Hillary Clinton's concession speech had all the elements of the
Clinton speechmaking tradition: She showed up late, the speech was
long, the historic struggles of the poor and the oppressed were
made to relate to the Clintons' personal ambitions. Nevertheless,
it was the speech many people were expecting Tuesday night. It was
reasonably well delivered and, for Hillary, gracious in parts.
Although the litany of good things that would happen if we elected
another Democratic president -- "Elect Barack Obama!" -- sounded
hectoring by the end, it was a strong endorsement of Obama that I
think might help some of the Hillary dead-enders come to terms with
her defeat.
Obama's nomination and Clinton's near-nomination are indeed
historically significant and likely to inspire millions of blacks
and women across America. Yet Clinton sometimes unwittingly played
up the African American/woman alternative in a way that showed how
much the Democratic Party has become a squabblng set of
identity-politics interest groups. Reinstating the Clinton dynasty
is Good for Women.
The crowd looked less Republican than the one watching her New
York speech Tuesday: younger, more racially diverse, heavily
female. Clinton alternated between celebrating her best shot at the
presidential "glass ceiling" and trying to persuade these women
that the causes they believed in would best be advanced by electing
Obama. Aside from maybe some pitches on health care, there was
relatively little that seemed aimed at the socially conservative
white working-class voters who kept Clinton's candidacy alive in
the final round of primaries. Perhaps she will revert back to her
roots as a McGovern Democrat after briefly playing a Hubert
Humphrey Democrat.
While Hillary said of looking backward "don't go there," the
Clintonites have to have some regrets given how close they came to
another "Comeback Kid" story. If they had taken Obama seriously
earlier, if they had organized in the caucus states, if they hadn't
allowed Obama to build an almost insurmountable delegate lead in
February, if Florida hadn't moved up its primary date -- any of
those "ifs" could have meant a victory speech rather than a
concession. As liberal as Obama is, the Clintons' setback is
something conservatives should enjoy. But based on the tone of
Hillary's speech and Bill's enthusiasm working the crowd afterward,
I would bet that we haven't heard the last of the Clintons.
UPDATE: And Obama hasn't heard the end of Hillary Clinton's
jibes being used against him. Check out this new RNC website
Clinton vs. Obama, noted by Stacy below.
topics:
Health Care, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Africa
