This week, Andrea Mitchell reported on MSNBC that high ranking people from the Clinton campaign had told her that they recognized Hillary Clinton had lost the democratic primary contest to Barack Obama. I rarely take anything reported in the corporate media on face value, but it has been interesting to note the change in the tone of the Clinton campaign this week. It was particularly encouraging to watch Senator Clinton participate in the coordinated democratic response to President Bush’s attack on Senator Obama.
Yet one question remains: if, as Andrea Mitchell reported, the Clinton campaign is aware that Obama has won the contest, why is Clinton still in the race?
Several possibilities come to mind. Perhaps it is to try to raise money to pay off the growing campaign debt. Or it could be that they hope that some scandal will come up before the convention, which will make Obama unacceptable to the party. It might be that Hillary is so convinced that she is the best qualified democrat, that she can’t see what is obvious to her supporters. Maybe she is hoping to become the vice presidential candidate. Or, possibly, she is focused on 2012.
On Friday, I spoke with someone who I trust and respect, and this is what she told me: Hillary Clinton is aware that Barack Obama is going to be the democratic nominee. She is staying in the race primarily out of a sense of obligation to her supporters, which is also best understood as being part of her loyalty to the democratic party. She believes if she dropped out now, that her most loyal supporters would interpret that as the party leaders forcing her to drop out, something that has not been done with male candidates in past years.
I was told that Senator Clinton is staying in so that democrats in the remaining primaries will have the opportunity to cast their votes. There are also issues to be resolved involving Florida and Michigan. The goal is to keep as many people committed to the process, and invested in the fall campaign as possible.
Senator Clinton is not engaging in attacks on Obama; instead, she is concentrating on her campaign’s strengths. These are the things that she will be in a position to advocate for being included in the party’s platform. The Obama campaign is not pressuring super delegates to endorse him immediately, because there is no need to increase the bad feelings between the supporters of the two democratic candidates.
After the June 3 primaries in Montana and South Dakota, Senator Clinton will step aside, and will endorse Barack Obama’s candidacy. She will work hard to push for the things that are of the most importance to her and her supporters in the platform. And she will work very hard to help secure democratic victories in November.
Both campaigns are fully aware that there are forces looking to exploit the acrimony that defined parts of the primary contest. By endorsing and strongly supporting the Obama campaign, Senator Clinton will be making clear that she wants her supporters to vote campaign and vote for Senator Obama. Thus, anyone who continues to promote a divisive program that either supports McCain, a third party candidate, or not voting, will be easily recognized as having an agenda that has nothing to do with support for Hillary Clinton.
The democratic presidential primary has been one for the history books. And part of Senator Hillary Clinton’s political legacy will be that she helped bring about a huge democratic victory in November, 2008.