Please Mr. President: Find Your Inner Hillary...We Need Her.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded the Democratic nomination for President last year to Sen. Barack Obama it added an exclamation point to a stunning political, if not, downfall, then certainly, an embarrassing stumble.

Hillary Clinton, after all, had been IT for almost two years prior. Before him she had been the chosen, the anointed, the history maker. She knew she was going to get the nomination. The Republicans knew she was going to get the nomination. Everyone knew she was going to get the nomination. Except that she didn't. Her current boss, President Barack Obama, did. And in the months that followed her concession an elaborate and hopelessly public dance played out whereby the two high profile foes were forced by their colleagues, the press, and their own loyalties to the Democratic Party into a stoic and, at times, heroic reconciliation.

It was no easy thing.

The end of the battle had been bitter and, some argued, drawn out. And the list of grievances aired by many of Hillary Clinton's detractors was long. How dare she have felt entitled to the nomination! What nerve! Others complained that she had been too negative, far too tough on the Democrat's new Golden Boy. She had also stayed in the race too long, cried the pundits, selfishly jeopardizing (sabotaging?) Barack Obama's chances in November. Why hadn't she just dropped out after the boys had told her too? Silly woman, surely Kennedy (1980 anyone?), Leahy, and Dodd knew better what was good for the Party and the country, surely...

But this was Hillary Clinton. She had been around the track a time or two, and she understood well how races were won. No one in contemporary American public life, after all, not even her husband really, had been so openly attacked, vilified, and maligned as she had been. After nearly two decades of national public scrutiny she had been accused of everything from murder to theft to drug smuggling to lesbianism. She had even been called evil and monstrous for that evil and monstrous belief of hers that every single American was entitled to health care. How diabolical!

And she had survived all of it; all of them. When the dust had cleared she was the one still standing. And that, she knew, was no accident.

So, forgive her if her take on what had happened at various stages of the primaries was somewhat colored by her experiences in the real world. Yes, maybe she had felt somewhat entitled to the nomination. She was (at the time, and excepting her own husband) the most famous Democrat in the world. She had a deeply loyal power base and had grown into an astute politician in her own right. Intellectually she had the goods and no one doubted her resolve. There were a bevy of small little facts that also boded well for her. She was, and some would maintain, continues to be one of the strongest debaters on either side of aisle. She was being courted and encouraged by almost every Democrat who wanted a shot at winning the White House back, and even by people like, um, (ironically enough) Oprah Winfrey. She had given a lot to the party too, not the least of which were those dark White House years when few came rushing to her defense when the enemies attacked. And there was no other person, not even her marginally more famous spouse, who had raised more money for the Democratic Party or attended more fundraisers on behalf of no-name first time congressional hopefuls than she. And she had even checked her rock star status at the entrance of the Senate chamber when she was elected as the junior senator from New York. She had put her head down, her nose to grindstone and worked her ass off. And by almost all accounts, Democrat and Republican alike, she had been an outstanding Senator, well-liked and well-respected even by those who had once compared her to Satan or Medea. And she did not discount the history either. She was a woman and the Democratic Party wanted very much to be the first party to nominate a woman to the office of the Presidency. And the Republicans were through. Anyone with a half a sense and a partially working nose could sniff that fact out.

The facts were simple: she was well-known, could bring in the cash, represented a potent historical symbolism, could debate the pants off of anyone the Republicans sent, and was tougher than nails. Who else could the Democrats send out? Al Gore? Maybe. But there were many who doubted his interest or his ability to do it all over again. No, it was her, and, she thought, her alone. So, yes, maybe she had felt somewhat entitled, but it was an entitlement that she and many of those who knew her well thought she had earned.

And those other pesky charges? Well, Hillary Clinton of all people knew from negative, and she knew that what she threw at Obama during the primaries amounted to little more than soft pitches at the practice mound. She could barely contain her irritation when pundits of every stripe began insisting that the Democratic Primary had turned into one of the most negative campaigns in the history of politics. She knew that anyone making such a claim was either stupid, had no knowledge of political history, or were jumping on the "Screw Hillary" bandwagon. Instinctively she knew that most belonged to the latter group and laboured on. She had said often, and to anyone who would listen, that the Republicans would do far worse to Obama than she ever would, and that he had to be prepared. She also knew that despite his obvious sincerity, Obama's calls for bi-partisanship would be met with deaf ears and she was determined to make sure that if Obama won the nomination that he would win it with at least a taste of what was to come.

The idea that she had stayed in the race too late also angered her. First, she knew, heard everyday, and in a million ways, how deeply her candidacy had affected the lives of people all over the country. She and Barack represented much to their supporters and she found it disrespectful to history, to women everywhere, to her supporters, and to herself , that she should be asked to step aside for a man (even a black man) for the sake of political expediency. She had carved it into her soul that she would go on to the very end, and that every woman (many of them sick and elderly who had waited lifetimes to cast such a vote) or man who had waited for the day to cast a vote for her would get that opportunity. But this was only the secondary argument. The primary one seemed so patently obvious that she was almost embarrased to have to have to point it out. How was it possible, she asked, that keeping the Democrats in the news, at the forefront of everyone's attention, could be a bad thing? When was the last time anyone had even showed up at a John McCain press event? And, in the end, didn't every speech made them better speakers? Every debate make them better debaters? And wasn't every controversy hashed out now one less either would have to deal with during the general election. In short, didn't everyday make whoever got the nomination a better candidate?

And she was right, of course. On all of it. But nobody really talks about that openly and only now are people managing to get around and apologize and thank her. It is all clear today but then it was too easy to believe that she was all of those things the "vast right-wing conspiracy" had painted her to be. She had become her least treasured thing, a caricature.

Her reaction to all of this? To do what everyone everywhere said she would not do. And that is be the person she had always been, a political soldier and a loyal Democrat. So, despite some probable unease and discomfort and almost constant criticism (was she gracious enough? did she mention Obama's name enough in a speech? etc...) she went out and campaigned her heart out for Barack Obama. At his convention she was both gracious and supporting and in the middle of it all delivered one of the best speeches of her political life.

When all of it was over she expected to go back to New York. Back to the Senate. Back.

You could write the next bit yourself, of course. Obama makes a grand gesture by offering her the office of Secretary of State, she accepts, gets confirmed, is greeted like a rock star at State, works hard, is loyal, and they live happily ever after.

But. And it is a very big but.

There are exactly two political rock stars in this country (I do not count Sarah Palin who has no real international following to speak of). TWO. And they are both Democrats and are both bound by their duties or their temperaments to either not speak out on domestic issues or to do so with such an air of caution as to appear either weak or ineffectual. So as grateful as I am to have Hillary helm State I find myself more and more mourning her departure from the Senate.

Why?

Because we need a clear, respected, un-equivocating voice to step up and shut down the notion that health care reform can proceed without a public plan option. And we need a strong American voice to stand up and tell the world and to tell Iran that Neda did not die in vain. And we need a strong voice to step up for gay rights. Hillary was that voice, could have continued to be that voice, but now she is effectively silenced. And sadly there is no one left to fill the vacuum. There is absolutely no one with the same level of clout left to say what needs to be said. Harry Reid? Nancy Pelosi? Chuck Schumer? Yeah, right. And even if Ted Kennedy were able, his power rests only with the already converted on all of those issues.

But surely Hillary couldn't have have helped much domestically, right? I say wrong. Do not undermine Hillary Clinton or her resolve. She is tougher than even her reputation allows and that is saying something. More importantly, reluctance is not her thing and she does not back down from a fight. But how tough is she really you might ask? How effective can Hillary Clinton be when she is pushed? How strong an advocate could she have been for Obama and the Democrats domestically? Watch this below and decide for yourself.




I do not regret Barack Obama's presidency. I think that he will turn out to be a great President. I am just tired of all the deliberation, reluctance, pandering, and faux bi-partisanism (it is only bi-partisan Mr. President if BOTH parties are involved). And sometimes, especially lately, I just wish that he had a little more of whatever it is that makes Hillary Clinton who she is inside of him too.

I love you Mr. President, but seriously, find your inner Hillary. We need her.