Posted on 02/27/2008 6:08:45 AM PST by COUNTrecount
All in all, it was a rather ignominious, belittling way to almost certainly close out the Clinton Era. Hillary would have done much better to spend the 90 minutes of Tuesday night's Ohio debate by repeatedly reading and re-reading her valedictory, closing remarks from last week's Texas match-up during which -- for a few shining moments -- a Good Hillary seemed to radiate with the grandeur of an honored First Lady and potential president of the United States.
But with her national poll numbers now slipping into a double digit lag behind Obama, with her last-ditch firewalls in Ohio and Texas rapidly crumbling, her political future quickly eroding, it was the Bad Hillary who dominated in what could very well be the final presidential debate of the season.
Thirty-five years of selfless public service, if we are to believe her campaign rhetoric, deserved more than this tin-pan finale. Clinton, in her best moments, is certainly capable of something more than a torrent of peevish, petty, picayune, and intellectually dishonest bickering and parsing.
Instead, Senator Clinton chose to remind us why she is losing the nomination that she was once so very sure would inevitably be hers. The smell of a loser permeated the entire low-energy event as Clinton tried to pick apart this or that phrase uttered one time or another by her rival.
Obama's been on a wild tear, continuing to surge and streak and -- to dip into the conventional wisdom -- it's hard to see anything that Clinton did Tuesday to stem his rising tide.
You'd think that Clinton could leave the national political stage with some larger, meaningful gesture. But, unfortunately, the only memorable line that she spoke tonight was a poorly constructed joke, surely written by a staffer.
It's taken me a decade and I'm still stumped trying to figure out what the meaning of "is" might really be. And yet Hillary tossed us the latest Clintonesque head-scratcher during the debate when she asked me -- and the millions watching -- to ponder the "difference between denouncing and rejecting."
I'm not sure which one of these acts of contrition her rival Barack Obama engaged in when asked by the moderators his view on the Reverend Louis Farrakhan. But whichever one it was, it was apparently the wrong one -- according to Senator Clinton.
Likewise, when it came to universal health care. Though Obama has adamantly campaigned on that promise from his first day on the stump, he was actually opposed to universal health care. At least, according to Hillary who belabored the point (to not say she beat it to death) for the first, torturous sixteen minutes of the debate.
And after repeatedly ignoring pleas from moderator Brian Williams to curtail her health care harangue, after extending and re-extending her remarks, Clinton then portrayed herself as a hapless victim of media bias by comparing Williams' questioning to a satirical sketch that aired over the weekend. "Well, could I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time? And I don't mind," she said with a grimace. "You know, I'll be happy to field them but I do find it curious. And if anybody saw Saturday Night Live, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow."
Rimshot!
Or was that a car crash?
Either way, time to bring in the mop-up crews. It's over.
Yes, but I thought her hair and makeup was great!
Unfortunately, it was lipstick on a pig.
LOL!! What’s her secret for how great her skin looks for DEBATES, but on the stump she looks so different??
I'm just going to have to disagree with Mr. Cooper on that point. I have never seen anything appealing coming from Mrs. Clinton. It has always been peevish, petty, pacayune and intellectually dishonest. Always.
Doubtful. If a Clinton pretends to not want her tax return released, then rest assured that she *wants* you to beg and grovel for tax returns that when released, will show that she's a grand philanthropist who has donated to all of the right causes.
The way that a good boxer wins is to fake you with the feint jab, while hitting you with the punch that you didn't see because you were watching the fake jab.
Just think of how many times you were faked out by people telling you that hillary and Obama were going to get into a shouting match in the debates. Didn't happen.
What happened was that idiots were suckered. Again. And Again.
She's arrogant and corrupt, and doesn't hide either well. While her husband was generally likable, she comes across as a calculating b----.
The media and the liberal elite have been looking for someone else to step up and be a better choice.
Edwards obviously wasn't it. Obama is the only other candidate to stand out and have a chance of winning if the media backs him.
So Obama is their best hope.
McCain and Huckabee were the media's best hope of the Republicans nominating someone that the Democrats could beat, and both got a lot of help from the press.
They would have probably been even happier with a Huckabee matchup, but McCain is their next best shot.
After all, McCain shares Hillary's arrogance and contrariness. He's going to be easy to make look bad using sound bytes and short clips, and his record isn't going to help him much with conservatives.
I personally pledge a maximum personal contribution to any candidate of either party who will to campaign against her in the next senatorial cycle.
I can't imagine New York would continue to want some brown bagging loser to represent them in the Senate now that she can't trade pardons for votes...
“Clinton, in her best moments, is certainly capable of something more than a torrent of peevish, petty, picayune, and intellectually dishonest bickering and parsing. “
really?
Since when?
We’re talking BEST moments.She might be nice to her aged mother.Or not.
“I personally pledge a maximum personal contribution to any candidate of either party who will to campaign against her in the next senatorial cycle.”
sigh.
Sadly - in the grand state of NY there really isn’t any difference between the republicans and the democrats.
A $500,000 TV camera. Oprah and Babwah Walters use it too.
you think she’s nice to her mother?
OK...I’m trying to picture that.
I said maybe.
She trots her out when she needs her.
MOM may fall ill soon .
When will we see the inevitable photoshopped picture of Hillary, in black cape and pointed hat, shreiking... "You wretched Little Man... I'm Melting, I'm Melting...????
“The media realized Clinton was a losing candidate.”
Its very possible that they know darn well she is a nasty, power hungry, criminal who would make Nixon look like Mr Rogers and is married to a corupt lying sleezebag. therefore they will support any reasonable alternative. Please note that no republican would be a reasonable alternative, even if the Democratic nominee were Pol Pot.
You can put a pig in lipstick and a pantsuit, but that doesn’t mean you’ll want to marry it. There was no way you could ever make Hillary appealing unless you stood her up next to Helen Thomas or Cindy Sheehan.
Horse race? I suppose if you want to call the victory of Secretariat for the triple crown (with Obama in the role of Secretariat) your could call it a horse race. McCain won’t even be close.
“It is becoming more and more obvious as to why her ‘Health Kare’ program failed. She is an absolute dunce as a leader.”
Are you telling us that this whole “smartest woman in the world” line was a lie?
Good point that the MEDIA/Hacks would have been even happier with a Huckabee matchup and McCain is their next best shot. Just go back tto the first Media fawnings over Huckabee, I remember saying to myself they really want this guy, Huck....it was very obvious from day 1!
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