Said one Democrat with close ties to the Clintons: "It was just hubris: They couldn't imagine her losing and him winning."
At the end of this succinct analysis of the failure of the Clinton campaign is this brilliant one sentence summation that coincidentally explains Clinton's continued refusal to concede, even a day after Obama amassed the delegates necessary to secure the nomination.
Hubris, by definition, drives one beyond reason and civility. I can appreciate that she is hurt/stunned/confused by the loss. I really had no problem with not conceding. She had just won her last primary. Let her and those who have worked so hard for her have a day or two to grieve. But what struck me, and many, many others, was how utterly graceless was her speech.
To stand up there and make the argument—after it was over, to the superdelegates who were flooding to Obama—that she was the better candidate was the epitome of gracelessness. It was as if we were watching the first moon landing and she was trumpeting her science project. Here the first African American was being nominated for the highest position in the land. How far we have come! She could have noted the moment, even observed that his opponent was a woman who—hell, I'll give her this—had just won the popular vote. Instead she chose to make a pointless appeal to the superdelegates and to grub for donations at . . . wait for it . . . HillaryClinton.com!
This is reflective of how tin the political ear of the Clintons has become. This was one of those defining moments. This was the moment to ascertain whether the unbelievable tenacity that led to this moment was an admirable example of endurance or of narcissistic insanity. Millions of viewers tuned into the grand finale. Say the right thing, and it will be imprinted forever. All would be forgiven and she would be elevated to eternal heights more revered than the mere temporal presidency.
But she couldn't do it. She just couldn't bring herself to do the right thing. She just didn't have it in her.
That is who she is. In the end she wasn't enduring. She was enduring hubris.
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