Comments on: Should Hillary Clinton Quit?: “Questioning The Question”

By: My new WordPress MU Site » Blog Archive » Should Hillary Clinton Quit?: “Questioning The Question”

Thu, 15 May 2008 04:43:34 +0000

[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAn election process in the USA seems to guarantee that citizens are allowed to place their votes in a nomination contest without having themselves, or the candidates, be unduly pressured to quit by any outside power or force. … [...]

By: ajca

ajca — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:14:26 +0000

I agree aba23. But I also “question the question”. The more interesting question, for me, is “Why is Hillary NOT quitting?”.

By: Ghostdreams

Ghostdreams — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:04:16 +0000

I agree. I really don't wish to see our political process become a version of fast food restaurants.
The first thing I saw in my news announcements when I logged onto the net was “Media Pronounces Race Over.”
(I can't remember how many times I've seen headlines like, “Obama is the Democrats Best Hope for Regaining the Whitehouse” or words very similar and if that's not pushing their an agenda, I don't know what is)

I read earlier today that quite a few republicans are very unhappy about John McCains' nomination as the republican nominee for President. It's not so much that they were opposed to McCain per say, but many feel that there was no selection involved for them. The race was over before it began and they had no part in the process.
And in a democratic nation, the process counts and it counts a lot.
I'm hoping that we'll regain our lost heritage as a nation of thinking people who put time and effort into our elections.
Some people are yelling that the ongoing debate between Obama and Clinton is separating the party. I disagree. I feel that I'm learning more about each candidate each time they debate the issues.
It's given me a chance to truly think about what issues matter most to me.
Thoughtful reflection is never a bad thing I don't think.
Thanks again for your post Doc.
Ghosty

By: GreenDreams

GreenDreams — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:50:12 +0000

I think the ceaseless focus not only on whether she will quit, but on who thinks she should quit, is just another reflection of the "horse race" nature of media coverage of the political process. It has consistently been about who's up, who's down, what happened and how much did it hurt whom, who's ahead, who's gaining, who's behind, who's losing and as she lost sufficiently yet, etc. Even when the focus is on the issues, it seems almost accidentally on the issues, for example not so much "is this a good idea or policy?" but "was that a good punch, or duck?" or "did that hurt or help the candidate?"

Consequently, it's entirely consistent for the media to be obsessed with the subject of the finish line: have we reached a yet? And, to stretch an already overstretched sports analogy, it's big news when one team concedes defeat. Maybe there's a backgammon analogy in here, as Senator Clinton must double her bet (via the doubling cube), in terms of loaning money to her campaign, or concede the game.

As for the thought that people calling for Clinton to admit defeat are somehow subverting our democracy, I don't really see that. Virtually every other candidate has dropped out, and dropped out at the point at which they could not see a path to victory. They did not do so to deny anyone the chance to vote for them (though no one called upon them to quit, either).

There is certainly some anxiety at this point in the race, because the continuing acrimonious battle between Democrats is seen as a boon to Republicans. There's also a sense, which I hear often, that Senator Clinton is writing the play book for the Republicans in the general election. I think these are mostly nonsense, as the GOP can only learn that nothing thrown at Obama has yet derailed his campaign.

Plus, the end of the race is in sight. By every projection I have heard, Senator Obama will reach the 2025 pledged delegate votes he needs for the nomination on May 20. At that time, Clinton may choose to continue to play this out until June 3, the last Democratic primary, but by then everyone will know who is the nominee. It is delusional to think that the superdelegates would take the nomination away from Obama based only on Clinton's assertion that she is more "electable."

By: aba23

aba23 — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:17 +0000

I'm sorry, it's not that I disagree with the sentiments expressed, but I just haven't actually heard anyone from the media say that Senator Clinton ought to get out of the race–not anyone sincere enough to take seriously, at least. I've heard various pundits opine that it may or may not benefit her party to do so (which is perfectly appropriate, as such position-taking is their job). But as for actual calls to get out, those have tended to come–where they indeed have–from stakeholders in the process (ie, other Democrats).

On the other hand, I've heard quite a few commentators in the last few days taking the media to task for all this alleged pressure for her to leave…but never with a clear indication of where their finger is pointed.

It is true that the endless pontificating on the point may well be beneath the threshold of journalistic professionalism…but it is among the LEAST of the media's sins in this spring's drawn-out process, as it's a semi-relevant question.