Letter From America
'Obama can't win!' : Hillary
GOVERNOR Bill Richardson: Hi Hillary, this is Bill Richardson. It has been an agonising decision, but I want you to be the first to know that I have decided to endorse Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president.
Hillary Clinton: You've got to be kidding me! Obama can't win!
(Paraphrased transcript of the phone conversation between New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton, on Friday, March 21, before Richardson went public with his endorsement of Barack Obama)
Asked how Hillary took the news, Governor Richardson replied: "I have had better phone conversations!" This endorsement saga has legs; it just won't go away.
First, James Carville, Hillary supporter and Bill Clinton's confidant and strategist, called Richardson a "Judas" for "betraying" Clinton! Since Bill Richardson was a diplomatic trouble-shooter, US Ambassador to the UN and energy secretary under president Clinton, the innuendo was that the Clintons had earned his loyalty.
Governor Richardson shot back saying that he had served Bill Clinton and the nation loyally and to the best of his ability. But he never worked for Hillary Clinton. To suggest that Richardson owed loyalty to Hillary, because he had worked for Bill Clinton, is as absurd as suggesting that Carville's Republican wife, Mary Matalin, who was an assistant to President Bush and a counselor to Vice-President Cheney, had earned Bill Clinton's loyalty!
The plot thickened when it transpired that in a meeting with California's super delegates last week, an angry, finger-wagging, red-faced Bill Clinton accused Richardson of going back on his words.
Bill Clinton, who had watched this year's Super Bowl with Richardson at his home, claimed that Richardson had promised on five different occasions not to endorse anyone. "Not so!" retorted Bill Richardson.
After the text of the Richardson-Hillary phone call leaked out, Hillary was asked whether she had actually said, "Obama can't win." First, she seemed to admit it, saying that she did not reveal private conversations and that she believed she could win.
Pressed harder, she seemed to deny having said that, leading many in the press to conclude she was lying. Adding fuel to the fire, Bill Clinton told the press that Richardson had said Obama was "unelectable." "Not so!" retorted Bill Richardson.
The Clintons are famous for parsing words. During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton had uttered the famous line: "It depends on what you mean by 'is.' "
Hillary added more mystique to the Clinton lore by attempting to explain her Pinocchio, or a more gender-appropriate Pinocchioa, moment about the fictitious sniper-dodging episode in Bosnia in March 1996 by saying it was a "mishmash of words and reality!" Wunderbar, Frau Clinton!
Let us do some parsing ourselves. There is a difference between "Obama won't win," and "Obama can't win." "Won't win" may imply hopeless wishful thinking by an evil-eyed, whining loser.
"Can't win" has several connotations. Let us parse "can't win" and see what Hillary may have meant: "Obama can't win" because it is not good for the country (I don't think so). "Obama can't win" because of his poor health care plan (probably not). "Obama can't win" because of his inexperience (unlikely in view of Bosnia snipergate). "Obama can't win" because of his race (now you are talking). "Obama can't win" because of Rev. Jeremiah Wright (bingo!).
Publicly silent about the Wright stuff lest they offend the blacks, who constitute the most reliable block of Democratic voters, privately that has been the Clintons' main argument against Obama as they lobby the super-delegates. Do not be fooled by what people say now, plead the Clintons, Obama's association with the unpatriotic Rev. Wright will make him unelectable in November.
In other words, forget that Obama has won more caucuses and primaries, more pledged delegates and popular votes than Hillary -- actually Hillary is the stronger candidate. Unfortunately, such counter-intuitive arguments are not having much traction with the super-delegates, especially when polls show Obama beating Hillary among Democrats, and McCain nationwide.
On the contrary, some key Clinton super-delegates are hedging their bets. New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine, a staunch Hillary supporter, said on April 3 that he would endorse the candidate with the most popular votes, as has Pennsylvania's anti-Iraq war Congressman Jack Murtha, another super-delegate currently in Hillary's column.
They probably see the writing on the wall. Since April 2, when Obama spoke to the students of West Chester University south of Philadelphia, where he was treated like a rock star by hysterical students, polls in Pennsylvania have been tightening. Hillary's once commanding double-digit lead has shrunk to low single digit. Pennsylvania holds its primary on April 22.
More trouble for Hillary. On April 6, Mark Penn, the pollster and senior strategist for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, resigned after it was disclosed that he met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote a free trade agreement Hillary opposes.
All this is proving too stressful for Bill Clinton, who lashed out like a child at Obama supporters clamouring for Hillary to drop out of the race by suggesting Obama drop out!
The Clintons hate to lose. They live in a parallel universe, where Orwellian laws apply; where victory is defeat, defeat is victory. Even after Obama is handed the nomination and victory, the Clintons will probably counter with: It depends on what you mean by "victory!"
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