Thursday, May 08, 2008

Go, Hillary, Go?

I'm not really sure I know what I mean by this. Do I wish Hillary would remove herself from the race so we can get on with electing a different president with a real campaign strategy? Sort of. Or do I wish Hillary would hang in there and represent women all the way to the top, whether that's a win or a lose? Yes to that one too.

I listened to the tenor of her remarks after losing the NC primary and barely winning IN and I thought "this is one dedicated lady. She isn't going to give up and let down her constituents. She's going to take it all the way, win or lose. The women of America are her sisters and she's going as far as she can."

It's a little like (IMHO) a woman with breast cancer who, because she loves life, because she doesn't want to leave her loved ones, because she is a fighter who has surmounted other difficulties, because she believes she owes it to those who love her to keep on fighting, a woman who tries every last treatment available, even the ones that are as bad as the disease, just to be able to say she tried everything before she let go.

There's a piece of me that knows that this is not necessarily a good strategy. There's another piece of me that understands completely why she would do it. I might do it too.

And yet, there's a point in life when the loved ones of a dying person want to say to that person, "it's okay to go now, it's okay to let go, we'll be all right, you've done your job".

Go, Hillary, Go. Whichever way you want to take that.

4 comments:

Masasa said...

I'll second that.

Joel said...

I don't have a dog in this fight, since I don't aim to vote for either one, but it makes sense for Hillary to take her campaign as far as she can. The vagaries of public opinion and the media being what they are, Barack Obama could tomorrow be exposed as a pervert, a criminal, or even (gasp!) a closet conservative. At the same time, the campaign trail is not kind to those who have lost a primary in the past. If she quits now, she will almost certainly have lost her last chance.

Lilylou said...

Thanks, Joel. I appreciate your perspective.

Mile High Pixie said...

Interesting point, Rev. Kit. Even though I wish she'd drop out, I think it does say something rather good for her that she's going as far as she can for her supporters, for the people that believe in her. I'd be tempted to do just what she's doing if I were in her pumps.