From today's Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5557189.html
Feb. 21, 2008, 5:14AM
Road to redemption for Clintons: Embrace Obama
The train's leaving — Bill and Hillary should be aboard
By DAVID BERG
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Acouple of summers ago, my wife and I attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, before she announced her candidacy for president, but long after it was obvious she was running. Earlier that week, we attended a town hall meeting with the recently elected Sen. Barack Obama, who, ironically, assured the audience that Sen. Clinton would be the next presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, that no one else was even close.
Hillary spoke first at the fundraiser, but each time she began to talk, Bill interrupted her and monopolized the floor. The situation quickly became uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the assembled Democrats were not likely to be upset with Bill Clinton, who, like Lazarus, had risen from the dead, ending his troubled presidency with a 66 percent approval rating and emerging through ubiquitous good works as one of the most respected men on Earth.
Republicans and Democrats agreed: If Bill Clinton could run for president, he would win.
That is why it was so shocking to hear Bill Clinton, regarded by many as the "first black president," try to marginalize Obama's impending win in the South Carolina primary as a mere consequence of his race. That was the moment — when Bill Clinton made comments dismissing Obama's strong showing because Jesse Jackson had won that state's primary twice in the 1980s — that many of his admirers turned away from him. It was also the moment when Hillary, having forfeited center stage to her husband, also forfeited whatever chance she had to gain the nomination.
There are consequences beyond losing elections for the Clintons. I wish the two of them could have overheard, as I did, the young African-American prosecutor behind me at the Obama rally in Houston Tuesday night, who told his friend how shocked he was by those comments, and how — I was surprised by this — it had made him cry when President Clinton said that voting for Obama was like "rolling the dice."
I wish the two of them could have seen the ocean of black faces, brown faces and white faces, and felt the good will that permeated that arena. I wish that they could have heard the excited 10-year-old next to me, jumping up and down on her seat, waiving her Obama sign and chanting, "Si, se puede" with the crowd. (In the interest of full disclosure, that child is my daughter, Caitlin, and in truth, as excited as she was over Obama, when he suggested that we have to do a better job as parents and turn off the TV, her mood darkened, and she asked anxiously, "What about new episodes"?)
I guarantee you, as the oldest living man in America who has actually attended a Hannah Montana concert, my daughter is completely colorblind. From what I have seen of her generation, and that of my grown sons', that is the norm, not the exception. Racial politics simply won't work; not this time — and if all that good will seeps into the wider world — perhaps never again.
I wish, frankly, that the Clintons, who in many ways helped make Obama's candidacy possible, could hear firsthand how they let down so many people who cared about them and supported them through many tough years — how by their divisive tactics they have become the people and politics they deplore.
In short, I wish they could have been there Tuesday night to understand clearly how times and mores have changed and, perhaps, to understand how important it is that a new generation be given a chance.
Despite all this, there is a road to redemption for the Clintons. Hillary should simply admit the obvious: It's all over. If she has any lingering doubts, just look to Wisconsin, where she lost overwhelmingly in the state that practically invented white people. If she needs more proof, take it on faith from one who has lived here forever: She's going to lose the Texas primary, too. Against all odds, Barack Obama will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. Hillary should concede the race now and, along with her husband, throw her wholehearted support to Obama.
By doing that, by taking the high road that seems to elude them presently, Sen. Clinton will reclaim her place as a central figure in the Democratic Party, and President Clinton, his iconic role on the world stage.
Even in defeat, Bill and Hillary probably can do more than any other Americans to unite the Democratic Party behind Obama and help him become the next president.
But they had better act quickly, because it's going to happen, and that train, with their disappointed friends aboard, is about to leave the station.
Berg, a Houston trial lawyer and writer, became a contributor to the Obama campaign after the South Carolina primary. He can be e-mailed at dberg@bafirm.com .
