Correctly Impolitic

Here’s my prediction - and I am writing this paragraph before the results are tallied in Indiana.  I think she goes to the Convention and concedes in Denver.  I could be wrong. It has happened. But why would she throw in the towel now, when she has come so far. When a victory in West Virginia means so much.  When Kentucky needs to have a say.  When Oregon looms large and Puerto Rico remains so hot.  Maybe, if she has no money, she will suspend some campaign activities.  But I don’t know-that’s not the Clinton style.

May 7, and you are there.  I hope.  Remember last week when the talking heads were lamenting the recent passing of “Oh poor Obama”.  How things can change in just an evening.  Many may ask, why is she staying in the race. Ok let’s speculate.  She really thinks the Democratic Committee is going to award her all the votes they were never ever going to count, and she will have the popular vote.  Well, maybe.  Or maybe she thinks something terrible will happen to Barack and she’ll be there to pick up the pieces-or the crown.  Perhaps she feels that all these primaries are a way to know where Bill is all the time.  This morning some talking head suggested that she stays because she loves the “comeback” narrative. (Please shoot me if I start to use ‘narrative’ as an adjective).  It wouldn’t be unusual for the people who surround her-who have jobs as long as she stays in, (some of whom she is paying big bucks), have convinced her it is possible to win. And of course, Terry McAuliffe simply can’t resign himself to not being an important player-he loves all the media  attention he gets from the Clinton association.

The New York Post, a Clinton hometown paper had the most colorful headline-they always do.  “Toast” they called her.  Is there any wonder that there are numbers of close Hillary friends who claim  they have always remained independent throughout the campaign season-I don’t think so.  There is no embarrassment for a Clinton advocate to admit it.   So why have they suddenly become independent (as opposed to Obama).  Probably because they have to play the Washington game of political expediency in order to survive.  And at the other end of the continuum there are the Clinton supporters who say that they won’t vote for Obama if he is on the ticket.  These people are just plain stupid.  And if that’s not throwing the baby out with the bath water, or the tub, or the designer cradle, or all the contraptions they have to entertain children now.  And speaking of the stuff they have to entertain kid’s today-which we didn’t even imagine when my kids were little, no matter what I bought for them to play with, they preferred to play with a pot or pan and a wooden spoon.  Back to throwing out the baby-which I also often wanted to do but they grew up to be terrific adults who will most likely vote for Obama.  By the way, The NY Post headline today is “Over the Hill”.  Their headlines are always terrific and ridiculous - but without apologies, they do say what the editor thinks.

Also in the realm of the ridiculous, Barbara Walters has a new book where she reveals her affair with former Senator Edward Brooke.  She sent him a note to tell him she was going to throw him in front of a bus.  Oh, and on Oprah, she also said that she was never his mistress-he was married when they, as we say in the south, “liaised”.   And more news, Star Jones is appalled by Barbara’s revelations about Brooke and about Star.  I think she commented by saying something like, ‘that old bag would do anything for a dime.’  It appears they are having a tiff.  Maybe Star figures to milk her mention beyond what it deserves.  Now isn’t this better than President politics.

This afternoon, when I had nothing to do, I was wondering if people beyond the beltway and with no immediate tie to a campaign care about whether Hillary gets out or stays in.  So I conducted one of my anecdotal surveys.  This time in Boonton, New Jersey at the Town Hall when I was paying my mother’s water and sewage bill.  Immediately after I paid the bill I went to voter registration to check and see when my mom would receive her absentee ballot. A discussion ensued about when ballots were mailed because there is a State Primary in June.  People were moving in and out of the office and so I asked each of  them what they thought about the Presidential Campaign.  Almost to a person and most vehemently, no one thinks Hillary should concede until all the Primaries are complete or, even more surprising, the decision is made at the Convention.  OK, it is New Jersey and we do take our elections seriously, but I must admit, I was rather surprised that in this Republican stronghold (Morris County)  anyone would care about the what the Democrats were doing.  I’m kinda with my New Jersey friends.  If she wants to continue, and she has the money, why should the people in the remaining states be denied the opportunity to weigh in.  For her to get out now is akin to Jimmy Carter’s early concession in 1980. He went on TV and congratulated Ronald Reagan before the polls closed in California.  It was awful. If Hillary packed her bags and headed home instead of West Virgina, there would be a great many people upset about being denied the right to choose-and God knows there are enough people trying to deny us that right.

I believe that when Democrats consider the alternative, they will vote for Obama.  And I also believe the Obama campign will welcome the Hillary people to the fold.  She is not dividing the Democratic party, the pundits are - or they are trying, but it’s what they get paid to do.  So I say, let Hillary be this rather appealing Hillary for as long as she wants to be.