Hillary Clinton Earning Respect By Staying In The Race
Political journalists and Democratic Party bigwigs have been ratcheting up the pressure on Hillary Clinton to quit the race so their favored candidate, Barack Obama, can become the nominee. After this week’s votes in Indiana and North Carolina, Hillary trails Obama by 156 delegates, making it pretty much impossible for her to catch up without significant support from super delegates, which is becoming less likely with each passing day.
But why should Hillary quit? This has been her dream for years and the entire reason she put up with her husband’s cheating ways the past three decades. She’s been drawing a majority of the white vote. Given that whites still make up almost 70% of the population, that is definitely an advantage that her opponent does not have and something that will be critical come November.
Even hardened Conservatives like me who dislike Hillary with a passion feel that her desire to fight on makes her more worthy of respect than she otherwise would have been. We don’t like people who give up easily. We like people who struggle to overcome the obstacles, even if they fail in the process, and we give them credit for trying. Those are basic values that Conservatives appreciate, unlike Democrats who love it when people spend their entire lives on welfare.
Does that mean Conservatives will vote for Hillary? No. But, a lot of swing voters may come to her side because of the way she fights for what she believes in. Many may feel that a President who will be a fighter for “change” (a hollow concept) is just what this country needs. And she is clearly demonstrating that she is a fighter. Nobody can argue that.
Hillary definitely needs to draw more distinctions between herself and Obama. She should attack his character. Things like William Ayers, his wife’s $200,000 raise and the $1 million earmark Obama requested for her employer, his real estate deal with Tony Rezko, his $8,000 a month payments from Robert Blackwell Jr. for whom Obama wrote a letter requesting a grant, etcetera.
Obama is a highly flawed candidate. His character can easily be attacked, and it should be, for it is concrete proof of who he is as a person and who he will be as a leader. He is not a uniter. Nor is he an agent for change in Washington. He is another corrupt political hack on the take who has demonstrated that he is for sale to anyone willing to send some cash his way.
Keep fighting, Hillary. I won’t vote for you, but I do have more respect for you than I ever did. Quitters never win, and winners never quit.