Is Clinton Endorsing John McCain?

by Anita S. Lane

While campaigning in Ohio on March 3, 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton made the following statement, “I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House and Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”

So let me get this right, Senator Clinton’s been alive for 60 years and has a lifetime of experience; Senator McCain’s been alive 72 years and has a lifetime of experience; and Senator Obama has been alive 46 years, and has no experience? Doesn’t Obama's lifetime stand for something—anything?

I’m sure she’s really referring to one’s number of years in Washington D.C.; because that’s the central thing she and John McCain have in common. But again, is experience inside the beltway the only experience that matters? If so, Clinton only has about 16 years of Washington experience—only eight of which has been as an elected position herself, as senator.

That said, Obama spent eight years in the Illinois State legislature and two years in the United States Senate. Two plus eight equals ten.

In Hillary’s lifetime, as a young Republican she helped register voters in Texas. She also worked for the Children’s Defense Fund.

In Obama’s lifetime, he worked as a community organizer on the South side of Chicago—helping to improve living conditions in neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.

To give Clinton her due, she did have a front row seat to the presidency when her husband, Bill Clinton was in the white house for eight years. However, she never had to answer the phone at three o’clock in the morning.

If experience is truly the determining factor for Clinton, perhaps it follows that she should drop out and concede the race to her dear friend, John McCain—the most experienced of all three candidates. Of course she wouldn’t do it. But she sure came close to offering John McCain an unofficial “endorsement” with her poignant remarks yesterday.

Hillary then took it one step further. On “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on the eve of the Texas primary, Jon Stewart made the comment, “Whether you are the victor or Obama or even Senator McCain…I would not be surprised to see any of you working in each other’s cabinets.

Clinton’s response was, “Well I’ve said many times that I would like to have a bipartisan cabinet in the White House. We’ve got to start acting like Americans again, and roll up our sleeves and solve our problems—and there are good ideas across the political spectrum.”

Want the best possible combination of experience—real unity and the best ideas across the political spectrum? Maybe the two “lifetimers” should run together.

“Clinton-McCain ‘08!” Weird? Well, someone should tell Clinton to stop cozying up to John McCain. It does nothing to help the Democratic Party.