Letters to the Editor
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The Lesson of Eight Belles
She ran a good race. She outlasted most of the large field of contenders. She just couldn't catch up to him in the end. She wound up pushing too hard and hurting herself. She ended up being put down by the very people who had worked so hard for her for so long.
That is how the Eight Belles story ends.
Ever since Hillary Clinton opened her mouth while the votes from Lake County, IN were still MIA, I have been thinking about this year's Kentucky Derby and its tragic conclusion. With all the talk about the "horse race" between Obama and Clinton, it was an easy connection, I suppose. There is a valuable lesson for Mrs. Clinton in the tragic fate of Eight Belles, but it appears that Clinton is willing to risk the same figurative fate.
I want to interrupt the flow here to stress that I am speaking metaphorically and NOT suggesting that Hillary should die. It should be obvious enough, but I think it worth emphasizing just to be perfectly clear.
Hillary Clinton has come in second. Is she going to finish this thing up with dignity or is she going to push things too far and damage herself politically and permanently? Her bluster Tuesday night after getting steamrolled in NC and barely pulling out an Indiana which played to her demographic strengths indicated that she was willing to lose it all to keep reaching for something that she can't have. Wednesday saw her push further and make her last big call on the superdelegates. Thursday, in her deseration, she went too far. The comment referenced here is not the only one she made today about how she was winning with white people. She has hurt herself now.
It really doesn't matter at this point if it was part of a calculated scheme to marginalize Obama as "the Black candidate" or a stupid mistake made out of desperation, not ruthlessness. The simple fact is that Clinton stumbled BADLY today.
Now comes the moment of truth. Does she see how much damage she is doing and ease up? Does she take the time to consider the long term consequences of the path she has chosen? Or does she push on, hurting herself more and more? Will she go so far that she has to be politically put down for her own good? Is she willing to do irreparable damage to her career to push for a goal that is, by all conceivable measures, out of reach?
Today hurt. Tomorrow could be devastating if she keeps it up. Right now, she can survive with some serious political rehabilitation, but tomorrow she may do permanent damage.
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@Veronica
Exactly what is she supposed to do? IGNORE her advantage amongst impoverished people in this country? The point is, lower income people are voting for HER. African-American people, whether impoverished or not, are voting for HIM. This is a fact. Pundits have been saying for months that Obama gets the African-American vote.
I think what she is "supposed" to do is NOT talk about the demographics of those voting for her because it is divisive. The pundits may be talking about how blacks vote for Obama but he is not. Get it? Can you find me a single video or transcript where he does this? Where he says, "I represent the working class blacks in this country as well as the better-educated suburban folk, so therefore..." He doesn't do it. He actually lives his message. He genuinely wanted to be the post-racial candidate. He genuinely wants to erase or at least smudge the lines that divide us into one tribe or another, for the purpose of looking at our humanity and solving our universal problems. He doesn't harp on the differences.
You and lolcait and other Hillary supporters have spent months defending the exact words of Hillary without taking a step back and looking at the big picture. She doesn't really have big picture. She's an excellent administrator of a laundry list of problems. She's a fighter, a detail person, a champion in the Senate if she sets her goal on something important and right. But she's not got the vision.
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But what is the point?
Is Hillary Clinton saying that because she is winning white working class that Obama would not?
If he can't win them, why?
Is she implying that lower income whites will not vote for Obama?
The real question is why are lower income whites not voting for Obama. Are they all racist? I don't think so. My gut tells me that there is a lot of loyalty for Mrs. Clinton among all if the base of the party, icluding blacks. But for black folks, the chance to see the first black President is simply too irresistable. Whites voted for Obama in many red states. But the folks in those states simply don't have the same attachment to the Clintons as folks in the stalwart blue states. She's winning the working class whites because she is the heir apparent to Bill Clinton. Once the race is settled and hurt feeling are eased a bit, most will vote for Obama, the same way McCain's supporters voted for Bush in 2000, even though they said they wouldn't.
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Joe, what don't you pick on Obama?
Obama accused Hillary talking like George Bush. You accused Clinto talking like George Wallace. You picked something fact based and made it as if she committed a crime. Same on you.
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@Lateagain
Lateagain: "I think what she is "supposed" to do is NOT talk about the demographics of those voting for her because it is divisive. The pundits may be talking about how blacks vote for Obama but he is not. Get it? Can you find me a single video or transcript where he does this? Where he says, "I represent the working class blacks in this country as well as the better-educated suburban folk, so therefore..." He doesn't do it. He actually lives his message. He genuinely wanted to be the post-racial candidate. He genuinely wants to erase or at least smudge the lines that divide us into one tribe or another, for the purpose of looking at our humanity and solving our universal problems. He doesn't harp on the differences"
This is great. Very well said, thanks!