Hillary's Unappealing Path (Most emailed column, Washington Post)

[Divernan]

Here are sample paragraphs from this very hard-hitting column. The rest of it's worth a read also.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021403102.html
By Michael Gerson, Friday, February 15th, 2008, Page A21

Those clanking, sputtering and grinding sounds you hear are coming from the Clinton political machine. Our fundraising, it argues, has never been stronger -- though it is about half of Barack Obama's. Our strategy has assumed these minor setbacks all along -- though senior campaign leadership must be shown the door. Our successes will come in "Ohio and Texas because we know that those are states where they represent the broad electorate in this country" (Hillary Clinton's words) -- which is hardly a valentine to Missouri, Virginia, Minnesota, Colorado and other parts of the nation Clinton must view as flyover territory.
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But Clinton's largest problem is not a lack of money or public enthusiasm. It is the lack of a compelling narrative for her campaign. Obama's appeal is straightforward: getting beyond "the ideological battles that have consumed us for the last 20 years" -- in which Clinton and her husband have been two of the main combatants.
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The challenge for Clinton is that her other options -- the other narratives for her campaign -- are equally flawed: First, there is Hillary the Fighter. In recent interviews, Clinton has come out swinging with negative attacks -- what she once referred to as "the fun part" of politics. Obama has "questions to answer about his dealings with . . . a big nuclear power company" as well as with "Mr. Rezko." But it is hard to imagine American voters thinking: "If only the Clintons were a little more ruthless, I'd finally support them." It is this very trait -- after a series of racially charged attacks -- that many Americans, including many liberals, found more repulsive than "fun."

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Though it is increasingly unlikely, Clinton may still have a path to the nomination -- and what a path it is. She merely has to puncture the balloon of Democratic idealism; sully the character of a good man; feed racial tensions within her party; then eke out a win with the support of unelected superdelegates, thwarting the hopes of millions of new voters who would see an inspiring young man defeated by backroom arm-twisting and arcane party rules. Unlikely -- but it would be a fitting contribution to the Clinton legacy of monumental selfishness.

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