Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Take me home, country roads.

Next stop, "West Virginia, mountain momma."

You're probably hoping this nomination decision is over soon -- if for no other reason because then, and only then, will I stop using song titles from the seventies in my posts. (C'mon, you know you're lovin' it!)

Everyone, including Hillary Clinton, knows at this point that Barack Obama will be the democratic nominee. But my prediction is that she will not concede the nomination until after the West Virginia primary, and I think she deserves the right to do that. After all, she is currently ahead in the polls there at 56% versus Obama's 27%, according to Rasmussen Reports. She's going to win, and probably win big. And although it will be merely a symbolic win (there are only 28 delegates at stake), it will be a strong win. She can announce she's ending her campaign and balance that news with the joy of victory. It will make her supporters happy, and it will allow her to bow out with a positive image ("See, she can win primaries"). Her political future will still be bright.

I have heard some folks pondering her ambitions for 2012. I can't even conceive of the confidence and strength it would take to run for president again after everything she has been subjected to this season. But I have become incredibly impressed with Hillary Clinton as a person during this election -- even though she still disappoints me with some of her policies. So I wouldn't put it past her to have the strength and ability to come back in 2012 and once again take on the old boy's club.

Meanwhile, I'm having flashbacks to when I was a kid happily playing flag football with the boys in my neighborhood every day. I had a pretty good arm, and was also a reliable receiver. And then one day they all signed up for tackle football and I wasn't allowed to play anymore.

Just sayin' ....

5 comments:

Mauigirl said...

If that's why she's continuing to West Virginia, then she should go for it. As long as she understands that there is a time to bow out gracefully after that.

I hear you on the wistful feeling of the whole thing - but I really don't think it's because she's a woman. I do "feel her pain" after all she's gone through, that she won't get the prize. But it is, I think, her tactics that did her in, not her gender.

Mauigirl said...

Good post, by the way!

Sue J said...

Thanks Mauigirl!

I think Clinton has a plan, that she isn't going to drive this thing into the ground. She has a lot of political years ahead of her, and she's not going to sabotage herself over this.

Dorothy said...

Your title reminded me of the most random of things. I was in a taxi in Ouagadougou, the capital of Mali. The driver told us he knew where we needed to go but he didn't so we rode around for quite a while.

The radio (in French) was playing that song but line by line. So they would play a line, then speak the line, then translate it into French, then explain it before moving to the next line. It was one of the most bizzare experiences I've ever had while traveling abroad.

Anonymous said...

i hope you are right, and yes, she deserves the chance to bow out after a good victory. my fear though, is that if she does get a decisive victory, it will be "you see, i still have a chance to win and we are going on". my gut feeling is the latter is the more likely scenario.