Yesterday Hillary Clinton gave a long speech where she did not concede the nomination to Obama but spoke as if she had won. She asked the question, "Where do we go from here?
But this has always been your campaign. So, to the 18 million people who voted for me, and to our many other supporters out there of all ages, I want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to my Web site at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.
Out of sheer curiosity, I too went to Clinton's website to see what her supporters were saying, what suggestions they had for her, what they wanted her to do and not surprisingly her supporters overwhelmingly want two things.
1. Hillary to run as an independent.
2. Take it to Denver- meaning bring it to a fight on the Democratic convention floor.
When I say the word overwhelming, I mean it. out of hundreds of comments on two different threads on Clinton's blogs, her supporters are asking she run as an independent.
Examples of this started in the first thread I visited, discussing her speech.
The second comment on that thread said:
Please Hillary run as the independent please please
by rhythmshrt at 6/4/2008 1:00:35 AM
The second:
I think this is a great idea, just need to get the train a movin. Hillary is by far the strongest Presidential candidate.
HILLARY.....please run as Independent.
by Northern neighbour at 6/4/2008 6:16:31 AM
I am not going to run through the 93 comments on that latest thread, but needless to say, that was the major theme and only one person seemed to understand what that would do to the Democratic party as a whole, where the supporter, jesuisyaya, said, "don't you realize that hillary running as an independent will split the democratic vote greatly and give mccain a HUGE opportunity for winning. hillary has a tremendous following, including me, and out of loyalty many, many would vote for her. but there would never be enough votes to win the election and since the republican vote would not be split....they'll win."
The two major themes were running as an independent and taking the fight to Denver in August, but others vowed to quit the party if Obama were the nominee and some just asserted they would write her name in on the ballot. Then others kept encouraging people to donate so she could fight on.
Some actually suggested both of the major themes:
Please go all the way to the convention.
Or better run Independent.
by GeorgeC at 6/3/2008 11:06:07 PM
Then of course were those that made it clear to Hillary that if she gave up, they would be forced to vote for John McCain.
Would you be opened to start your own party (independant)? I think it is clear your supporters will follow you 100%; it is just that Barrack and McCain are not the right choice for this country at this moment in time. I can not support Barrack due to his extrimist left positions and radical alliances and lack of experience. I do not like the judgement he has executed pertaining his friends and affiliations/associations (in that stand I feel more confortable w/Sen Mcain).
That person actually asked Hillary to put the country before the Democratic party, suggesting that if she gave up she would be putting the party before the country.
Very few wanted her to be vice president.
Then came the previous comment thread, which I will not bore you with since the themes are basically the same. That thread at this time has over 400 comments.
Hillary Clinton has heard from her supporters and some are now wondering if she has something up her sleeve so to speak.
That person is Maureen Dowd in an opinion piece for The New York Times.
Clintonologists know that Hillary is up to something, but they aren’t sure what. Theory No. 1 is that it’s the Cassandra “I told you so” gambit: She believes intensely that he’s too black, too weak and too elitist — with all his salmon and organic tea and steamed broccoli — to beat her pal John McCain. But she has to pretend she’ll do “whatever it takes,” even accept the vice presidency, a job she’s already had and doesn’t want again, so that nobody will blame her when he loses on Nov. 4. Then she can power on to 2012.
What does Hillary Clinton want...other than to be the president that is?
What was her purpose in encouraging her supporters to come to her site and help her decide?
What is left to decide other than how to get out of the race with whatever dignity she has left?
Today is the day that Barack obama should be celebrating his big win, even if he did crawl over the finish line and couldn't win enough delegates without the help of the superdelegates to obtain the title of presumptive nominee and yet, people are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Obama is having to face off against John McCain and look over his proverbial shoulder to see what weapon Clinton may be holding behind him.
Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of this whole debacle is that despite the fact that the Democratic party expected the supporters to "unify" after Obama reached the delegate count he needed, reports are coming in that Hillary Clinton supporters are now calling the Republican National Committee and asking what they can do to help John McCain.
That was the Democratic leaders biggest fear and it looks like their nightmare, just became reality.
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