Black Box Report

Given her "What does Hillary want?" non-concession concession speech last week, many Democrats were concerned about Hillary's follow-up this weekend. As it turned out, concerns were unwarranted, as Hillary hit all the right notes and delivered the speech many hoped she would give last Tuesday night.

Let the healing begin!

This was the speech that she needed to give. Senator Clinton showed class, courageousness, determination and a unshakable commitment to the causes she and the Democratic party believe in - yes, there were bumps in the road over the last 16 months, but she never gave up and we commend her for sticking to her guns.

They say the best speech a politician ever gives is the one following a loss, and this was easily Hillary's best. Reviews were glowing almost across the board. Even passionately-pro-Clinton bloggers like Taylor Marsh were ready to turn the page:

Hillary Clinton did what she needed today and then some. No reservations. No pauses. Complete commitment.

Hillary is a better candidate today and all I can do is dream about tomorrow. I stand by her today, tomorrow, anywhere, any time, any year. Today and tomorrow that requires me to do everything I can to defeat John McCain, and make sure Barack Obama is elected president in November. That's exactly what I intend to do.

An argument can be made that the prolonged Democratic primary process was good for Democrats: massive increases in registered voters in all 50 states; vetting of Obama's background to pre-empt the coming GOP attacks; record fundraising for Democrats. But the scars are all too visible. Schisms in the progressive blogosphere were stark. While a majority of left-leaning blogs either declined to choose sides outright (even if a majority of those approved of Obama's campaign style more than Clinton's), many A, B and C-list blogs made no bones about which candidate they supported, and which they despised.

Of the pro-Obama/anti-Hillary blogs, the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog, Oliver Willis all either praised Clinton's speech and (to varying degrees) welcomed their Hillary-supporting brethren and sistren back into the fold - or at least if they had nothing to say, said nothing. Of that lot, the worst had to be Andrew Sullivan, sufferer of CDS (Clinton Derangement Syndrome) from way back, who, while praising Hillary's speech, couldn't help but get in one last dig:

I think history will show that she didn't quite have the talent to do it on her own steam, but that she made it much easier for another woman to become president one day. Her two biggest problems: She first married a man who was her political superior and was then defeated by one. She is a very talented politician but it was her fate to find her career hemmed in by two even more talented ones: Bill and Barack. She made up for it all with enormous hard work, diligence and ruthlessness. At any other moment, she would have won. But this is history and politics at the highest level. You cannot defeat such a moment if you are a Salieri. And she had to deal with two Mozarts.

Buh-bye.

Classy. Guess the Soul of a Conservative just can't let go of some things. To wash that bitter taste out, I suggest this post from John Cole at Balloon Juice, another former conservative-blogger-turned-reality-based-community-resident who, despite a deep and abiding dislike for the Clintons, managed to find a graceful nugget of empathy on what must have been Hillary's hardest day:

Clearly, this is a concession and Clinton is now ready to move forward. We’ve all given the Clintons a very rough time here over the past couple months – so much so that we could, at times “no longer rationally discuss” it. Fair enough. Her camp has aggravated us. At the same time, I really kind of feel for her. For years, it has been assumed that Hillary Clinton would be the first woman president of the United States. It was also assumed, rightly or wrongly, that this would happen this year, and I have no doubt that was in her plans (and those of the Democratic Party) all along. At the beginning of this campaign, nearly all of us assumed she would be the nominee until this phenomena named Barack Obama joined the race.

So while I didn’t like it, I can completely understand how Hillary wanted to go right till the end, making every argument she could, even when to the rest of us it seemed irrational. It was her dream job and she was going to make history. But someone else comes along who’s going to get that dream job and is also going to make history. It’s got to be quite a kick in the stomach. Think about it: You apply for the job of a lifetime. You know you’re going to get it because there is no competition. You psych yourself up, knowing the job is yours and the interview process is merely a formality. All of a sudden, a new candidate for the job comes along and becomes the favorite with the recruiting manager.

On the other side of the coin, pro-Hillary/anti-Obama blogs like the aforementioned Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft and Corrente all agreed (again, to varying degrees of begrudgement) to support Obama as the party's nominee.

So everyone can all hold hands and sing Kumbayah now.

Well, almost everyone.

In every war, there are casualties, and in the Great Democratic Primary War of '08, the most noticeable loss was that of former CIA spook and lefty blogger Larry Johnson at No Quarter. During the campaign, like the other pro-Hillary/anti-Obama blogs, No Quarter trafficked in the rightwing talking points about Obama: "Bittergate", Rev. Wright, "illegitimate" election, "elitist", etc. But once the candidate herself drew the line for her supporters and urged them to unify behind the man with the most delegates, Larry and Co. said "Hell no, we won't go!"

I never imagined that less than 24 hours after Hillary suspended her campaign some of her most ardent supporters would overdose on the Cult-Aide...Have the pod people taken over???...
Nothing has changed. Obama did not become qualified because Hillary was forced to suspend her campaign. All of the horrible things we know about Obama and his unelectability are still real. There is no magic wand that can make it go away.

Disappointment is understandable. Clinton ran an historic campaign and came thisclose to being the first female presidential nominee. That’s a tough pill to swallow. But if time doesn’t heal all wounds, maybe cold reason will:

Clinton supporters understand who the nominees are. I suspect they are not about to vote for an anti-choice Bush third termer like John McCain, who is on the wrong side of every issue Hillary cares about, and who will appoint Supreme Court justices that will be with us for years to come, but we shall see.

If you can't accept your own candidate's eloquent call for unity as the best way to advance the ideals your own candidate stands for, might I make a suggestion? Take your voter registration card – the one that says “Democrat” – and rip it up. Then, go out and register as a Republican. Campaign, blog and rant to your heart’s content in support of John McCain. It’s time to re-evaluate which side you’re on.