Who'll Tell Hillary?By David Knowles
Mar 31st 2008 12:34PM
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A growing chorus of Democrats are recommending that Hillary Clinton give up her current bid to become president. Of course, most of the people who advocate such a view--such as Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy--are supporters of Barack Obama. But as the contest drags on, and anxieties keep rising about the long-term damage that the protracted fight is having on Democratic chances for re-taking the White House, it is inevitable that some Clinton supporters will come to a similar conclusion to those Obama backers who envision Hillary's exit from the race as a way to preserve party unity.
It doesn't take a psychic to foretell a disastrous end to what once seemed like a slam-dunk win for Democrats next fall. With each passing day, adherents from both the Clinton and Obama camps seem to entrench themselves further in their my-candidate-or-McCain bunkers. Yes, the enemy of my enemy (John McCain) seems to have become Plan B for nearly one-third of those blinded by Plan A loyalty.
If one believes that the longer the Obama/Cinton bout goes on, the greater McCain's chances of winning in November become, then the obvious solution is for one of the Dem. candidates to take one for the team. Of course, Clinton supporters argue that it is Obama who should exit, but that case is the harder one to make, seeing as Obama is ahead by every conceivable metric we have. Indeed, the argument that Obama has run the stronger campaign, therefore he should step aside, is itself counter-intuitive.
So then, back to Hillary. Whether or not she should clear the way for Obama is, of course, a matter of great debate. Barack himself believes that's up to no one but Clinton. Another question, as posed by New York Magazine's John Heilmann, is: Who among Democrats has the clout to convince Clinton that it's time to pack it in? Certainly it wasn't Leahy. Nancy Pelosi, too, is seen as a hostile witness. Al Gore is doing his best to remain neutral. Ditto John Edwards and Jimmy Carter. We know who Bill Clinton favors, and it's hard to imagine him trying to convince his wife that the writing's on the wall. Chelsea, perhaps?
Heilmann thinks the discouraging word will have to be a Clinton loyalist:
No, according to Hillary's adjutants, the people most likely to have sway with her on this topic are not party elders at all but instead her fiercest loyalists, those who've won her trust over the years by dint of their unwavering support. Familiar names from the annals of Clintondom are mentioned: Terry McAuliffe, Vernon Jordan, Rahm Emanuel (likely the only person in this club who is also close to Obama). So, too are prominent endorsers such as Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell. "If one of her major African- American endorsers, like Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, told her it was time to quit, that would be very powerful," adds a senior Clinton adviser.
Such speculation by-passes the person who is best qualified to advise Hillary Clinton, and that is, of course, Hillary Clinton, herself. I don't picture her as a Bush-like figure, eschewing all contact with newspapers and non-Fox-News outlets. While she suggests that she's going to drive this caravan right into Denver, whatever the numbers show, you have to think that a woman this smart will be able to understand the writing on the wall without anyone having to whisper in her ear.
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Link:
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/03/31/wholl-tell-hillary/Link to Heilmann article:
http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/45604/index1.html:shrug:
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