Sore Loser.
February 8th, 2008
I’ve brought this up a few times lately with people. If Obama ends up losing the Democratic nomination to Senator Clinton, he will most likely bow out gracefully and at least say he’s going to campaign on the behalf of Senator Clinton. The reasons he would do this are pretty simple, really. Obama is still very young and has a long political career ahead of him, and taking a defeat like this in stride is in his best interest. Even if he has to wait 8 years to run for the presidency again, he will only be in his mid 50s, so should be primed for another run if this time doesn’t pan out. On top of that, causing drama isn’t in his ‘character’ as a change candidate whose stated goal is to bring integrity and class back to the White House. Being a sore loser would leave a sour taste in his mouth and might sabotage a future run.
Clinton, on the other hand, has shown no ability over her career to be a gracious loser, and she’s not getting any younger. If she doesn’t secure the nomination, I can see her trying everything she can to persuade Superdelegates to support her. If this, along with Bill’s influence, fails, then I can see a flame-out of epic proportions. I just don’t see it ending nicely. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe I’m being a bit too hard on the Clintons. Or maybe not.
It looks like the Wall Street Journal agrees:
If Hillary Clinton loses, does she know how to lose? What will that be, if she loses? Will she just say, ‘I concede’ and go on vacation at a friend’s house on an island, and then go back to the Senate and wait?
This is, of course, all speculation at this point. The two campaigns are in a deadlock despite the fact that recent polling shows Obama is far more electable than Hillary, and I think a lot of insiders are starting to consider picking a candidate and running with them for the good of the party. If this drags on into the summer, things could get ugly for the Democrats.
Edit: Here’s an excellent article over at Politico about her recent string of denials over losses.
Edit 2: Further confirmation that she is prepared to ruin the party.
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February 13th, 2008 at 9:06 am
People from the Hillary campaign seem to think that Obama would crash and burn if he was chosen as the candidate. They say he’ll never be able to beat McCain without the white female and Latino vote. This strikes me as odd, especially since most polling indicates that Democrats seem to like both candidates and would vote for either in the general election (in addition to the “Obama-electability” poll you mentioned). If Hillary was no longer in the picture, I doubt we’d see a huge surge in white female/Latino voters for McCain.
On another note, I’m starting to feel sorry for McCain. Half of his own party detests him, and he’s looking like a lamb (or old sheep?) sent to the slaughter.
February 13th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Her negatives are much higher than Obama’s are as well. As soon as Hillary or Obama are knocked out of the race, the winner will quickly capture the other’s supporters. For Hillary to suggest that she is the only candidate Hispanics or white women will vote for is silly, and just an attempt to rally her supporters.
McCain is not what I’d call an inspirational speaker, and his policies are essentially ‘bush-lite’. If the race turns out to be Obama vs. McCain, it’s going to be the most stark ‘Old v. New’ election in quite some time.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm
[...] guess you could say that I ‘called it‘ back in February after Super Tuesday came and went. I wasn’t alone in this prediction [...]