Hillary Clinton--There’s Simply No Shame in Her Game

by Anita S. Lane

Hillary Clinton wants to be elected President of the United States— of course she must have her limits, but it certainly appears as though winning “by any means necessary” is her secret motto.

Since the Super Tuesday contest on February 5th, Clinton has unveiled the politically calculating, unscrupulous, and self-serving side of her personality. And it’s not pretty.

I Loan, You Give
How do I justify my claim? Let’s start with Clinton’s five million dollar loan to her campaign. She made a loan to her campaign because she “believes very strongly” in her campaign. Well if she truly “believed,” why didn’t she just give the money. She loans to her campaign while she expects others to give to her campaign. Where’s the self-sacrifice and fairness in that?

No, You Can’t See How I Make My Money
Secondly, Clinton has made it clear that she has no intentions on releasing her tax returns (which might reveal where she got the money to make the loan) until after the primary election. Why not just say she won’t release them at all. It’s clear that Clinton knows that her tax returns won’t stand up to Obama’s (whose filings are public record) and it may very well be the demise of her candidacy—or at least a major distraction.

Well, They’re Black…
Or how about Hillary (and Bill’s) attempts to frame Senator Obama’s wins in South Carolina, Washington D.C., Georgia and other states as simply a result of the significant African American population and their “immense pride” in the first black candidate to have a real shot at the white house. This attempt to marginalize Obama and an Obama win may have worked once, maybe twice, but how do you explain Obama’s victories in Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, Idaho and Maine?

Superdelegates are Automatic
Hillary’s latest strategy is to attempt to strong arm her superdelegates into staying with her. She even launched a website dedicated to this very cause. As the news that one-by-one, more and more super delegates who formerly supported Clinton are now defecting to the Obama camp, Hillary Clinton wants to make it clear to them that their votes don’t have to represent their constituencies.

Clinton's new website states, "The fact is: no automatic delegate is required to cast a vote on the basis of anything other than his or her best judgment about who is the most qualified to be president.” Unfortunately a lot of what Clinton calls “fact” on her new website is simply opinion. Her clear willingness to massage words and numbers once again prove her willingness to do or say anything to win.

Delegates Don’t Really Represent (It just depends on what the meaning of “is” is…)
Not only is Hillary fighting for every last superdelegate, word surfaced this week that the Clinton camp was considering a strategy to woo Obama’s pledged delegates—delegates that Obama won fair and square via elections and caucuses—citing (and correctly so) that pledged delegates aren't required to cast their vote at the convention for the candidate who won them. But wouldn’t such a strategy reflect poorly among the Democratic voters who truly thought their vote meant something? And would it not lead to an all-out civil war within the Democratic party?

Let the Voters Speak…for Me
Finally, and probably the most blatantly, self-serving tactic is Hillary Clinton’s push to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates. Heaven forbid we have a repeat of the 2000 election. Democrats can’t disenfranchise voters…

No, neither party should disenfranchise voters. However the Democratic National Committee made the rules, Michigan and Flordia party leaders broke the rules, all the Democratic candidates, including Hillary agreed to play by the rules, but then—somehow—Hillary wound up the only major democratic candidate with her name on the ballot. So of course, she won the primary. She also won in Florida where all of the candidates agreed to not campaign. And now she wants to fight to seat the delegates? Is it even possible that there could be anything more unscrupulous and blatantly self-serving? Doesn’t pushing the “Michigan and Florida Delegate” hot button feel even the slightest bit unethical to Hillary Clinton? It doesn’t appear so.

Where is the outrage?

There’s Simply No Shame
Hillary Clinton claims to have the experience that can produce change in America. But right now she’s showing us just how experienced she is at playing politics as usual—and there’s simply no shame in her game.