Posted on 06/05/2008 4:47:40 PM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton — former first lady, New York senator and Democratic presidential candidate who won 18 million votes — is not your typical mouthpiece.
Never has been, never will be.
When she formally bows out on Saturday and endorses Barack Obama, she will speak of party unity and do her part for the nominee. But with her own stature and political future to consider — including the possibility of joining him as his running mate — everything Clinton does for Obama going forward is also a shadow campaign for the next phase of her career.
"It's a very important period for Obama and if Clinton plays it right it solidifies her place as a positive force in the party with an incredible future," said Democratic consultant Joe Trippi. "But if Obama somehow loses, you don't want people saying 'It's Hillary Clinton's fault.' And if people see her as a hurdle for him, she risks people saying 'Wow, she hurt him.'"
No one expects the transition to be smooth.
As recently as Tuesday night when Obama clinched the delegates needed to secure the nomination, Clinton was claiming to have won the popular vote (a debatable subject) and insisting she was the stronger candidate to face Republican John McCain in the fall. Her unwillingness to acknowledge Obama's milestone riled many Democrats, including some once sympathetic to her.
And after a divisive contest with Obama, a race marred by racism and sexism, Clinton starts her new role as an Obama booster with a lot of angry supporters.
It's up to her to placate them and bring them into the Obama camp — particularly demographic groups who widely shunned his candidacy such as older white women, working-class voters and Hispanics. Already, McCain is making a play for those groups.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Clinton era over? I have a strange feeling the Clinton's are not going away.
When Hillar is out; she is out.
I do not think that Hillary is just going to go away quitely. She may not be out front but there are still plenty of Hillary/Bill supporters out there to do her dirty work for her and they feel very vengeful right now. I still think Denver will be very entertaining this year.
Ya, she is still the Senator for NY. She will continue to gain power in the Senate as long as she can stay in simply by Senority.
We should have made all of the Senator’s resign to run for the Presidency.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.