THE PLANK AUGUST 8, 2008
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When asked by ABC News last week whether Barack Obama was ready to be president, Bill Clinton answered that, well, no one is ever really ready to be president. (As Jon Stewart helpfully reminded his audience last night, the former president, in his notorious interview with Charlie Rose last December, had praised Joe Biden and other rivals of his wife for unquestionably being prepared to become commander-in-chief). Meanwhile, a few days prior to her husband's none-too-generous words for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton met with supporters in California. The Washington Post, in a front page piece today, reports the following:
Exactly what the formal nominating process will look like at the
convention remains an open question. Last week, Hillary Clinton told
supporters in a meeting in Palo Alto, Calif., posted on YouTube, that
she was looking for a "strategy" to keep the peace and that sometimes a
"catharsis" is necessary. Her comments were read by some as suggesting
that the process could require a roll-call vote that would enumerate
her supporters, even though she would still lose the nomination."The
best way I think to do that is to have a strategy so that my delegates
feel like they've had a role and that their legitimacy has been
validated," she said."It's as old as Greek drama," Clinton said.
"There's a catharsis. Everybody comes, and they want to yell and scream
and have their opportunity, and I think that's all to the good."
Yes, Greek drama just seems to trail the Clintons everywhere they go. How unlucky for them! And the second paragraph excerpted above suggests that Senator Clinton sees her supporters as in danger of becoming--yes--disrespected or victimized. Yet, as both the WaPo and a separate New York Times story today explain, the Obama campaign has offered Bill Clinton the honor of speaking on Wednesday night, the same night that Obama's vice presidential selection will speak.
Fine, you might be thinking, because who cares when Bill Clinton gives a speech? Indeed, the fact that his statement about Obama's readiness seems to have been ignored by most people must count as a sign that after the long primary campaign, no one much cares what the former president has to say, especially if it concerns his wife or Barack Obama. But it is still irksome that in the name of "unity" everyone but the Clintons has to act like adults. And Bill, particularly, gets rewarded the more he misbehaves because of the correspondingly larger need for solidarity. What a neat trick.
P.S. Stay tuned for Josh Green's Atlantic piece next week, which will make Bill-favorite Mark Penn look less than classy.
--Isaac Chotiner
12 comments
I look forward to the part where Hillary, in a fit of religious madness, tears Chelsea's head off and proudly displays it to Bill. Greek tragedy indeed!
- ratnerstar
August 8, 2008 at 1:58pm
P.S. Didn't Russia invade Alabama today or something?
- ratnerstar
August 8, 2008 at 2:01pm
Rumor has it that Bill and Hillary are hoping Obama loses... but keeping them in the limelight might be just the trick to avoiding any mischief. You have to keep your friends close, you're enemies even closer and with friends like these...
Also, the (not so) subtle difference with Greek Tragedies (or any tragedy for that matter) is that their whole point is that it's characters are helpless to avoid the outcome, hardly the case in the Democratic Primary battle, which was waged poorly by the Clinton Campaign, with more than the average Greek dose of Hubris.
In our story it was not the "anger of the gods" that determined the outcome but in fact the will of the primary voters! No more "tragic" than say losing the Olympic Gold Medal in running to an athlete of greater talent. No if by some crazy fluke a bird flew by the runners head and pecked at their eyes causing them to trip and lose the race, now that could arguably be considered tragic. But the Obama Campaign proved itself superior by most standards and the only thing that tripped the Clinton Campaign up was itself.
Rather than catharsis for a tragedy out of their control, people need to take responsibility for failure and resolve to do better next time. That's all. Oh, and not dishing out anger on Kathleen Sebelius's VP possibilities would be a nice touch from a feminist perspective, albeit not from Hera's.
- Gavriel Meir-Levi
August 8, 2008 at 2:30pm
I understand that the media has decided that the Clintons are evil, don't believe in anything but themselves and want Obama to lose. But the truth is that Bill Clinton praised Obama in that interview and claimed that he wasn't mad at Obama for running a tough campaign. He also praised Obama during the primaries, in fact praising the other damocrats in the campaign was part of his stump speech. Hillary Clinton was talking about a strategy to have a united democratic party. I understand that everything has to reinforce the current narrative, but the truth is that both Clintons will give important valuable speeches for Obama at the convention. They want him to win.
- CraigMcGil
August 8, 2008 at 2:41pm
ratnerstar, Russia invaded South Ossetia, which wishes to become part of North Ossetia. How you can confuse Ossetia with Alabama is absolutely beyond me and shows the depth of your fecundity.
South Ossetia, as we all know, is a breakaway province of Mississippi. Get your facts straight, dumb ass.
- blackton
August 8, 2008 at 2:45pm
Craig - I hope you're right.
- Gavriel Meir-Levi
August 8, 2008 at 2:53pm
I think I see ratner's confusion...in Alabama the town is Opelika, not Ossetia (also not to be confused with Opa-Locka, which is in Florida, I think...)
But to take ratner's point...helloooooo? Doesn't Russia and Georgia shooting at each other merit some sort of blog notice, somehow?
- cspencef
August 8, 2008 at 2:58pm
Blackton, like I would ever listen to someone who left America, the greatest nation on Earth, to live in China and then Mexico, two countries primarily known for producing cheap ethnic food. Mississippi doesn't even HAVE provinces, it has COUNTIES. Shows what you know.
On the other hand, I am pretty damn fecund, if ya know what I mean.
- ratnerstar
August 8, 2008 at 3:04pm
Ratner, yeah, today's Russian escapades have me reliving my favorite Chuck Norris movie of all time: Invasion U.S.A.
Synopsis: Russian terrorists invade the suburban American South with rocket launchers; Chuck Norris defeats them all single-handedly. "No one thought it could happen here... America wasn't ready... But he was."
For your viewing pleasure:
www.youtube.com/watch
- thetraytiger
August 8, 2008 at 3:19pm
Maybe I'm jaded from reading too many anti-Clinton screeds, but this doesn't seem like a big deal to me. The statement "no one is really ready to be commander-in-chief" downplays the importance of experience, casting Obama in a better light. I don't think anyone can extract meaning from Sen Clinton's jibber jabber about catharsis so we'll have to wait and see how she acts at the convention.
- Simon Greenwood
August 8, 2008 at 3:37pm
ratnerstar, yeesh, next time I better look up the meaning of fecund, I thought it had something to do with feces.
- blackton
August 8, 2008 at 5:56pm
I want Bill to get up there and croak that he's the victim of a high-tech lynching.
But seriously: if he's going to speak - and not off the cuff - then he's going to make good and sure there isn't any whining and there isn't any coy b.s. that kinda sorta puts Obama down in any way remotely interpretable. That will be made sure of, probably at the very least by Hillary. Even if she does want him to lose so she can run in '12, she reeeeaaaally does not want to look like it. Especially if she wants to run in '12.
- psantillana
August 8, 2008 at 10:10pm