American Patrol

It's been a week since Hillary Clinton, having proven herself a political danger to herself and others by delivering a graceless, delusional, and wholly unearned quasi-acceptance speech the night Barack Obama definitively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, was finally convinced to put down the knife and back away slowly. The change in the political atmosphere in that short period of time has been nothing short of breathtaking. Without Clinton and her surrogates spewing self-serving convolutions into the collective American thoughtstream, a picture has emerged of the realities of this year's general election that renders nearly every comment and prediction made about it for the last few months complete and utter nonsense.

The answer to the question on everyone's lips last week--"What does Hillary want?"-- turns out to be "Who cares?" As indicated by Wednesday's WSJ/NBC poll, absent Hillary herself, the electoral importance of both the Hillary Factor and the fracture in the Democratic Party she supposedly leaves in her wake is somewhere between negligible and nonexistent. Hillary as veep on a so-called "dream ticket?" No need-- just about as many registered voters said it would make them less likely to vote for the Democratic ticket (21%) as vote for it (22%), with a clear majority (55%) saying it would make no difference at all. Hillary as power broker, bringing her voters into the fold? Thanks anyway, but they're already there. Obama starts the general election campaign with clear leads over McCain among the women (52%/33%), Latinos (a 62%/28% landslide), and blue collar workers (47%/42%) who went for Clinton in the primaries, with a 61%/19% advantage among Clinton's primary voters overall.

The legacy Hillary Clinton spoke of during her belated concession speech last Saturday is indeed an important one. Her campaign did in fact prove that gender need not be a determinative factor in Presidential politics, and it is much to be hoped that her example will inspire other women to seek high office. It is also to be hoped that their campaigns will not be marked by the cynicism, hubris, opportunism, and indifferent bad management that in the end rendered Clinton's not just unsuccessful but entirely irrelevant. Her behavior during that campaign has left her own political future questionable at best-- in the end, her involvement in the Obama campaign may prove to be more about her own political rehabilitation than about any advantage her presence might bring to the party. Hillary as Senate Majority leader, New York Governor, Supreme Court Justice? As she herself reminded us time and time again in the face prohibitive odds, anything is possible. Here's wishing her good luck and short memories.