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June 5, 2008
Hillary to drop out of race by the weekend
After such a long, tough campaign, it will be painful to watch Hillary Clinton finally conceding defeat and then endorsing someone she clearly doesn't think is qualified to be president:
Howard Wolfson, one of Mrs. Clinton's chief strategists, and other aides said she would express support for Mr. Obama and party unity at an event in Washington that day. One adviser said Mrs. Clinton would concede defeat, congratulate Mr. Obama and proclaim him the party's nominee, while pledging to do what was needed to assure his victory in November.
Her decision came after a day of conversations with supporters on Capitol Hill about her future now that Mr. Obama had clinched the nomination. Mrs. Clinton had, in a speech after Tuesday night's primaries, suggested she wanted to wait before deciding about her future, but in conversations Wednesday, her aides said, she was urged to step aside.
"We pledged to support her to the end," Representative Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who has been a patron of Mrs. Clinton since she first ran for the Senate, said in an interview. "Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is."
Mrs. Clinton's decision came as some of her most prominent supporters - including former Vice President Walter F. Mondale - announced they were now backing Mr. Obama. "I was for Hillary - I wasn't against Obama, who I think is very talented," Mr. Mondale said. "I'm glad we made a decision and I hope we can unite our party and move forward."
With her most prominent Superdelegates deserting her right and left, Clinton was left with little choice other than to retire from the race. As for her supporting Obama, I will believe it when I see it. All day on Tuesday, aides were telling reporters that she would concede the race to Obama that night and throw her support to him.
In fact, she did neither. She never even congratulated Obama for winning - only for running a good race. So she may very well suspend her campaign but as for endorsing Obama, that may be for later.
For now, her dream is ended and it's hard to see if she could ever revive it. If McCain wins in November, she may have a shot if she can reform her team and raise enough money. But if Obama wins, it isn't likely that she would run until 2016 - a very long time to look ahead in politics when other names, other faces are likely to be more exciting.
There is little doubt that Clinton ran a tenacious campaign, forcing Obama to spend tens of millions of dollars during the primary that he believes could be better spent on the general election. Indeed, her refusal to get out of the race months ago may nagve neem the last straw for the Obama camp who were already sick of the Clinton tactics. It makes it much more unlikely that there will be an offer for the vice presidency forthcoming.
Obama may choose her if he becomes convinced it's the only way for him to win. But despite some numbers in blue states that might give the candidate pause, there is no evidence at this point that her being on the ticket is vital to its winning.
So Clinton will go back to the Senate where she will almost certainly head up the effort next year to bring national health insurance into law. She will be operating with a new found respect among some for her tenacious campaigning. And perhaps we'll see her again in some other historical role - Supreme Court Justice maybe. What ever it is, she isn't going away anytimes soon.
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