What Clinton wishes she could say...

[carpe diem]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9564.html

excerpt:

"Why, ask many Democrats and media commentators, won’t Hillary Rodham Clinton see the long odds against her, put her own ambitions aside, and gracefully embrace Barack Obama as the inevitable Democratic nominee?

Here is why: She and Bill Clinton both devoutly believe that Obama’s likely victory is a disaster-in-waiting. Naïve Democrats just don’t see it. And a timid, pro-Obama press corps, in their view, won’t tell the story.

But Hillary Clinton won’t tell it, either.

A lot of coverage of the Clinton campaign supposes them to be in kitchen-sink mode—hurling every pot and pan, no matter the damage this might do to Obama as the likely Democratic nominee in the fall."

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The above link and excerpt is from an article on politico.com that says that Hillary is only staying in the race to save the Democratic party from itself and it's own naivete. According to this, she just really believes deep down that Obama can't win and will be a general election disaster and she and her husband are trying desperately to save the party from a near certain loss in November.

First of all, I don't see why she CAN'T come right out and say it. She has called him everything under the sun, she has berated him like a child, denigrated him, called him unqualified to be CIC, and basically endorsed the nominee of the opposition party. Why not just be honest with the public and say flat out exactly what she thinks about his electability or lack thereof, and why? That might be the most convincing argument she could ever make and enough people might see it the way she does to turn it around for her. Why not have her surrogates have a heart to heart with their constituents in town halls and such? Why keep it a secret? Surely either she or somebody affiliated with her has the capacity to frame her concern in a sincere and forthright way the allows for people to understand that it's not about her and her husband's ambition but, really, it's just about protecting the Democratic party from doom.

I think the real problem is that she has just as many electabilty issues as he does, especially going up against McCain, and she knows it. They may not be the same issues but she has just as many and the Republicans have been nurturing them for 15 years.

And for all of her supposed 'concern' about him, the bottom line is, I believe, that IF she really thought he COULDN'T win she would have stepped aside already and would be plotting her 2012 election strategy. If they were so concerned about the fate of the country and party, why not run in 2008 and save us from 4 more years of Bush? No, they were waiting for what they were pretty sure would be a Kerry loss so the field (they thought) would be wide open for her.

I think the entire premise of the article is bull. Hillary Clinton knows that Barack has put together the organization and has brought in enough new people that he has as good a chance as she does if not better to win in November. That is why she is hanging on, because if he does win, she can't run against him if he's the incumbent and she will have no party support if she tried. Her only chance is to MAKE him unelectable, to join forces with the Republicans to make sure he loses in November. She can only justify doing that as long as she is running against him. Once she concedes, it will be nearly impossible for her to knee cap him in public, so, she needs the cover of her own candidacy to destroy his GE chances. This is no longer about 2008 for her, she knows that won't happen, this is the first step of her 2012 election campaign.

And, besides, if her and Bill's political acumen were as sharp and it used to be, they would have seen that this was a "change" election and the threat that Obama posed and removed the cronies they had running their campaign and gotten some new blood in who really had their finger on the pulse of the Democratic electorate. The didn't see the importance of doing any of these things, so, why should anyone trust their judgment about what/who can win a general election? It's wishful thinking on their part...they don't think he can't win, they HOPE he can't. And, they are trying to do/say whatever they have to to make it so.

[Liberal Gramma]

1. I agree with you

Clinton's remark to Richardson, "He cannot win, Bill, he cannot win," was in the nature of "Oh, rats, I CAN'T have lost my wallet," or "I CAN'T be pregnant!"

[DJ13]

2. That article is Clinton PR crap

The real reason she and Bill dont want to believe Obama can win is because of the three candidates left (Clinton, Obama, McCain) Obama is the only candidate that has ran a campaign unbeholden to the special interests.

A potential President that owes no corporations any favors for his winning office scares the hell out of the DC insiders who have made their living sucking up to the corporate tit.