Newsweek 3/3: "Hillary Should Get Out Now"

[elocs]

cohttp://www.newsweek.com/id/114725/page/1

If Hillary Clinton wanted a graceful exit, she'd drop out now—before the March 4 Texas and Ohio primaries—and endorse Barack Obama. This would be terrible for people like me who have been dreaming of a brokered convention for decades. For selfish reasons, I want the story to stay compelling for as long as possible, which means I'm hoping for a battle into June for every last delegate and a bloody floor fight in late August in Denver. But to withdraw this week would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary's political career. She won't, of course, and for reasons that help explain why she's in so much trouble in the first place.

Withdrawing would be stupid if Hillary had a reasonable chance to win the nomination, but she doesn't. To win, she would have to do more than reverse the tide in Texas and Ohio, where polls show Obama already even or closing fast. She would have to hold off his surge, then establish her own powerful momentum within three or four days. Without a victory of 20 points or more in both states, the delegate math is forbidding. In Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22, the Clinton campaign did not even file full delegate slates. That's how sure they were of putting Obama away on Super Tuesday.

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But imagine if, instead of waiting to be marginalized or forced out, Hillary decided to defy the stereotype we have of her family? Imagine if she drew a distinction between "never quit" as it applies to fighting Kenneth Starr and the Republicans on the one hand, and fellow Democrats on the other? Imagine if she had, well, the imagination for a breathtaking act of political theater that would make her seem the epitome of grace and class and party unity, setting herself up perfectly for 2012 if Obama loses?

The conventional view is that the Clintons approach power the way hard-core gun owners approach a weapon—they'll give it up only when it's wrenched from their cold, dead fingers. When I floated this idea of her quitting, Hillary aides scoffed that it would never happen. Their Pollyanna-ish assessment of the race offered a glimpse inside the bunker. These are the same loyalists who told Hillary that she was inevitable, that experience was a winning theme, that going negative in a nice state like Iowa would work, that all Super Tuesday caucus states could be written off. The Hillary who swallowed all that will never withdraw.

This article was the day before the primaries in Texas and Ohio and I think it is a good insight into Clinton's mindset. If the situation was reversed, with Clinton having a delegate lead of over 100, I think her supporters would have to honestly say that they would be calling for Obama to withdraw if his chances were as poor and only a long shot to win the nomination. They would say that his dragging it out to the bitter end by throwing everything and every accusation against Clinton to knock her off her front running pedestal would jeopardize Obama's future within the Democratic Party.

I believe the same thing could be said of Clinton if her fighting to the bitter end divides the party and especially if it contributes to a loss in the GE if Obama continues to get trashed by her the way you would expect he would be trashed by McCain. Fortunately for McCain's campaign he only needs to quote Clinton's questioning if Obama is even fit to be the Commander in Chief as she says that she and McCain are, as well as other accusations. If you throw enough mud, some of it may stick or at least make you look more poorly than you really may be. As a Democrat I could stomach that a lot better coming from Republicans rather than from another Democrat who claims to be on my team.

As Democrats we need to keep our eyes on the prize, which would be winning a great victory in November in not only retaking the presidency, but also increasing our majorities in Congress. It is a golden opportunity because the Republicans should be on the ropes. There is no glory in wounding your opponent in a way contributes to losing the war. Cutting down your opponent does not make you taller and more presidential. As Democrats we need to unite and to pull together for a victory rather than pulling our party apart.

[zonkers]

1. I remember that piece. Too late for Hillary to exit gracefully now.

[papau]

2. Relax and feel the media love of Obama? perhaps no more - perhaps not in the general

[Texas Hill Country]

3. newsweek has been saying that since feb5

[lojasmo]

4. And they have been right

Clinton has not won a single delegate day since then.

[elocs]

5. I do think if the positions were reversed

the Clinton people would be clamoring for Obama to withdraw. Instead we have to endure the attitude of "how dare anybody suggest that Hillary should withdraw?" I would certainly call that a perfect example of being disingenuous.