Letters to the Editor
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Clinton did it Right - She just got beat by the better candidate
Was this nomination Hillary's to lose? Perhaps early on in the race when she had all the polls going for her it seemed like it was hers to lose, but most people would agree that those numbers were mainly name recognition. So what did she actually do wrong? You could bring up the Bill Clinton attacks in SC, but I think she actually took care of that well. She also did very well in the debates even if some of those seemed biased against her. Her machine was working as well as it should. Her organization was pretty good and she outlined her positions well including being able to deal with criticisms of them. Her positions were very popular not only in terms of democrats, but also independents. However, after all that she has, for anyone that is honest about the facts, lost the nomination.
So what went wrong? How does Obama beat out Clinton when their positions are largely the same, Clinton has name recognition, and more resources than anyone in the race? I think what happened is that a great candidate in the traditional sense, of whom we've seen for 20 years now, got beat by the next generation political candidate. She made the case, he made it better. Her speeches got interest, his got inspiration. She made a campaign, he made a movement.
I think Hillary is falling victim to the changing winds of the political atmosphere. No longer do people want to vote against someone, they want to vote for them. Dole against Clinton, Gore against Bush, Kerry against Bush, Clinton against Bush/McCain? This is old, tired and uninspiring. People want to believe in someone again. They want to believe that their vote actually *does* make a difference. You experience this with the energy and excitement as you fill stadium with 20,000 other people like I did last week in Seattle; you feel like you are part of something you can believe in.
Voting for the establishment candidate won't work in this election. People are too tired to go back now. Hillary is not a bad candidate or someone who lost the nomination by what she did, she just fell victim to something bigger and ultimately better.