goodbye, graceless wonder
by Ari Holtz
Published: June 5, 2008
Congratulations, Sen. Hillary Clinton, on running a great campaign. Between November and June, from Iowa to Montana, you were the type of candidate that only you could be proud of. From the start of your campaign to the night Sen. Barack Obama became the nominee, you were the spitting image of your husband, of Karl Rove, of Lee Atwater.
You started out as the establishment candidate of the Democratic Party. You had the most famous name in Democratic politics. Your husband was the most popular figure in the party. You had intimidating financial backing from Hollywood to Wall Street. You were viewed by Democrats, Republicans, journalists and pundits as the inevitable nominee. And then you lost. You lost to an African-American man unheard of before 2004. Your fund-raising efforts were bested by a first-term senator with a funny first name, a funnier last name and a middle name that calls to mind our nation’s greatest fears. Well done, Mrs. Clinton. Well done. In losing to an inexperienced man with a Kenyan father and a Muslim middle name, you accomplished so much.
You insulted and antagonized African-Americans. After South Carolina, your husband and chief surrogate insinuated that the primary results didn’t really matter because the voters were largely people of color. In a nationally televised interview you stated that Obama wasn’t a Muslim – as far as you knew. By the time West Virginia and Kentucky rolled around, you were openly appealing to voters on the basis of race. Then, on the night of June 3rd, on what should have been a celebratory night for American progress with an African-American man as close to the presidency as ever, you gave a speech that ignored this milestone and focused on yourself. You’re a fine leader, Sen. Clinton. You represent the best of America.
This type of politics, this appealing to racial and religious intolerance, is wonderfully special coming from you. Your husband was, what seems like eons ago, famously labeled the first black president. You built your political legacy on the loyalty of the African-American community. So, it is especially appropriate that you threw that community, that you threw all of your years of supposed dedication to civil rights, under the bus when it threatened your quest for power. Well done.
Abandoning the African-American community came only after you brutally wounded your own party. You oversaw your husband, a man previously beloved by Democrats, as he violently tarnished his legacy and disgusted, alienated and offended approximately half of the party. These were the same people that supported him, and you, during impeachment, even though he offended our family values and lied under oath. These were the same people who waged a war of rhetoric on the street, with our friends, family and work mates, defending the accomplishments of the Clinton years and the quality of President Clinton’s tenure in office. Once, though, your rightful role succeeding George W. Bush was in jeopardy, you set him loose to bluster, to spin, to spout propaganda without dignity or gravitas. President Bill Clinton, a man once much beloved, is now a sullied, diminished figure. Kudos for that, Sen. Clinton.
There is so much more that you could be recognized for, but space is short. We will end, then, with an appreciation of your gamesmanship. Your casual relationship with facts, prior agreements and honesty was nothing short of compelling. Michigan and Florida shouldn’t have counted until you decided they should, because you needed them. The contest was one for delegates and superdelegates until you felt that the popular vote should matter more. Caucuses were legitimate until you lost them, when they were suddenly undemocratic. Only white votes mattered when African-Americans left you. You are an example, Sen. Clinton, to all of the nation’s children. Winning is what matters. Nothing else.
So, as we wish you farewell and recover from the past seven months of electoral exhaustion, we congratulate you and recognize all you have done. It was a revelation that we shall never forget.
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(6)
June 5th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Kudos for writing this article! Clearly written, lucid and needed.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:47 am
While I would agree with a lot of that, I really don’t think Barack Obama would agree with it. As much damage as I think Hillary Clinton did to the democratic party, I don’t think trouncing her like this does us any good from this point on.
John McCain is the real bad guy in this whole fight. This article doesn’t help Hillary’s supporters understand that.
June 7th, 2008 at 4:06 am
What is Barack going to do other than tell us neat stories. Barack is like Kennedy, he’ll be successful and everyone will love him because he’s handsome and can spin a good yarn, but Kennedy was not on the cusps of any major reforms. Before he was shot Kennedy was spending most of his time waffling on the Civil Rights issue and sleeping with other women. It was Johnson, the raunchy Texan who actually got around to doing the things that Kennedy only talked about. Please excuse me if I’m not seduced by flowery rhetoric.