Hillary: A Post-Mortem
Lots of "look-backs" today at the failed candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don't want to dwell on the past so I'll just say a few things and move on...
IMHO, the biggest reason Hillary lost (bigger than her vote on the AUMF) was that she forgot that campaigns are about the future, not the past. Obama knew that; it's what "Change" means. The irony, of course, is that Hillary should have known better, too. Bill always did. When he ran on "Change" in 92 his campaign song -- "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" -- was a careful reflection of that.
But Hillary? She might as well have sung from the Prince songbook -- "Party like it's 1999." Bad idea, no matter how good the go-go 90's looked, especially compared to the Bush/Cheney regime.
Of course, she was hobbled by other things as well -- a disastrous campaign plan (no Plan B after Super Tuesday) and her stubborn insistence that the presumptive Republican nominee was a better choice for President than her Democratic opponent. That's the kind of talk that, if she were a Republican, would have gotten her serious consideration for the position of Vice President on McCain's ticket. Instead, it just poisoned the well -- for her and perhaps even Obama and the entire Democratic party. She made a lot of enemies with that one. A lot of enemies.
That said, I'm sure that she'll be accepted back into the loving embrace of the Democratic party before too long. I look forward to her campaigning for Obama in the fall. She is just the kind of fighter the Democrats need to slash away at McCain the Republicans. And it's what Obama needs to maintain his dignity and role as the good cop in the campaign.
And who knows -- maybe there's a reward for her, after she has proven her loyalty. I just hope she doesn't settle for a cabinet position because (unless you're AG, SecState or SecDef) that's usually a career ender. Associate Justice of the SCOTUS has always been my fondest wish for her.
Good luck Hillary and remember: second-best in this field ain't too shabby.
Rebecca Traister gets it right: