PrintMay 9, 2008
Why Hillary Won't Quit
As the Clinton campaign ramps up for the battle in West Virginia it is amusing to see the chagrined liberal media questioning why. Doesn't she get it? It is pathetic. The new savior has arrived and the end of the Clinton years has come at last! Why doesn't she quit?
Perhaps the most profound difference between the true conservative and true liberal approach to things in the modern era is the influence of history. Liberals look to a bright shining future unhindered by knowledge of fallen human nature as a guide while conservatives view the future as a continuation of the long narrative of successes and failures, opportunities and disasters. History teaches lessons and history has taught the Clinton's well. But its lessons are obviously lost on the twenty-four hour chattering classes.
Hillary was there. Only in her keen awareness of history can she be considered a conservative. And what a history!
Remember Bill Clinton angrily and forcefully declaring that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman." Only to be refuted by DNA and the famous blue dress. Pundits declared the end of his Presidency. Any other normal person would have slinked out of office in shame. Not Clinton.
Remember Bill Clinton lying to a federal Grand Jury, the Chief Executive of the Executive Branch who appoints judges lying to a federal Grand Jury! Pundits declared surely this is the end of the Clinton Presidency. No.
Remember the infamous eleventh-hour pardons of scores of felons friendly to the Clinton's as they packed up the White House furniture to abscond to Westchester. Pundits declared this must be the end of any political future for the shameless couple.
Enough of the short list reminders
Time and time again (pages could be taken up in listing the instances) the Clinton's have been in a position of no retreat. And always they wait things out. They never give an inch more than they have too, and only begrudgingly admit the most obvious points while spinning, spinning, spinning to their often ludicrous benefit. And yet to date, no matter how preposterous and damaging their circumstances, they always survive.
Little wonder than that Hillary sees recent events as mere bumps in the road. There is always hope. Audacity is not exclusive to Obama and the reverend. Wright. In her world and the world of her disciples there are "metrics" and nuances and processes you see, like counting votes that don't count, adding States that may vote Republican that don't count, States full of typical blue-collar white racists that chug booze like her. Momentum may come back to her in West Virginia and to the feckless undecided super-duper delegates the "electibility factor" returns. And don't forget, something big may happen to Obama, some great scandal, or worse.
Viewing this spectacle with great antipathy many conservatives are uneasy. Operation chaos may be great fun, but keeping Hillary in the race may be costly in the long run. Already we see, prematurely, obituary-style pieces praising the virtues of the fallen warrior. Her "grit" "bravery" "toughness" may be admired by some, but Clinton has shown in her dogged fight for the nomination, against an adversary with whom she agrees with 99% of the time, against the prototypical affirmative action candidate, a need for personal power divorced from any good it can produce.
History teaches Clinton that quitting gains one nothing. Honor, graciousness, dignity are not the measure. The only premium worth cashing in is prerogative. Guiding your footsteps through the perceptions of historical experience may be wise but monomania in pursuit of power is not admirable.
