Could Clinton concede without quitting?
I could be very wrong, but I don't think Hillary Clinton is quitting soon without a big push from the outside. That's not to say I think she should continue campaigning to win. I think it's to her benefit to stay in now, although in a decidedly different tone.
I think it's in her interest to try to use her remaining time to rehabilitate her image, dropping all negative (or as non-negative as a Clinton campaign can constitutionally be.) She could run as a populist, she could run as "I feel you, America," she could try to use the next month to rebuild herself, and then on June 3 (or maybe May 20,) very graciously and very unifyingly concede.
If she changes tone and mixes her stump with personal feeling, attacks on McCain, and tamps down the back and forth campaign hostility, her continuation in the race would be far less problematic.
In effect, she could concede without quitting and use her remaining time in the media light to reburnish the Clinton image.
Alot has been made about Obama's need to reunify the party, but at the same time, it would also benefit the Clintons to spend some time mending some primary fences. If she left today, there would still be so much anti-Clinton out there among key segments of the Democratic Party, young, African Americans, college educated, etc., and for reasons of Bill Clinton's presidential legacy and Hillary Clinton's political future, it would make alot of sense to spend the time (and money) now to try and repair that damage.
If she quit today, that "kitchen sink," slightly racist, negative, negative, negative would be how we remember things.
For this to work, however, she will have to transmit this shift (and coordinate with the Obama campaign) which could be a little tricky.
(Frankly, Obama being named the nominee only to be trounced in West Virginia doesn't look good from the Obama side, either.)
To me, this course makes sense for Hillary and Bill Clinton. They could leave this race in alot better reputation than they are now, and any way I look at it from their perspective, that's better for them than quitting the race today.
Of course, all of this assumes she's willing (or capable) of going this route, and that she's not pushed out.
(PS. The signs yesterday were not that she was going this way, citing her "white support" and pushing the pretense that Florida and Michigan put her back in the race.)
I think it's in her interest to try to use her remaining time to rehabilitate her image, dropping all negative (or as non-negative as a Clinton campaign can constitutionally be.) She could run as a populist, she could run as "I feel you, America," she could try to use the next month to rebuild herself, and then on June 3 (or maybe May 20,) very graciously and very unifyingly concede.
If she changes tone and mixes her stump with personal feeling, attacks on McCain, and tamps down the back and forth campaign hostility, her continuation in the race would be far less problematic.
In effect, she could concede without quitting and use her remaining time in the media light to reburnish the Clinton image.
Alot has been made about Obama's need to reunify the party, but at the same time, it would also benefit the Clintons to spend some time mending some primary fences. If she left today, there would still be so much anti-Clinton out there among key segments of the Democratic Party, young, African Americans, college educated, etc., and for reasons of Bill Clinton's presidential legacy and Hillary Clinton's political future, it would make alot of sense to spend the time (and money) now to try and repair that damage.
If she quit today, that "kitchen sink," slightly racist, negative, negative, negative would be how we remember things.
For this to work, however, she will have to transmit this shift (and coordinate with the Obama campaign) which could be a little tricky.
(Frankly, Obama being named the nominee only to be trounced in West Virginia doesn't look good from the Obama side, either.)
To me, this course makes sense for Hillary and Bill Clinton. They could leave this race in alot better reputation than they are now, and any way I look at it from their perspective, that's better for them than quitting the race today.
Of course, all of this assumes she's willing (or capable) of going this route, and that she's not pushed out.
(PS. The signs yesterday were not that she was going this way, citing her "white support" and pushing the pretense that Florida and Michigan put her back in the race.)
posted by mikevotes at
7:29 AM
4 Comments:
Similarly, Huckabee conceded without quitting. Not to draw too close a comparison, Huckabee's presence in the GOP race actually helped McCain. Similarly, as you point out, a slow, non-negative glide to a Clinton exit could help Obama and the party at large.
Markos Moulitsas (Kos) has suggested that it would actually be harmful for Hillary to completely pull out before WV and KY. The argument is, Obama is going to lose big time in the great White Pride Appalachian beltway. Hillary's presence keeps this from looking like a simple rejection of Obama.
By
-epm, at 8:45 AM
I agree that having Obama named nominee only to get kicked in WV would look bad.
However, Ky does come with Oregon, and no one would expect the Dems to win KY, so that might not be as bad.
I think she drops out after Oregon, or maybe Puerto Rico if she wants to hold the positioning that she's fighting for Fla and Michigan.
But again, counter to this entire post, the early signs are that she's not going into Huck mode, but still throwing elbows. Of course, it takes a while to turn the train.
By
mikevotes, at 8:49 AM
Clinton's continued reference to race -- and the unspoken assertion these folks are too racist to vote for a black man -- will backfire. Not only does this fly in the face of core Democratic values, the pundits are treating it with dismay.
Similarly, MI and FL are really old news, as far as the corporate media is concerned. Been there, done that. A couple of months ago the media treated this MI/FL thing as kind of a Democratic Party scandal, of sorts. But now? For Hillary to continue to beat this drum, well, I think it just plays into the new narrative of "Hillary Desperate. Clinging to Irrational Hope."
By
-epm, at 8:57 AM
I dunno. The topline pundits seem to be carrying that Obama problem with white working class pretty well.
It's been a bit offset by the emerging understanding that primary voting and general voting are different and the restatement that Dems don't win that group usually anyhow.
I think Mi and Fla cease3d to become news when their pledged delegates could no longer overturn the lead.
By
mikevotes, at 11:12 AM
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