She canÂ’t win. The pundits say it. The polls say it. The math says it. ItÂ’s even the word on the street. If Huggy Bear from Starsky & Hutch were around, heÂ’d say itÂ’s time to stick a fork in her.So why does she keep going? . . .
Perhaps it’s the best route to long-term victory. Washington has long swirled with rumors that the Clintons are holding some “nuclear option” in reserve against Barack Obama. The latest theory is that they’ve decided not to use it, as it would destroy them, too. Who knows what it might be, if it exists at all. But it’s worth noting that if Hillary were the take-no-prisoners brawler everyone says she is, she would almost surely have pushed that button by now.
That she hasnÂ’t used the doomsday device buried under Clinton HQ might mean it doesnÂ’t exist. Or it might mean sheÂ’s looking beyond 2008.
In her West Virginia victory speech, Hillary emphasized her electability. Obviously, that’s now her best argument for persuading the superdelegates. But it’s an even better argument for positioning herself as the “I told you so” candidate after an Obama defeat.
Just because the Clintons say something doesn’t mean it’s untrue. . . . If Obama does implode, Hillary’s bitter-end fight would position her to say to Democrats, “You were warned.”
Obviously, she wants to win this year. But the conventional wisdom that sheÂ’s hurting herself within the party by not bowing out gracefully might be flawed. Polls show that Democratic voters want the race to continue. And so long as she can avoid blame for ObamaÂ’s loss, sheÂ’ll be in great shape for 2012. She will be able to argue that Democrats must think with their heads, not their hearts, if they want to win the presidency and change the country. Her centrism would no longer seem calculated. And, of course, the identity-politics bean counters will argue that, this time, it really is a womanÂ’s turn.
Hillary will do all she can to appear supportive of Obama should he get the nomination. But appearances can be deceiving. Clinton biographer Carl Bernstein recently reported on the Huffington Post that Sidney Blumenthal, the Clintons’ preferred smear artist and rumor spreader, has been pushing the press to cover Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers, an alum of the left-wing terrorist group the Weather Underground, as well as “many other questionable allegations about Obama.”
The real test of my theory will be whether the Blumenthal operation shuts down after the Clinton campaign does.