Leah O'Donovan

Many people are calling on Hillary Clinton to give up her presidential bid now that it seems oh-so-clear that Obama will win the nomination. She continues to fight on, though, citing sexism as one of the reasons for her poor performance and the date of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination as evidence of previous longer election timescales. Both of these are proven to be utter rubbish by two commentators.

One: I completely agree with Noonan’s comparison with Thatcher, Meir and Ghandi. They would never have stood up and said ‘it’s because I’m a woman.’ I am a feminist; I abhor sexism and I possibly over-react to certain things because of it. Ask my husband about my opinions on housework. I’ve probably sounded like Clinton before but that doesn’t mean I agree with her. I loved the Clinton nutcrackers; I even wrote about them on this blog. Granted I’ve never been a Clinton supporter but I found them funny rather than sexist. I consider that label not entirely unflattering. It means you get the job done. I’ve met several ‘bitches on wheels’ that I am not proud to be associated with in womankind. They are over-bearing, harsh and often I feel the way they go about things is because they are women in a man’s world. I would not call Clinton one of these types of women. I feel Clinton has an excellent personality in that she is the perfect balance between feminine and masculine. She can show a softer side (e.g. crying at the New Hampshire breakfast) and standing by her man in times of infidelity. She can also show fierce integrity and independence in her fight for universal health care and standing for the senate. Shakespeare penned a fantastic saying in Hamlet when he said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Clinton should get off her high horse, stop claiming everyone is out to get her (remember her dig at the biased media several months ago) and step away from the campaign.

Two: As Robinson clearly points out the reason Kennedy was assassinated in June and Billy-Boy Clinton was still battling it out with fellow Democrats was because the contests started much later. Their June is equivalent to our April or May this current election year. Poor Bobby Kennedy had only begun to fight, having only completed three month’s worth of campaigning; and Billy-Boy too had only been at it around three-and-a-half months and, by this time, was the presumptive nominee. Obama is appearing to be the presumptive nominee here too but Clinton will not give it up. Is she blind? Can she honestly not see that she doesn’t really have a chance? She is not a phoenix waiting to rise from the ashes. The bird’s dead and the ashes have been scooped up and put in the bin. Some might call it determination, I call it outright stubbornness: like a mule (aka jackass) fighting against its owner. Or perhaps like a child who doesn’t want to go home for supper: no, no, I will not go, you can’t make me, whine, whine, moan, moan. Clinton is doing herself no favours here. She is starting to look like an idiot or, at the very least, slightly delusional. Hey, even Tony Blair finally gave in to the pressure and left Number 10. I think it’s time Clinton packs up her toys and goes home. She’ll be slightly wounded, tucking her tail between her legs, but at least she’d have some dignity. If she leaves it any longer she, along with her husband and the good Clinton name (considering Bill’s actual presidency, not his…issues) will be forever muddied by this ordeal. They will be known as the obstinate whingers of the Democratic Party. That’s not a moniker you want to be stuck with.

The moral of the story: get behind Obama and let’s win in November.