Although few expected Clinton to endorse Obama last night, there was widespread surprise and some anger amongst Democrats, especially on Obama's side, at her lack of anything like a graceful concession of defeat. She still referred to herself as 'the strongest candidate', and suggested that she might carry on campaigning if her supporters wanted her to. As the Washington Post puts it, she 'graciously pretended to win'.
A brilliant post from Michael Crowley gives us a flavour of the mood in the Clinton camp: defiant, angry, determined not to give an inch more than they have to at this stage, and still getting high from the adulation of their supporters. He also reminds us that Hillary's call for her supporters to let her know if she should carry on is a trick the Clintons have used before:
When Bill Clinton ran for re-election as
governor in 1990, he promised Arkansans not to run for president before
his term had ended. Two years later, he was touring the state, asking
for their “permission” to break his pledge. As luck would have it, Bill
got the answer he was looking for.
Seasoned observer James Fallows thinks that Obama was knocked off balance by Clinton's un-concession speech, and spent the first fifteen minutes of his speech trying to recover his mojo.
Clinton may be underestimating the impatience of the party leadership and the media to turn the page on this chapter in the election. Fairly or unfairly, if she's not careful she will end up being widely portrayed as crazy.
UPDATE: evidence from her speech to a pro-Israel group today that Clinton is more accepting of Obama's victory than last night indicated - indeed that she's already flipping into vice-presidential mode.
Osiris is perhaps the most famous of the gods of Ancient Egypt. Here he is shown in his typical guise as a mummified pharaoh holding the hook and flail, the traditional symbols of royal authority. Osiris is usually depicted wearing the feathered Atef crown.
http://www.hamdey.php0h.com/osiris.htm
Posted by: hamdey | August 10, 2008 at 04:17 PM