Editorial: Say goodbye, Hillary

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Vail Daily Editorial Board
Vail CO, Colorado
May 8, 2008

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If Sen. Hillary Clinton believes America needs a Democrat in the White House, she should end her campaign for president now.

She should exit the race this month, throw her support behind Sen. Barack Obama and urge her supporters to do the same.

The odds that she can win the Democratic nomination are next to impossible. She would have to take 70 percent of the vote in the remaining primaries — which is highly unlikely — or she must somehow convince the majority of Democratic superdelegates to turn their back on voters, ignore Obama’s lead with the popular vote and award Clinton the nomination she hasn’t earned.

The former first lady seems to see the writing on the wall. Just moments after Obama soundly defeated her in Tuesday’s North Carolina primary, Clinton assured the nation’s Democrats that “No matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party.” But by choosing to continue her campaign through June, she appears to be more concerned with getting herself promoted than putting a Democrat in the Oval Office.

By continuing her campaign, she forces the Obama camp to spend more money trying to beat her instead of using that money to beat the Republican nominee, John McCain. She forces Obama to continue to defend himself from claims that he can’t win with blue-collar voters, and that his association with a controversial pastor disqualifies him from becoming the first African-American to become president.

Instead, she should be helping Obama convince voters that not only does he represent Americans better than the Republican nominee, but that he can create the change in economic, environmental and international policies that this country so badly needs.

If there’s one thing the Republicans have gotten right in the past few years, it’s that their candidates know when it’s time to bow out and root for another member of their team.

Clinton should prove that she has her party’s best interests in mind and withdraw from the presidential race.