Senator Clinton: What’s next for her?

By Hudes DesrameauxSpecial to CSMS MagazineThe longest Democratic primary season is finally over, and the rugged, parched desert of Montana and the reservations of South Dakota effectively put a seal onto it last night—the last two states to hold primaries.     I say “finally” because this Democratic primary was really over two weeks after February 5, the mother of all Super Tuesday, when Senator Obama racked up eleven straight wins to build an insurmountable delegate lead that Senator Clinton could never threaten up to this day.    The media with its recurring theme of a so-called deal not being closed and the enabling super-delegates who waited too long to declare their preferences, allow the Clinton to seize on these two factors to soldier on when the math would have thrown off track almost all other politicians. It always pays to be a Clinton in America. Enjoy it while you can.    A lot of water has passed under the electoral bridge, and Saturday at the rules committee meeting was a momentous event in clarifying two key issues that have dogged the Democratic Party for almost the duration of the campaign: Florida and Michigan.     Fair or not, the Democratic national committee (DNC) has been on the receiving end of some pointed criticisms over its tentative leadership during these testy electoral times, as evidenced by the Florida and Michigan debacle.    However, the rules panel of the DNC last weekend at the Marriott hotel in Washington DC convened to solve the Michigan and Florida delegate issues, and showed courage under tough conditions, with both Obama and Clinton key staff jockeying to get the upper hand.Sign of the timesWhile many expect that the Clinton camp would do well in these deliberations because of the high number of Clintonites packing the membership of the rules and bylaws committee, the fact that the recommendations, especially on Michigan, actually favor Obama, doesn’t bode well for the Clinton camp. It was, for all purposes, a game-ending day for Hillary. Obama beat Hillary on her own turf – the difficult terrain of the rules committee. Nothing is now easy for Clinton.    The full seating of the Florida and Michigan delegates didn’t happen, as envisioned by Hillary and her loyal supporters. This primary campaign is effectively over.     Now this: What to expect from Hillary in the next five or six months?     Of course, she will vigorously continue to point out her recent victories to further build her argument that she wins the popular vote, and therefore worth getting the nod of the remaining super delegates to take on John McCain in November. A solid argument, but not powerful enough to change the political conversation among the super-delegates who are waiting for next Wednesday or Thursday to give Obama the extra votes he needs to clinch the Democratic nomination.    It has long been argued that Hillary’s goal since Indiana and North Carolina has been to amass, without saying so, enough delegates and popular votes to impress upon Obama of her strong credentials as the strongest contender for the vice-presidential post. Indeed, she has the numbers and the qualifications to lead on Day 1 as Obama’s vice-president, if the latter beats McCain in November.    It won’t happen. More cautiously: there is a really slight chance, maybe one out of 100, that Obama will cede the VP post to Hillary. Nancy Pelosi, the powerful House Speaker out of San Francisco, has long vetoed this possibility. So is Ted Kennedy. So are countless Party officials who have suffered under the Clinton’s tyrannical rule. Clinton fatigue is real in some corners.    Question! Does Obama need Hillary to get the votes of women and the so-called “hard-working, white folks? Arguments that are used to buttress the claim of this co-called dream ticket.    Not really. (Obama’s big concern should be the Hispanic vote; McCain can play hard there).    The Democratic Party has been having trouble getting the votes of these white folks for a long time. A slim majority will go for McCain in November, and if so, that will be a victory for Obama. As to women, they will go the Obama way once they know what McCain has in store for them: the selection of judges that may nibble away at the Roe vs. Wade, the landmark abortion ruling.     A defiant and angry Harold Ickes, another household name in the Democratic Party and a senior advisor to Hillary, citing his candidate after the DNC vote, threatened to take their doomed campaign all the way to Denver in late August at the Convention. It’s enough to be embarrassed and out-smart by the Obama camp. Don’t lose your cool, though!     That won’t happen either. Hillary has too much to lose to become belligerent. As she promised, she will campaign for Obama. In fact, the Clinton legacy demands nothing else. They need to make amends with the black community and other constituents of the Democratic Party.     What’s left for Clinton to do? What about returning to the Senate floor to become the best senator she can be, not before trying to have a big say on the Democratic platform at the Convention, especially on the issue of heath care.      Just what Ted Kennedy did after losing to Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primary campaign.Also see When will race seize to be the cornerstone of American politic?Hillary Clinton’s Paranoia and the Democrats Dilemma Hillary Clinton wants to clinch the nomination at all costIs Barack Obama unstoppable after his stunning victory in Iowa last week?   The Obama campaign plunges deeper into the defensive after the Nevada lost last Saturday