WillPatching.com

At the weekend Hillary Clinton finally admitted defeat in her battle for nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate and threw her ‘full support’ behind Barack Obama.

For the many people around the world who normally shun politics, especially the interminable US nomination/election process, this historic battle finally grabbed their attention: the ballsy lady and the eloquent black man, fighting for the privilege of running for the most powerful position on the planet.

Numerous pundits have blitzed the media – especially the blogosphere – dissecting the results and pondering the reason why Hillary went from heir apparent to runner up in a few short months.

Some blame errant campaign tactics, others blunders and infighting in her team, a few look to her relationship with lobbyists and the negatives of her Beltway background, others see her failure to capitalize on Obama’s weaknesses as the key, while a few PR types blame the confusion of messages about who and what Hillary stood for: from an experienced pair of hands, to her toughness as C-in-C when the phone rings at 3 am, to her blue collar credentials, and her desperate attempt to represent everywoman as the female candidate.

The truth is that all these things combined to destroy her ambition, yet Hillary is now bleating about the so-called glass ceiling: her failure was obviously down to her sex.

“…like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 6th June 2008

Is it true that America is still not ready for a female leader? Even after Britain’s Thatcher proved to have more testicular fortitude than Rambo? Or two decades after Pakistan became the first misogynistic Muslim state to elect a woman leader in the form of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto?

Are Democratic Americans really that myopic and narrow minded? And how, if the Democrats are so reactionary, could Obama’s colour still manage to break through the racist barrier?

Maybe it was Hillary’s character rather than her sex that determined the outcome…

Believing you have the right to lead does not make you a natural leader. Believing your experience as ‘somebody’s wife’ gives you a career edge is misguided. Denying the strengths of your opponent while flaunting your egotistic belief in your rightful destiny is courting disaster. And wheeling out your ex-President husband while claiming your common touch and cynically mouthing the word change merely exposed a breathtaking degree of arrogance.

For many of us it was both illuminating and disappointing to observe Hillary’s death grip on her waning campaign as it lurched, faltered and finally nosedived into oblivion. Witnessing her desperate hunger for power said more about her failings as a human being than any of the political pundits’ analyses.

Bleating about the ‘glass ceiling’ – and trying to paint yourself as the victim of ‘misogyny’ when in fact it was you and your team who screwed up – is not a worthy attribute of anyone who aspires to power. Fortunately the American public saw through her.

Hillary Clinton’s remarks implying sexism as the reason for her downfall merely confirm the simple truth about her fight with Obama: the best candidate won.