has been rational. Many Obamatons could care less about the November election. Geez, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid don't, they're more interested in keeping their committee chairmanships and Obama's fundraising list.

The Obamatons are more interested in defeating Clinton. That's what this has been about. Even when it seems they are close to the nomination, they still can't be gracious. Fairness, decency and respect has never been exhibited by the media or Obama campaign toward Clinton.

You'd better preach on, Ryan! McGovern. Carter. Dukakis. Kerry. There is a reason they are lining up behind Obama. I predict Obama's coalition of blacks, young people and intellectuals will do AT LEAST AS WELL as MCGOVERN and DUKAKIS' coalition of blacks, young people and intellectuals!

[Franklyn Smyth]

Rod, thank you, thank you, thank you! MSNBC, the Huffington Post, Americablog and Andrew Sullivan have trumpeted so many stories that were later proven false. The excuse has been "well, maybe it wasn't true, but I wouldn't put that past Hillary." If they lied about that doctored "War Room" video, they probably lied about everything else.

Clinton Derangement Syndrome, no facts needed, just a rumor or evidence to the contrary. Thanks a lot for destroying Bill and Hillary's reputation and for electing President McCain. Arianna Huffington, Aravosis and Sulliva were originally Republicans, that is who they really want to elect.

[TheRevKev]

Gentlemen,
OBAMA has never said "I HAVE ALL THE BLACK FOLKS" or anything to that affect. It has been his pointed separation from major Black-focused events, i.e. MLK's 40th Anniversary in Memphis, The State of the Black Union, that has had many (costing Tavis Smiley his gig @ Tom Joyner) coming for his head.

I am not AT ALL opposed to saying "I HAVE THESE VOTERS," but say I HAVE THESE VOTERS, not I have the white folks, as opposed to shaping to so that WHITE PEOPLE who have gone to college are somehow "uppity" too and disconnected. Obama has LOTS of white voters, including the majority of those who have gone to and completed college. If he were to say I HAVE THE ONES WHO ARE EDUCATED AT A HIGHER LEVEL, he'd be skewered as "uppity," "elitist," "out of touch..." OH WHAT...he has already been tagged all of those things.

GOD BLESS SENATOR CLINTON. FIGHT ON. But as a media person, to simply say 'white voters who haven't gone to college' casts a shadow and a tone that reeks of a vile stench that is beneath this powerful woman's character.

At the end of the day, Senator Obama earned my vote. It was NEVER a given. I even authored an open letter entitled "OBAMANATION: THE SENATOR'S UNACCEPTABLE STANCE ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY" at the beginning of the campaign. I watched him be dogged at Black events and I watched him ascend to complex conversations and he engaged me in this political dance in a way that I haven't felt courted since my Senior Prom.

For me, the tone of the article, which wasn't completely Senator Clinton's to direct, as it was the reporter's voice, still said something that tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out a dis-ease with the good Senator's direction that is, at a very real heart level, disappointing. I think she thought this was going to be an easier fight, as noted by the Senior Clinton's comment about Jesse Jackson winning in South Carolina too. A tone that says THIS MAN WILL ONLY GO SO FAR and when he surpassed that, the gloves came off and the truth came out. We live in a very uneasy country as it relates to real talk and real truth and I would rather open the political process, even at the level of President, to a new ideas man, than to stand around and watch the White House and the Presidency be treated like a thing of LEGACY and PRIVILEGE. First, the Bushes get to pass it from Father to Son and now the Clintons want to do Husband to Wife.

No Thank You. I'd rather stand and fight for and with new blood!

In the end, I am and will always be FOR A MCCAIN-FREE AMERICA!

[Oliver W]

Jim, could you give me a concrete example, please?

Are you referring to the Robert Novak smear promoted by the Obama campaign? Or the various Matt Drudge headlines pushed by the Obama campaign? Or when Jesse Jackson Jr said Hillary "didn't cry for Katrina victims"? Or when Michelle Obama LIED about Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" remarks? Or when Obama took Hillary's Martin Luther King comment out of context? So many examples to choose from.n.

I liked when Obama and his campaign kept talking about "the kitchen sink" strategy and "dishes flying and throwing china" at him. Reminds me of Blondie and Dagwood. And the knife turning gestures? Classic.

But which examples are you referring to?

[nolavision]

Lots of players in this whole presidential primary drama (Clinton, Obama, surrogates, the media, pundits, bloggers, supporters, et al.) time and again went places they probably shouldn't have (too negative, kitchen sinks, race baiting, us-them, yada yada). So this historic election has been both excrutiatingly painful and utterly inspiring. I'm still hella angry at HRC, and peeved at BHO about his numerous shortcomings. But at the end of the day Obama has the edge on being able to transform the Democratic party (a little or a lot, who knows) and bring together Dems, Repubs and Independents and new voters in a way that Clinton can't. Hopefully very soon both Obama and Clinton (not on a joint ticket, though) can join forces on the campaign trail to defeat McCain in November.

[Bill]

Regardless of what anyone says, this campaign has gone the way it was predicted it would go once Obama became a "viable" nominee. The states that he was expected to win and Clinton was expected to win has followed through accordingly. Unless something happens that is very unpredictable Obama will win because of the numbers, and if he is almost there then the superdelegates will complete the numbers. That is how it will go. It is nothing against Clinton, because I will support whichever Democrat gets the nomination, however it will be Obama.

[Dennis D]

Bill, you are absolutely correct. Obama gamed the caucuses and that was Clinton's loss. She is the stronger GE candidate but should have been more competitive. It is what it is.

But I must disagree with Rev Kev. With the exception of Virginia or Wisconsin, Obama has never won majorities of white voters, seniors, women, catholics, Latinos or working class demographics. Never. He polls very poorly in traditional Democratic states against Clinton and even more so against McCain. Obama conceivably could win Iowa or possibly Colorado for the Dems--although Colorado has an anti-affirmative action on its November ballot--but he will most certainly be vulnerable in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and possibly California. Losing PA or OH is 21 electoral votes, he would have to win Nevada, New Mexico AND Colorado just to make up for PA or OH. Let's not even imagine the loss of NYS or CA, which have had a string of Republican governors. Upstate NYS is very red.

However, I do agree with Rev Kev. I am for a McCain Free America! My first choice was Mrs. Clinton but you can't get to the World Series without winning the pennant! I will support Mr. Obama!

[Tony R]

Rod, That is a very reasonable position to take, is the Obama campaign and its supporters hope to win the fall. Unfortunately, winning in the November was never their plan, winning the nomination and destroying HRC's very real chances at beating McCain is the goal. That is why so many Republicans were openly supporting Obama. The GOP is terrified of HRC and that is why they hate her so much. Obama is a stalking horse for McCain.

[Harry Sh]

Rev. Kev, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTARY! YOU ARE INSPIRATIONAL!

[NCnVA]

There is a delusion du jour is that North Carolina is now a swing state. Obama said it and Kerry's parroting it therefore it must be true!

NC hasn't gone Democratic since 1976 and didn't even vote for Edwards in 2004. Despite its Dem governor and a Dem senator, there is no way the Tarheel State will flip blue for Obama. He would have to register about a half million more students and black voters in that one state alone. Will. Not. Happen.

Several of the Obama blogs are also saying Obama can find hundreds of thousands of new black voters in Georgia to flip it blue. Georgia? They're grasping at straws now.

[Duwayne]

NCnVA: Although I don't agree that N. Carolina is in play, it is "possible" for Obama to keep it close in Virginia, Louisiana or Georgia given the black turnout. That being said, this would mean an almost overwhelmingly high black turnout and a very low white turnout. Possible yes, but not highly likely. I do believe Virginia will be in play at least in the beginning but Obama has a lot of work to do to get Florida and Michigan on board, these states are virtually must wins for him to win the election in November.

[elg]

I wish Obama the best, but an exit poll indicated that 50% of Indiana voters said they will vote for John McCain if Obama gets the nomination. Although that figure will probably decrease substantially by 11-08, there are an unspecified number of white DEMOCRATS who will not vote for a black man named Barack HUSSEIN Obama for president of these United States. We blacks have thrown the Clintons under the bus and then drove the bus over them (lol, although it's not funny) but come 11-08 we won't be laughing if Obama loses. I’m thinking about moving to Amsterdam. I love it there.

[Derrick from Philly]

Of course, nobody has mentioned the fact that this country will be in worse shape in October than it's been in in decades. Why am I so sure? Because there is a God. This should help Barack Obama achieve what I thought only a few months ago was impossible.

[Cadence]

eig, I believe the exit polls said that 50% of those who voted for Hillary Clinton said they will either vote for McCain or stay home. I would take these claims with a grain of salt for a couple of reasons:

1. They are said in the heat of the moment, and people will change their minds the closer we get to November, and if McCain continues to be the total oppossite of the senator that he has been for years.

2. Polls lie. It makes no sense to make broad assumptions based on a poll of just 500 people. Many of the people who will vote in November didn't bother to vote in the primary. The turnout will be much larger, as it always is in November.

3. of course there will be those who will not vote for Obama for various reasons; such as, race, gender, his experience level, resentment over Hillary losing, etc., but I think these people will be in the minority of Democratic voters, who want to see a Democrat in the White House.

I do have to laugh at those who think that Hillary is more electable than Obama. If that was the truth then wouldn't Hillary be beating Obama, instead of losing in every category.

On the topic, Hillary should drop out when she wants to, but as Marcus said, she should learn from the past month, and try to keep it clean.

[Cadence]

NCnVA, I haven't heard the Georgia rumors, but until a little over a decade ago, we pretty much voted for Democrats. Up until 2004, we only Democrats served as govenors. And Democrats ruled both houses of the state legislature until the same year; when people became angry with the exploits of Bill Clinton. (That's not a slam on Hillary, it's the truth. The morality police decided that all Democrats were to blame, and so they pretty much attacked all Democrats.)

If this rumor is true, it probably has less to do with Obama garnering more Black support, and more to do with a hope that people are tired of the Republicans. I think this hope can be seen in many states, where the thought is that Democrats stand a chance of winning a lot of contests that have been traditionally won by Republican candidates.