David Brooks NYT essay - The Long Defeat

[Biddle]

Hey,

Check out this essay from David Brooks. It's about how Hillary Clinton is willing to put the country and her party through three months of brutal back-biting and vicious sniping, in order to preserve a 5% chance that she'll actually get the nomination.

I am astounded by her ego. There's no way that I would support her now, knowing how little a chance she's got, but what she is willing to sacrifice to pursue it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

A short selection from the essay...


For the sake of that 5 percent, this will be the sourest spring. About a fifth of Clinton and Obama supporters now say they wouldn’t vote for the other candidate in the general election. Meanwhile, on the other side, voters get an unobstructed view of the Republican nominee. John McCain’s approval ratings have soared 11 points. He is now viewed positively by 67 percent of Americans. A month ago, McCain was losing to Obama among independents by double digits in a general election matchup. Now McCain has a lead among this group.

For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance.

When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.

[Schoolyj]

Few things:

1. I was initially leaning toward Clinton, more because I thought both were viable candidates - and as a union-belonging, Dem voting cog - I thought, lets keep Obama on the bench and bring him back in '16 for the Threepeat.

But now, there have been a couple of stories the last couple weeks that feel like the dagger in the heart to Hillary's campaign. The Richardson endorsment, followed by this weird story about her embellishing the danger of her '96 Bosnia trip feel like the rope is fraying. But here's the thing: even if she cashes out - she's still going to be a Democratic power broker for the next 8 years. The Clinton name isn't going anywhere. She never been a party loyalist, but as a self-serving politico, I think she would see that.

I could be equally excited about both candidates, but in stubbornly losing and dragging the Democrats' momentum with her she is turning out to be as heartbreaking a presidential candidate as her husband was a president.

2. David Brooks has been jocking Obama since the 2004 convention speech. By the time the News Hour broke from the convention floor to the studio for pundits' reaction, Brooks had already made a mix-tape and posterboard collage for Obama.