Hillary's Homecoming

[col. writ. 6/8/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal

The concession speech recently rendered by Senator Hillary R. Clinton (D.NY), was not, truth be told, a concession speech.

For she did not end her campaign; she suspended it.

Some may say that this is splitting hairs, but she's a lawyer, and obviously knows the difference. To concede would've meant the relinquishing of her delegates; to suspend is to hold her delegates in suspension, in the event, say, of a floor fight at the convention when they may be needed.

That said, she did endorse her opponent (Sen. Barack Obama (D.IL), and she urged her supporters to do likewise.

And she did so in a manner, and in a speech that may've been her best of the presidential campaign (If not in her political career). For she spoke of grand themes, broad visions and the surging sweep of history.

If this had been the face of her candidacy it is quite likely that she would today be the nominee, rather than the runner-up.

For, on the advice of experts, she muted her feminist roots, and indeed deprecated the political value of speechifying.

Inspiration is an invaluable political tool, as many presidents have used this to achieve their ends.

Yet, experts advised her to play it down.

Like old generals, experienced political experts often fight past battles - not current ones.

They become creatures of habit, unable to adapt to new conditions.

During this campaign, her generals failed her, and gave her advice that failed her during the long war to the nomination.

What was once thought to be her greatest asset, former President Bill Clinton, instead became her greatest liability, especially among Black voters. For Clinton had a genuine (if inexplicable) base of support among Black voters, who defended and supported him throughout his impeachment, when many of his fair-weather friends flew the coop. He squandered that base.

Sen. Obama's Black votes weren't inevitable.

Two years ago most Black voters didn't know his name.

And in any race, the known always trumps the unknown.

At the beginning of the primaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton was the inevitable candidate, and even her staunchest opponents all but conceded her victory in November, given the Clinton name, the aura of an ex-president, a wealth of funding, and a ready organization at the highest levels of the Democratic Party.

Yet, as we've learned in politics as in life, ain't nothing inevitable.

--(c) '08 maj