Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters — including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.
"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."
"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.
A lot of people in the press and politics have been trying to be gracious to Clinton as she comes to the realization that she will not be the Democratic nominee for president. Even on Daily Kos, a progressive web community of mostly die-hard Obama supporters, there were diaries yesterday asking everyone to be gracious to Hillary and stop the criticism.
Pundits are insisting she will not attack Obama anymore and everyone should just let her continue to run so as not to alienate her female supporters, and give her time to find a dignified way to leave the race and begin supporting Obama.
This interview with USA Today indicates to me she has no intention of accepting the inevitable and she is going to continue to talk about race and insist he will not get the support of white voters.
Someone needs to take this woman aside and tell her she is supposed to be a member of the Democratic - not Republican - Party. Someone needs to tell her this doesn't help her. She wants it to hurt Obama, but it is only hurting her. To see a former First Lady and a sitting Senator from the Democratic Party saying white people will not vote for her opponent because he is black is simply unconscionable.
Barack Obama has never once said that men will not vote for Hillary because she is a woman or that black people will not vote for her because she is white.
So what is Hillary Clinton saying and why is she saying it? And what are the consequences of her words?
Hillary Clinton is saying that there is a certain segment of white America that is still uneducated, unenlightened, and steeped in prejudice against some people because of the color of their skin. Regardless of how true that may be, to say that these people will never vote for Obama and therefore should vote for her is a purely political ploy. She is saying that in order to win we should give in to people who are ignorant. She is using the prejudices of people to her own advantage, which is exactly what Republicans have done for decades. What she will never acknowledge is how complicit she and her husband and her campaign are in turning those people against Obama.
By using the Jeremiah Wright flap, by bringing up Louis Farrakhan twice in debates, by calling Obama an elitist, she has played right into the stereotypes that many white people hold about blacks - that they are dangerous and uppity people who don't know their place. These were absolutely horrible things for Hillary to do and say, and apparently she is not going to stop.
I have more confidence in the American people and I know that Barack Obama can win the votes of both whites and blacks. Here's why:
Large numbers of white citizens are proud to vote for Obama. Millions have already voted for him.
When voters get to see and hear Obama up close, they like him and find him to be inspirational.
The young people of America, who are voting in larger numbers than ever before, are mainly voting for Obama.
He's already won the popular vote in the primaries.
Now it's true that Democrats (even white Democrats) have always had trouble with the white working class vote, but it remains to be seen if Obama's race will turn more of them away than usual. And if his race is an issue with some, then this is where Hillary and Bill could really be of service to the Democrats, including the Democratic women who are in her camp.
This could be a real educational opportunity for people in America who have grown up with racism and don't understand how to see people in any other way than their grandparents did. If Hillary and Bill campaigned beside Obama, talked to people about race in ways no one has talked to them before, showed them that Obama really was one of them, they could do enormous good not just for the Democratic cause, but for the cause of unity in this country.
If Hillary held meetings with groups of female supporters and assured them that Obama would not let women down, would appoint the right kind of justices to the supreme court, and would sign bills that promoted the causes of women, she could win them over to him. Of course, Obama needs to do more of this as well.
If Hillary could just accept defeat graciously, and stop insisting that whites will not vote for Obama, she could help transform this country.
This nation has seen many great leaders who went down to defeat only to go on and do great things in some other way. Look at how much good Jimmy Carter did in the international community after he was defeated. Look at how John and Elizabeth Edwards are championing the causes of poverty and health care.
Hillary Clinton could do the same thing. Whether or not America finally grows up and overcomes its horrible history of black vs. white could largely rest in her hands. Obama is doing all he can, but the help of his formidable rival, a powerful white woman, could make all the difference.
Now is her biggest test. Will she be gracious and help Obama, the Democratic Party, and the country by throwing her support to him, educating the American people and moving them past their prejudices, or will her ambition and narcissism hurt them all?
