How Hillary Clinton went from loser to winner
Before she won this years Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton was a loser. Her defeat by Barack Obama in 2008 was painful and public. She had entered the campaign with an aura of inevitability that disintegrated torturously with every primary loss and superdelegate defection. As journalist John Heileman summed it up at the end, Her legacy has been tarnished, her status degraded, and her reputation diminished.
Eight years later, Clinton is back on top. Analysts have chalked up her rise to grit, political acumen and the backing of the Democratic establishment. But as elemental to her resurgence as any other factor is Clintons exemplary approach to failure. For many a politician, a high-stakes rout can be career-ending. Clintons dexterity in defeat holds lessons for anyone faced with coming back from a harsh setback that is to say, for all of us.
A Hillary Clinton primer on the art of losing would have several tenets. First, nurse your bruises in private; jettison any public evidence of the emotional detritus of defeat, including frustration, embarrassment and bitterness. En route to her 2008 concession, Clintons most severe stumble was a shocking third-place finish in the Iowa caucus. After letting a tear roll down her cheek during a public appearance at a New Hampshire diner, Clinton regained her composure and was focused, substantive and even witty at a debate. She expounded on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and managed a chuckle when Obama called her likable enough. Anyone who has to address a crowd right after hearing bad news would do well to channel Clintons poise in that debate.
Her feelings remained firmly in check six months later when nary a smirk, never mind a tear, crossed her face in a soaring concession speech to supporters. Whatever family, friends and staff did to get her past campaign heartbreak was neither seen nor heard. Although leaders are expected to get emotional when reacting to tragedies, they cannot be seen to grieve over blows to their own ambitions. Her equanimity in those early post-concession days convinced Team Obama that she could handle the emotional jujitsu of helping propel his campaign. When the person who is fired, passed over or rejected keeps cool, she avoids overlaying extra guilt and awkwardness on an already fraught dynamic and makes it easier for the winner to pull her back into the fold.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-nossel-hillary-clinton-loser-20160617-snap-story.html

Trajan
(19,089 posts)What is the threshold for nomination?
Something is beginning to stink here ... When a story begins with an essential falsehood, it bodes poorly for the rest of the message ...
SunSeeker
(54,586 posts)Something is beginning to stink here all right, and it's not Hillary.
Response to Trajan (Reply #1)
geek tragedy This message was self-deleted by its author.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)SunSeeker
(54,586 posts)Plus, he was never really in the fold to begin with.
ish of the hammer
(444 posts)I know 2 women, one, a single mom, working as a waitress, is worried about ISIS and the lack of religion in public life and of course, has always voted repub. the other woman is white, married to a mixed asian/black and has 4 adopted and handicapped asian kids and is always complaining about people on welfare. she also has always voted repub. the cognitive dissonance makes my head spin. why would I vote for a member of the oligarchy, who votes for every war she sees, exports fracking and jobs and sells arms to dictators? thanks DNC, job well done!