You can say what you like about Barack Obama, but you cannot discount his graciousness. Keeping his temper when all about him were losing theirs, Obama has unfailingly declined to stoop to the kind of lows one would expect from a presidential primary. When Fox News pundit Liz Trotta affirmed what nobody really thought Clinton meant when she alluded to Robert Kennedy; when Bill Clinton called Obama’s initial opposition to the war a “fairytale;” even when Sen. Robert Ford said he couldn’t win the race because of his race, Obama has personified the moral high ground. His speech last night paid deference to Senator Clinton’s “strength, courage and commitment” in an profound gesture of magnanimity.
But enough is enough. Last night, Hillary Clinton not only failed to acknowledge her opponent’s victory, she even tried to bargain from her position of defeat. “Put me on your ticket,” she seems to be implying, “and I’ll step down.”
“Mrs Clinton talked of party unity, but – make no mistake – Mr Obama was being put on notice: this was victory for him on her terms,” says the Times of London. “She wants to be vice-president.”
Is Hillary really in a position to bargain? She’s obviously been mulling it over for a while. In this interview with BET founder Robert Johnson, Johnson recalls talking to HRC about the possibility as early as last month. And while for some, an Obama/Clinton ticket seems to be a dream one, for others, including former President Jimmy Carter, it’s a bad, bad idea.
What on earth has Hillary Clinton done to justify Obama making her his VP? The smear campaigns? Her terrifying invincibility (Jon Stewart once compared her to the ruthless T-1000 in Terminator 2)? Her extraordinary sense of being owed the opportunity?
If Obama puts Hillary Clinton on his ticket, not only will he be indulging her endless narcissistic quest for self-gratification, but some think he’ll be undermining his own authority. Does the Obama campaign not believe that he can win without her? As Andrew Sullivan argues, Hillary is still grappling with Obama, effectively holding him to ransom. If he offers her the VP spot, she’ll take it, and bring all her voters with her. If he doesn’t, she’ll focus on his defeat, and her next campaign for 2012. And the Clintons will continue.
Any other Democrat would be excoriated by their party for such self-serving tactics. “We’re Americans first,” Senator Obama said last night. “We’re politicians first,” Senator Clinton seems to be responding.
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