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Blogs by Erik Hare
Letter to Sen. Clinton
2/19/2008 6:21:18 PM
Dear Senator Clinton:
Like most Democrats, I went into the Primary season assuming that you would be the nominee for President. I was eager to see how the dust and feathers would fly because I was interested in hearing what you had to say more than anything else. That’s just how we get the press interested in hearing the message, after all. Being Democrats, a little family fight is just the way we get ourselves worked up for the real thing.
I was a Richardson supporter because I admire the guy and I deeply respect his experience. I never thought he would win, but I hoped you might take notice of him when looking for a Veep or Secretary of State. You can see that I value experience, so I’m really your kind of Democrat. I’m old enough to have stared at a presidential ballot that did not have the either Clinton or Bush at the top.
As the season has gone on, I have never sent any malice your way. We’re all Democrats, and we fight like all Wellstone for what we believe in. Yet I have come to realize that not only is your fight for the nomination no longer possible, it can only serve to drive a wedge into our party at a crucial moment. Most importantly, I am deeply concerned that you have demonstrated that you do not, in fact, have the skills necessary to be the Chief Executive of our nation.
Please, Senator Clinton, drop out of this race now. Consider making history as the first woman to be Vice President, and secure the promise that you will have an important policy role that taps your experience for the good of our nation. That is the best thing that all of us, you included, can hope for.
Let’s start with the delegate counts. You've had an 0-10 run after a solid thumping in Wisconsin. You know as well as anyone that Texas is, like every other state before it, turning more to Senator Obama as the primary nears. So is Ohio at this point. Demographics that you could reliably count on have eroded terribly, including Latinos and women. The party is clearly speaking – while they respect you and like you, they want someone different at the top. That’s not a personal attack, that’s just a statement of the tremendous distrust people have towards Washington. After eight years of Bush, can you blame them?
How did we get to where we are now? The short answer is that your campaign has been a major disappointment. I understand why you insist on having people that you can trust around you, given the history that you’ve had. But you clearly kept people in positions they were not capable of handling out of that need for loyalty and leak control. I’m sorry, Senator Clinton, but we’ve seen that in the White House before. Both Nixon and George W. Bush had the same tendency, and it destroyed them. Your husband Bill’s greatest success was his ability to bring in strong personalities like Gore, Albright, Rubin, and yes, Richardson and have them work together. You simply don’t have that skill. This campaign has convinced me that you are not qualified to be President.
The last straw for me was this “plagiarism” charge leveled at Senator Obama. Honestly, I have never seen anything more ridiculous in my many years in the game – and most of my time has been in local politics. You made this charge with a direct link back to a top campaign staffer, which meant you were poised to stand by it. Yet your campaign didn’t even check to see how Governor Patrick would react when asked about it . When he told the press that he was a consultant to Senator Obama, there was nothing left to the story but backlash. You’re not only making yourself look petty and selfish, you’re trying to do the Republicans’ job for them; at least you’re doing such a horseshit job that it might serve as an inoculation for later.
Think back a year ago when your nomination seemed inevitable. That was almost your campaign slogan then; “Vote Hillary, It’s Inevitable”. Remember that feeling? It must have felt great to know you had a long parade ahead of you with nothing but smiling and waving. Contrast that feeling with the visceral desperation that you feel in your guts right now. Don’t you want that old feeling back? You can do it, but only if you accept what has happened and team up. I’d like you to do this for the good of the Party, but you can do it for yourself.
I realize that you are acting the way you are now after several weeks of adrenaline and caffeine, running hard and scared that the Inevitable Dream might slip away. Please, Senator Clinton, stop for a moment and see where you are. Inevitable doesn’t run this hard and beat you up this bad. Listen to your own guts, because I know you still have good senses. I’m sure there just hasn’t been a chance to listen to them in all the noise.
Please, Senator Clinton, take a long hard look at where it’s all gone. Please drop out for the good of us all – including yourself. We need you, just not the way you once thought. It’s OK because there is still a lot of history to be written. I’d like to see you in that history and not relegated to a tiny footnote.
Thank you for your service, Senator.
Sincerely yours,
Erik Hare
Saint Paul, Minnesota
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