Mon Aug 17, 2015, 11:49 PM

Hillary supporter: I hope she "bows out gracefully"

I’m a Hillary Clinton fan. But I hope she bows out with grace
by Mary Dejevsky * The Guardiqn * August 17, 2015

Hillary Clinton has a fundraising pot that is overflowing. She appears to be cruising to the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination: and then, if the stars align in her favour, on to a well-deserved place in history as the first female president of the United States.

Her supporters have wished it for so long, it seems almost impossible that it might not come to pass. And I would count myself among those supporters, ever since – as a Washington-based correspondent – I watched the lobbyists gang up to defeat her health plan, and observed how she toughed out the sordid revelations about her husband and “that woman, Miss Lewinsky”.

Clinton, as she showed then and has shown since, is not one to walk away. She embodies that all-American quip about the going getting tough and the tough getting going. But I just hope that there are those, somewhere in her entourage, who are even now begging her not to do it, and to bow out while there is still time to do so with grace.

Reality must be looked in the eye. Clinton is a hugely divisive figure, including within her own party – and not primarily because she is a woman. There is the clan question. What does it say about the meritocratic credentials of the United States that two of the most favoured candidates for 2016 are closely related to recent presidents? Neither is to blame but in my book, this alone would be a reason for both Clinton and Jeb Bush to leave the field. It is also a reason why they may not be electable.

Then there is the Bill question. A large section of the Republican party hates the Clinton name with the same venom that many Britons reserve for Margaret Thatcher, blaming Bill, as they see it, for defiling the presidency. This should not affect Hillary Clinton’s support – but it will limit her ability to appeal across parties. Nor do US voters need to be dragged all over again through the intricacies of the (loss-making) Whitewater land deal, the involvement of the Rose Law firm, or the suicide of a close aide, but they probably will. And if these Bill questions are not enough, there is another where she really does have some explaining to do: it concerns her involvement with his post-presidential charitable fundraising at a time when she held public office.

Clinton’s chief liability, though, is the baggage she carries of her own...

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/17/hillary-clinton-white-house-too-much-baggage

139 replies, 8986 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

139 replies	Author	Time	Post
Hillary supporter: I hope she "bows out gracefully" (Original post)	99th_Monkey	Aug 2015	OP
Yes...Hillary should quit right now while she's up over 30 points	Cali_Democrat	Aug 2015	#1
60 points a month sgo...	ibegurpard	Aug 2015	#7
The OP makes no sense at all. And I'm for Bernie.	mahina	Aug 2015	#87
she's not going anywhere.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#2
You mean the overwhelming favorite who is lagging behind Bernie Sanders the last	Cleita	Aug 2015	#6
No.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#9
I am a registered Democrat and I don't think they are polling correctly.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#10
Well, that settles it, then.	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#13
LOL	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#14
That answers it. You live in a red state and they can't wait to vote for Hillary.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#16
It will be a really fun night when she turns some Red states Blue. nt	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#17
Are you sure she will be the candidate that turns that state blue? eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#18
Too true.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#19
No it isn't. You can take that to the bank. Save your money. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#22
Let me just repost your post...	Agschmid	Aug 2015	#113
Well, they'll change their tune ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#20
Really, throwing out the red herrings now, chemtrails and all?	Cleita	Aug 2015	#24
Uh, yeah.	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#30
I guess you don't know what that is.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#33
And I guess you don't know ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#41
You lost. Admit it.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#43
Are you ok?	KMOD	Aug 2015	#46
Oh, the concern. How touching. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#50
Uh, lost what?	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#47
Oh, now it's a joke.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#49
It's been a running joke ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#55
You lost it with the reference to chemtrails and whatever the little insider ha, ha you	Cleita	Aug 2015	#59
I don't know ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#65
I will be amusing you all the way to Bernie Sander's inauguration.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#67
Yeah, let's meet up here on BS's inauguration day ... n/t	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#71
It's a date. Trust me. It is unless you don't show up of course. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#72
Not tomorrow, sweetie.	Fawke Em	Aug 2015	#108
Absolutely no one I talk to even knows what a chemtrail is.	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#27
Yes, those reality-based folks ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#32
Actually, they should call me and hang out with the people I hang out with.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#21
Oh, I hear ya!	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#25
You really think that corporate measuring bullshit is scientific?	Cleita	Aug 2015	#28
"Corporate Measuring Bullshit"	Agschmid	Aug 2015	#114
I recently found my great grandmother's Weather Prophet (hygrometer)	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#35
Are there red herrings there.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#36
No, just red or Russian wheat.	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#40
Grain elevator going up ... n/t	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#38
...	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#31
So how come if Sanders attract Republicans it is a wonderful thing, but a bad	lunamagica	Aug 2015	#57
My state is blue. It has been for a long time.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#61
I suppose one could make the case	sibelian	Aug 2015	#139
aren't we all registered democrats? nt	DesertFlower	Aug 2015	#109
No, as it turns out.	Agschmid	Aug 2015	#115
the only excuse for that would	DesertFlower	Aug 2015	#117
I'm not.	Chan790	Aug 2015	#127
Post 6, followed up by this one, leave me scratching my head.	NCTraveler	Aug 2015	#120
What national poll has ever put her behind Bernie? Link, please.	pnwmom	Aug 2015	#92
I think the source is the virulently right-wing, tabloid Boston Herald	MADem	Aug 2015	#110
It's convenient that the poll you find believable	mythology	Aug 2015	#126
You need to watch this video -- both parts, from RealNews.	JDPriestly	Aug 2015	#77
I don't have to register in my state	Fawke Em	Aug 2015	#107
no fracking button?	KMOD	Aug 2015	#135
She won't and has never done anything gracefully.	AtomicKitten	Aug 2015	#3
When is Bernie	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#34
Bernie is an American first. He has declared himself as a socialist democrat for the past thirty	Cleita	Aug 2015	#37
Well, that's a cute answer.	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#44
He wants America for working Americans. So do I.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#48
Hey Nance...	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#85
You need new reading glasses.	Comrade Grumpy	Aug 2015	#133
Who wants who's money and support???	catnhatnh	Aug 2015	#118
Of course he is an American, is someone questioning that?	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#52
Yes, it seems they are. Why does he have to declare his party when the party he	Cleita	Aug 2015	#53
state election laws. eom.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#60
His state election laws say otherwise. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#62
He's attempting to run nationally. eom.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#63
He's been in politics more than three decades, in Washington almost 25 years, I'm sure	Cleita	Aug 2015	#66
I don't think he does. eom	KMOD	Aug 2015	#74
Good he has it figured out.	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#98
I suppose you think he needs an invitation.	Spitfire of ATJ	Aug 2015	#111
The party maybe...	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#69
Everybody still has one vote. That is in the Constitution. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#70
It's in the constitution?	Agschmid	Aug 2015	#116
I don't believe the Constitution speaks to how parties can conduct their primaries.	DemocratSinceBirth	Aug 2015	#131
Correct.	Agschmid	Aug 2015	#138
Hillary Clinton is all Grace.. I don't know what that poster is talking about.	Cha	Aug 2015	#89
Late...	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#99
Yes, it's late.. but, I know	Cha	Aug 2015	#104
When are the Clintons going to declare they don't own the party?	Spitfire of ATJ	Aug 2015	#94
When is Bernie going to declare himself a Democrat?	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#96
He already did. Did you miss it?	Spitfire of ATJ	Aug 2015	#100
Send me the link that he declared.	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#103
He filed papers with the Federal Elections Commission as a Democrat.	Spitfire of ATJ	Aug 2015	#106
He is running on our ticket.	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#136
Do you believe he needs permission from the Clintons?	Spitfire of ATJ	Aug 2015	#137
She conceded very gracefully, to President Obama in 2008	KMOD	Aug 2015	#45
And I'm sure she will to President Bernie Sanders as well. eom	Cleita	Aug 2015	#73
.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#75
.	Cleita	Aug 2015	#79
+1	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#97
Yes, she did, K.. and that's when I started liking her again. She came together for the good of	Cha	Aug 2015	#78
Yup.	KMOD	Aug 2015	#81
Yeah, BS wanted to primary President Obama in 2012. I won't say what I think of him.. 'cause	Cha	Aug 2015	#84
I'm an asterisk decipherer	KMOD	Aug 2015	#88
I knew you could do it! LOL	Cha	Aug 2015	#91
Cha, could you provide a link or two to support that claim?	hedda_foil	Aug 2015	#123
...	DemocratSinceBirth	Aug 2015	#134
I give Hillary credit for being gracious in defeat. Unfortunately, too many of her loyal supporters refused to follow her lead...	InAbLuEsTaTe	Aug 2015	#112
Great, a tit for tat. A thread is started quoted someone I never heard of saying that "Bernie	still_one	Aug 2015	#4
+1000	blackspade	Aug 2015	#82
More quotes from "ann coulter", chuckie todd, rush limbaugh pushing crap, too!	Cha	Aug 2015	#86
She digs some old bones in the fifth paragraph.	Juicy_Bellows	Aug 2015	#5
as much as I want to believe her sincerity	ibegurpard	Aug 2015	#8
There is a plethora of "I support (candidate) BUT...." nonsense flying all over these days...[n/t]	Maedhros	Aug 2015	#11
Yes it's insultingly stupid	ibegurpard	Aug 2015	#29
I realize that the competition is steep ...	NanceGreggs	Aug 2015	#12
What... you aren't 1 of the 4 Recs?	DURHAM D	Aug 2015	#15
Oh, that's easy,	KMOD	Aug 2015	#23
That is what was said about Bill	CountAllVotes	Aug 2015	#26
This is a kind of tit-for-tat "I'm a Hillary supporter, but ....."	delrem	Aug 2015	#39
we know that train left a while ago	DonCoquixote	Aug 2015	#42
Please list "Bernie's self inflicted wounds at the hands of BLM"	delrem	Aug 2015	#51
he should have had a plan	DonCoquixote	Aug 2015	#54
That's no answer. It's a whine.	delrem	Aug 2015	#56
no answer and a whine	DonCoquixote	Aug 2015	#58
The Waste Land	delrem	Aug 2015	#64
I've always wanted to use this smiley....	C Moon	Aug 2015	#68
Well, you know that the Guardian is a notorious right wing rag.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Aug 2015	#76
Suuuure you're a supporter, Mary. Hillary is going to keep on keeping on. nt	Hekate	Aug 2015	#80
Similar thoughts, Hekate..	Cha	Aug 2015	#90
Now you know what it's like to be at the receiving end of that kind of dissembling.	delrem	Aug 2015	#105
yes, I really give a fuck what someone who lives 5000 miles away, who's attacked Democrats before,	ericson00	Aug 2015	#83
Yeah, I have NMFTG, either, ericson.	Cha	Aug 2015	#93
She won't. n/t	Betty Karlson	Aug 2015	#95
K~	sheshe2	Aug 2015	#101
that's insane. hillary knew what she	DesertFlower	Aug 2015	#102
Checked out some of this author's other work....	OKNancy	Aug 2015	#119
Color me shocked.Not. nt	sufrommich	Aug 2015	#121
i always look articles that start with	restorefreedom	Aug 2015	#122
I just hopes she bows out. Gracefully would be nice.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Aug 2015	#124
"As the frontrunner by a massive plurality, I feel I have no choice but to step down"	Godhumor	Aug 2015	#125
Yawn ...	obnoxiousdrunk	Aug 2015	#128
I can see your point	HassleCat	Aug 2015	#129
Yes, let's elect a Democratic Socialist "who carries no baggage"	99th_Monkey	Aug 2015	#132
She will bow out if her funding dries up and she is way behind in the polls	6chars	Aug 2015	#130

Response to 99th_Monkey (Original post)

Mon Aug 17, 2015, 11:53 PM

Cali_Democrat (30,439 posts)

1. Yes...Hillary should quit right now while she's up over 30 points

Brilliant analysis.

Hillary supporter: I hope she "bows out gracefully"

1. Yes...Hillary should quit right now while she's up over 30 points

7. 60 points a month sgo...

87. The OP makes no sense at all. And I'm for Bernie.

2. she's not going anywhere.

6. You mean the overwhelming favorite who is lagging behind Bernie Sanders the last

9. No.

10. I am a registered Democrat and I don't think they are polling correctly.

13. Well, that settles it, then.

14. LOL

16. That answers it. You live in a red state and they can't wait to vote for Hillary.

17. It will be a really fun night when she turns some Red states Blue. nt

18. Are you sure she will be the candidate that turns that state blue? eom

19. Too true.

22. No it isn't. You can take that to the bank. Save your money. eom

113. Let me just repost your post...

20. Well, they'll change their tune ...

24. Really, throwing out the red herrings now, chemtrails and all?

30. Uh, yeah.

33. I guess you don't know what that is.

41. And I guess you don't know ...

43. You lost. Admit it.

46. Are you ok?

50. Oh, the concern. How touching. eom

47. Uh, lost what?

49. Oh, now it's a joke.

55. It's been a running joke ...

59. You lost it with the reference to chemtrails and whatever the little insider ha, ha you

65. I don't know ...

67. I will be amusing you all the way to Bernie Sander's inauguration.

71. Yeah, let's meet up here on BS's inauguration day ... n/t

72. It's a date. Trust me. It is unless you don't show up of course. eom

108. Not tomorrow, sweetie.

27. Absolutely no one I talk to even knows what a chemtrail is.

32. Yes, those reality-based folks ...

21. Actually, they should call me and hang out with the people I hang out with.

25. Oh, I hear ya!

28. You really think that corporate measuring bullshit is scientific?

114. "Corporate Measuring Bullshit"

35. I recently found my great grandmother's Weather Prophet (hygrometer)

36. Are there red herrings there.

40. No, just red or Russian wheat.

38. Grain elevator going up ... n/t

31. ...

57. So how come if Sanders attract Republicans it is a wonderful thing, but a bad

61. My state is blue. It has been for a long time.

139. I suppose one could make the case

109. aren't we all registered democrats? nt

115. No, as it turns out.

117. the only excuse for that would

127. I'm not.

120. Post 6, followed up by this one, leave me scratching my head.

92. What national poll has ever put her behind Bernie? Link, please.

110. I think the source is the virulently right-wing, tabloid Boston Herald

126. It's convenient that the poll you find believable

77. You need to watch this video -- both parts, from RealNews.

107. I don't have to register in my state

135. no fracking button?

3. She won't and has never done anything gracefully.

34. When is Bernie

37. Bernie is an American first. He has declared himself as a socialist democrat for the past thirty

44. Well, that's a cute answer.

48. He wants America for working Americans. So do I.

85. Hey Nance...

133. You need new reading glasses.

118. Who wants who's money and support???

52. Of course he is an American, is someone questioning that?

53. Yes, it seems they are. Why does he have to declare his party when the party he

60. state election laws. eom.

62. His state election laws say otherwise. eom

63. He's attempting to run nationally. eom.

66. He's been in politics more than three decades, in Washington almost 25 years, I'm sure

74. I don't think he does. eom

98. Good he has it figured out.

111. I suppose you think he needs an invitation.

69. The party maybe...

70. Everybody still has one vote. That is in the Constitution. eom

116. It's in the constitution?

131. I don't believe the Constitution speaks to how parties can conduct their primaries.

138. Correct.