Democracy for Vancouver

Hillary did us no favors “vetting” Obama for us as long as she did:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO and senior adviser to Sen. John McCain, met with a group of 25 prominent supporters and fundraisers for Sen. Hillary Clinton at a private home in Westchester County, NY. The group included several so-called “Hillraisers,” each of whom have raised in excess of $100,000 for Clinton’s failed primary campaign. The meeting was repeatedly sought by the Hillary supporters and is at least the second such meeting between backers of Clinton and the McCain campaign.

An organizer of the meeting, Amy Siskind, said that the pro-Hillary groups represented pledged to help deliver, “hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of votes,” to McCain if the groups find areas of agreement between themselves and his campaign.

While I can’t climb inside the psychology of these people - or anyone who could support a Democrat and flip to McCain - I can make out the contours. This was as predictable as Hillary Clinton’s eventual loss.

There is a tipping point between leaders and the led. A leader will incite her followers to a fever pitch - as Hillary did right up until the day she “suspended” her campaign - in order to try to create an unstoppable momentum. But when that leader suddenly makes a sharp turn, or removes herself entirely from the field, physics takes over and the leader is no longer in control. The followers rush past under their own power, unable to brake or wrench their psychological wheel in time. Like a 40,000 ton vessel on the ocean that needs two miles of open water to come to a dead stop, the leader needs to provide enough distance between her exit and the ultimate event to give her followers time and space to make the adjustment.

For whatever reason (EGO! EGO! EGO!), Hillary Clinton was not willing to give up, to gracefully step aside, to slow the ship down in time to avoid the collision with November 4th. And the rest of us will pay for it.

Obama will still win - his numbers and the continued enthusiasm of his supports vis a vis McCain’s are proof of that.

But will Obama have the kind of win that will outstrip the GOP’s capacity to steal the election at the margins? Even if Obama does win outright, if it is slim enough to resist his claim of a mandate, his power will be significantly diminished (especially given the new meme of “why isn’t Obama winning bigger?”).

Obama will need all the political capital he can get to make the kind of changes necessary to get this country out of war and back on track economically and socially.

So, for those who said the elongated primary season was nothing to worry about, and that it was just toughening up Obama for the general and keeping the Democrats in the news to the detriment of McCain: You may be right if all you care about is politics.

But if you care about this country, about civil rights and privacy and justice and bringing the U.S. back to a place where it does not torture or undertake illegal, murderous wars, Hillary Clinton’s refusal to give her supporters the bad news, and graciously and enthusiastically turn them on to Barack Obama before the bitter end of the primaries, is an unmitigated, unnecessary disaster.

I haven’t seen much of Hillary Clinton (outside of Unity, New Hampshire) stumping for Obama, and I’ve seen nothing of Bill (who’s taken his ball and gone home in a huff) or Chelsea. And for all I know, the Clintons could be behind the meetings with Fiorina, still pumping up the jack, trying to leverage Hillary into the VP slot.

If they really want Obama to be elected, the Clintons better make themselves a helluva lot more visible. And they can’t wait until after the convention to do it.

h/t to Atrios for the link.