Posted by
beltway girl on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:13:16 AM
Ten points.
Pennsylvania is a big and diverse state. Those were ten big points.
Actually, those were ten of the biggest points of the Democratic nomination.
Barack Obama made the candidate of inevitability wobble like a bowling pin for a very long time. A figurative bowling pin, of course. Had she been a real bowling pin, she'd never have wavered in the face of Obama or his throwing arm.
Hillary Clinton stood there before an ecstatic crowd in Pennsylvania and made one of the best speeches she has ever made in her life.
She looked competent, she looked strong, and she looked benevolent.
She looked like a leader.
She should have been gone by now. But she's still here.
That's what leaders do.
The eloquent Senator Obama seemed at first like a gamble worth taking for the Democrats.
Brilliance, eloquence, electricity. These things don't often come along on today's political landscape.
For those who plan on voting for John McCain in the fall, Obama seemed like he'd make it a real horse race. Who could be sure of the winner in an Obama-McCain matchup?
No one. At first.
But then came the Rev. Wright debacle and Bittergate.
And an entirely different dynamic has entered the race. Hillary's dramatically high negatives have been eclipsed by Obama's baggage. Baggage he made for himself, largely through Bittergate's tie into the larger Rev. Wright narrative.
Indiana is somewhat similar to Pennsylvania in terms of demographics. Bittergate may also pack a wallop there. Barack Obama's speech from Indiana didn't have the same free-and-easy style his speeches usually have. It was more tense, more strident, and more pleading. For a change, Clinton's speech was much more appealing and relaxed.
Maybe Annie Oakley will finally have shown the Democrats, indeed, the nation, a thing or two about leadership.
America loves someone who is real. The more holes you can poke through their front and prove it's a facade, the less they like you. The more you withstand that scrutiny and come out as you started, the more they like you.
Is she human? Is she power-hungry? Is she honest?
Is she a phony?
Ironically, Hillary Clinton is looking very much now like Holly Golightly from
Breakfast at Tiffany's.
She's a phony.
But she's a real phony.