She’s Back
26 June 2008 12:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
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…and not a moment too soon.
This has been a tough couple of weeks for any Clinton supporter. It had to have been hell for Hillary. Those of us
who have sucked it up and moved, just like Clinton, over to the presumptive
nominee have had to swallow our dreams, at least for this year. So it’s wonderful
that tonight Clinton’s donors will have a confab with Obama’s or vice versa
or whatever over money, getting ready for tomorrow’s event where Clinton and
Obama meet in Unity. That would be in New Hampshire, because “unity”
isn’t something that’s going to happen naturally. Shotgun political marriage out of necessity
is more like it.
The last time we saw Clinton on the campaign trail she gave the speech of the
season and her life, then disappeared for some well deserve rest and recuperation,
as the rest of us tried to deal with the political carnage.
It’s been ugly.
Some Hillary supporters have unfortunately chosen the petulant mode, wherein
they decided that sticking it to Obama no matter the cost for the country is
the appropriate response for Clinton not prevailing. Obama’s done wrong! Sexism!
(No kidding.) Hillary was wronged! We’ll fight all the way… to irrelevance.
So be it. I’ve been involved in politics long enough to know that people with
a grudge can never be convinced of anything. They’re in it to feed their anger, slapping a bumper sticker over it to convince themselves they’re fighting out of principle.
The majority of Hillary supporters are stuck doing what we know is the only
thing to do. Elect a Democrat, because the alternative is just too unthinkable.
It’s not just the four more years of Bush-like policies. Or that Pakistan is on the
cusp of a region in chaos, which McCain’s not yet mentioned. Or that Iraq isn’t
the worst threat we face and neither is Iran, however dangerous. That terrorism is less of a threat than the Pakistani Taliban or Afghanistan becoming a failed state, take two. Or that McCain doesn’t even know what
the catastrophic unraveling in Central Asia means to the world. Or that he admits to being “illiterate” on a computer. That he believes women don’t deserve equal pay, because
what we really need is training. Or that women’s civil rights aren’t important.
Or that health care for poor women doesn’t matter. It’s that the
Democratic Party, with all its faults, has done more for working class, blue
collar, women, gays and lesbians, diplomacy, veterans, and peace than the Republican Party
ever could. The notion that Senator McCain has any answers is just… well,
to enter into a world where political revenge is sweet no matter that the cost is paid in blood. But some people are more comfortable
with their bankrupt Let’s Get Obama scripting, soothing their wounded egos as the world unravels.
Barack Obama’s not perfect. He’s a Democrat. Flip flopping on campaign finance
I predicted. That he said he’d vote for FISA offering telecom immunity, then
didn’t vote, after saying he was against it didn’t surprise me either. After
covering him for 18 months all you have to do is go looking in my archives to
discover that Senator Obama is likely one of the shrewdest, calculating, and talented politicians
ever to rise up, which he proved in the primaries. One of his first interviews, to which I always return,
is when he told George Stephanopoulos he wasn’t an ideologue, being conservative
on some things. He calculates, sees strategically what may be coming, then plays
his hand, not on principle but on possible outcome that will advance him closer
to his goal: power. Nothing that’s unfolding should surprise anyone who’s
been paying attention. Bluntly, I told you so. But while Obama may be Machiavellian, he’s our
Machiavelli. It’s nice the shark is on our side this time.
That said, people trying to demonize Obama, especially on the web, have missed
what’s happened and lost the moment. The storyline has moved on. The big game has begun. Nobody is
listening. Causing a ruckus is always possible, but the work ahead is too critical and difficult, the outcome to unsure, to worry about the rabble.
Hillary is about to join Obama to make history. Nothing can change it now as
it stands.
It’s good to see Hillary back. It’s fuel for the fight. Because only she can
lead us forward. It’s tough to spin political victories out of thin air, especially when your heart
isn’t in it. …except that a moment later I think of a McCain presidency and all of a sudden
I get new wind.
