Hillary Agonistes

"Congressional Democrats were the superdelegates of 1998--worried that the Clintons' campaign to save themselves would extend into the fall, threatening their own political existences. Some in the Senate were on the brink of traveling to the White House to advise the president to resign. But congressional Democrats ultimately rallied, and Hillary played a decisive role in that effort . . . So, if Hillary has believed that she can sway superdelegates in the face of conventional wisdom, it's because she has some experience to justify her self-confidence.

"Surviving impeachment didn't just require savvy tactics; it required defiance. The press predicted that MonicaGate would drive the Clintons from the White House. And, just as some liberal commentators argue that Hillary should end her candidacy for the good of the party and her own reputation, in 1998 many media outlets made similar arguments about her husband. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which had twice endorsed Bill, editorialized that resigning would be 'the honorable thing.' And it wasn't just ink-stained wretches. For a time, it seemed the entire Washington elite wanted the Clintons banished. A day before the 1998 election, Georgetown über-hostess Sally Quinn wrote in The Washington Post that 'the Washington establishment is outraged by the president's behavior' and suggested that he resign to spare her town further humiliation. Never mind that poll after poll showed Americans were quite content with Clinton."

But isn't there a difference between a sex scandal and falling behind in pledged delegates? There's no vast right-wing conspiracy in this case. But maybe Hillary has the same feeling of being kicked around by the press. Bill has certainly made his displeasure with the coverage quite clear.

At HuffPost, Barbara Ehrenreich says Hillary made history--and not in a good way:

"In Friday's New York Times, Susan Faludi rejoiced over Hillary Clinton's destruction of the myth of female prissiness and innate moral superiority, hailing Clinton's 'no-holds-barred pugnacity' and her media reputation as 'nasty' and 'ruthless.' Future female presidential candidates will owe a lot to the race of 2008, Faludi wrote, 'when Hillary Clinton broke through the glass floor and got down with the boys.'

"I share Faludi's glee -- up to a point. Surely no one will ever dare argue that women lack the temperament for political combat. But by running a racially-tinged campaign, lying about her foreign policy experience, and repeatedly seeming to favor [John] McCain over her Democratic opponent, Clinton didn't just break through the 'glass floor,' she set a new low for floors in general, and would, if she could have got within arm's reach, have rubbed the broken glass into Obama's face . . .

"Hillary Clinton smashed the myth of innate female moral superiority in the worst possible way -- by demonstrating female moral inferiority. We didn't really need her racial innuendos and free-floating bellicosity to establish that women aren't wimps."

At Salon, Walter Shapiro examines the politics of euthanasia:

"The New York senator has obviously reached the death-with-dignity phase of her 2008 ambitions. Normally in presidential politics three types of shortages drive a candidate out of a hopeless race -- a lack of press coverage, money and prominent supporters willing to keep on spinning and sowing. But, as Barack Obama is learning with each passing day, none of the usual rules apply while waiting for Hillary to hoist the white flag.

"The Clintons on the downslide remain a riveting psychodrama, so the press pack is unlikely to abandon them to speculate about President Obama's would-be secretary of agriculture. Having already invested (or squandered) $11 million on the campaign, Hillary and her n'er-do-well husband have another $98 million to go before they tap out . . .

"So what will it take for Obama to finally be allowed to celebrate the triumph of hope over experience?"

Some liberal bloggers, such as John Aravosis, are seething: