How Will Hillary Go?

by Ron Giusti, Political Writer

As Hillary Clinton’s chances for the Democratic nomination have faded she has started to look more and more like a mountain climber sliding down the face of a cliff, desperately grasping for any branch or indentation that might break her slide downward. During the past few primaries as Barack Obama has moved closer to the nomination, Hillary’s perceived “grit” has started to appear more and more like sheer desperation and an overwhelming dread at the possibility of losing.

Lately Senator Clinton has been portraying herself as another Rocky Balboa, a plucky underdog on the ropes fighting for the little guy against overwhelming odds. However, these days her slashing style in the ring is more reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s rather then that of the likable “Italian Stallion.”

Much like Nixon before her, Hillary’s life plan has revolved around an all pervasive need to win the Presidency. She is also similar to Nixon in that she is driven, angry, feels unjustly persecuted, plays the role of a victim and believes she is somehow entitled to the office.

It had all been so carefully planned. After Bill’s time it would be Hillary’s turn. Shop around, find an easy Senate seat in New York, sign up for the Senate Armed Services Committee to build credibility and then use thirty years’ worth of built up connections with the Democratic establishment to leverage the nomination in what looked to be a Democratic year. Early on, it looked as if the battle for the Democratic nomination would be over before it began. Hillary would be the next new big thing in politics, the glamour candidate, the first woman with a serious, honest to God shot at the Presidency.

And then almost out of nowhere ambled the graceful, charismatic, very cool guy with two years in the Senate named Barak Obama. In some strange way it was as if the gods deliberately designed Obama to suck the newness and excitement from Hillary’s effort. Like pro Quarterback Joe Montana in his prime Senator Obama walked on to the field with the grace and calm confidence of a man who realizes in a non-arrogant way that he simply has “it.”

At first Hillary and her handlers didn’t perceive the seriousness of the threat Obama represented, as she played the dignified role of the “inevitable” nominee who was way ahead of the pack. However after Obama won Iowa and it became evident that he wouldn’t be easy to put away Hillary and Bill have gone after the Senator in true Nixonian fashion.

After Bill tried not so subtly to dismiss the Obama wins in South Carolina and Louisiana as just a black thing, Hillary used a similar strategy, reminding voters again and again of the Rev. Wright controversy; “now if he had been my Pastor I would have left the church...” Hillary has called Obama an elitist, and informed us between beers that she really likes hunting and hunters (yeah hunting and Bud are real popular at Wellesley College, Yale Law School, Martha’s Vineyard, Manhattan, Hollywood and Embassy Row). And this life-long liberal who credits herself as being part of the civil rights movement told an interviewer that she was the candidate drawing the support of “hardworking, white Americans.” All this in an attempt to warn Democrats to stop before they actually go ahead and nominate a black guy.

And like Richard Nixon you can see it in her eyes, the steely determination to do whatever it takes. Sadly, one senses in all of this more than a little bit of mental illness. Is it really sane to crave power as much as both Bill and Hillary seem to? No one is actually entitled to be President of the United States, either your efforts and the stars line up correctly or they do not. While raw desire may help you get the prize, that alone is never enough.

Perhaps this is one reason why Obama has done so well against Hillary, one senses that he is not driven, that he has not planned for this race and this moment all of his life. And it is this lack of urgency which helps give Obama his relaxed, easy manner. Hillary on the other hand is better at telling you all about her latest thirty point program, while revealing nothing about who she really is. Unlike Obama, Senator Clinton is defined by the need to win.

So Obama better be careful. One suspects that as his delegate lead builds Hillary’s opposition research people are staying up late nights trying to find or devise an “October Surprise” before the August convention. Her people have hinted darkly that “there is still something out there” on Obama for Republicans to use. Of course if it was there Hillary would have used it long ago.

Hillary might demand the Vice Presidential nomination in exchange for a bloodless convention. In which case, if Obama wins he better find a good food taster. The other danger for Obama is that Hillary’s continued use of “the race card” will so fracture the Democratic Party that if nominated his chances of being elected will be nil.

Or maybe Hillary will give a gracious speech and go quietly. I don’t think so.

I do feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. To see such an all encompassing dream shattered must be a kind of agony, much like being abandoned by someone you loved deeply and passionately. Hillary would do well to contemplate Richard Nixon’s life and great fall. One thing it teaches is that having great power does not confer inner peace. She might also ponder the warning that Ancient Roman conquers were given as they lead their victorious armies into the capitol city; “all glory is fleeting.”