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.
Best line of the evening came from Obama when he said that Hillary "confuses experience with longevity".
You are right, but how often do we have a chance to help tell someone as crooked and painful as HRC "YOU'RE FIRED !!" ?...
Yes, Obama appears to have more class in a debate, but he’s a chameleon, just like Bill Clinton. I watched him at the 2004 convention, drawn in by his rhetoric, but as I watched, I realized that there was something discomfortingly familiar about his cadence and use of emotional buzz words. He sounded like an old fashioned tent preacher, the kind that they used to have at our church for revival meetings, when I was a kid, but this guy was better, and his audience was more receptive. Every time Obama used one of his buzz words, like hope, or God, the audience would put their arms in the air and sway to his cadence. It was downright scary, and yes, SLEAZY as any TV minister.
As she says, in the clip, that she would reject and not just denounce the anti-Semitic, one can’t help recalling the way she kissed the wife of Arafat (whom the Clintons welcomed to the White House).
Last night they talked to some of the democrats on the panel, and those who were going to vote for Obama, changed their minds and raised their hands for Hillary instead. Said she spoke on issues better than he did. It was impressive. They can see he’s an empty suit.
“Clinton, in her best moments, is certainly capable of something more than a torrent of peevish, petty, picayune, and intellectually dishonest bickering and parsing...”
If she is, he must be alluding to the moments her script writers have prepared for her, when she babbles in lofty, generalities... When she speaks her own words, she’s only what he described, although he left out arrogant and delusional..
The women has achieve nothing of any signicance in her life and has never had a best moment.
The Clinton brand just lost most of its luster. Speaking fees will drop. Her ability to deal with the Chicoms and do sleazy middle east deals for millions will dry up. She has screwed the pooch. Whadu?????? The coronation was not supposed to be like this. I liken it to the fall of the Cheauchescues. There is only one thing left. Exit stage left....and divorce Bill. All of her life choices were made to culminate at this moment in time. And she got the fingerwave. Good by Hillary.
Don’t bet the farm on that, look at J.Kerry and T. Kennedy, two of the most pathetic folks around and they still win senate seats time after time.
Mrs. Clinton will continue in stupid N.Y. as long as she wants to.
Yes to all you said, but if he slay the Clinton Machine....GO OBAMA!!
She well knew she was seeing it all evaporate last night...the anger in her eyes was very apparent.
What I am saying is that the best chance we as a nation have of driving a symbolic “stake through the heart” of the bloodsucking Clinton political machine is to aid in her defeat in her next senate battle.
Rush said, a few months ago, that Obama is a real professional orator, that he has obviously studied the most effective speakers in history, and watched films of the modern speakers, like Martin Luther King. He has also studied the persuasive speech of tent preachers, like Marjoe. He probably read Marjoe’s book about how he duped his congregations, too.
I just pray the Clintons do not turn their ultimate weapon on Obama - the Arkancide.
She has no interest in the Senate. I assume she will resign.
HRC = America’s ex-wife.
True, regardless though i have to believe she will be somewhat neutered after this.
I know a lot less politicos will be afraid of her sorry big butt.
True, regardless though i have to believe she will be somewhat neutered after this.
I know a lot less politicos will be afraid of her sorry big butt.
I prefer fired over neutered.
true, good point
Why is everybody declaring the “Clinton Era” over? If I recall correctly, she’s still going to be a Senator no matter what.
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.