Will Clinton Go Independent ?

Sen. Clinton can’t get the nomination without getting the superdelegates to go against the primary voters. Sure theoretically it could happen, but not likely.

So she’s going tooth and nail to bloody up Obama. Why? So he’ll lose? Is there any scenario where she could gracefully exit? She’s been spectacularly ungraceful so far and I can’t see that happening. So why should we assume she’s going away? The Clinton campaign has made Fox News and Scaife legit — is it too far gone to think she’ll go independent in order to take the entire election down?

In the past I would have said no, but no more. She thinks her personal goals are far more important than the Democratic party.

27 Responses to “Will Clinton Go Independent ?”


  1. Gravatar Icon 1 TX Liberal

    I dont think so. IMO she is planning on taking this one or ruin the party trying. McCain will not need a third party to take away democratic votes based on the divisions currently forming unless someone stops her no-holes-barred campaign style. For that matter Obama needs to start hitting back hard. He is apparently concerned about ruining his image as a different kind of candidate. While I truly admire him and would prefer that be the case, this is not going to work with the Clintons and neocons who have no morals when it comes to political campaigns.

  2. Gravatar Icon 2 TX Liberal

    BTW Oliver, I loved the “Calvinball” comparision. Truly classic!

  3. Gravatar Icon 3 Davis X. Machina

    I fully expect to see the proposal surface on TalkLeft, MyDD, Corrente, or the like, before June 1.

    If she believes what her friends say — that Obama’s receiving he nomination guarantees a McCain victory — then she owes it to the nation.

    Why not, therefore, run as an independent? Sen. Clinton’s chances of throwing the election into the House, and winning there, are no less — or more — robust than her chance of winning the Democratic nomination. And if it doesn’t work, she goes back to the Senate, forever.

    It’s just Lieberman, scaled up.

    He’s still in the Senate, still caucuses with the Dems, still has a committee chair. He’s paid no price. Why would Mrs. Clinton expect harsher treatment?

  4. Gravatar Icon 4 Caged Lion

    I shudder at the thought, but it is within the realm of possibility that she would pull a Leiberman.

  5. Gravatar Icon 5 z_adura

    There is no way that she does that. It would be political suicide.

  6. Gravatar Icon 6 MobiusKlein

    Dear god, no.

    But if she does, the vote would likely go to the House, where there would be a chance of sanity.

  7. Gravatar Icon 7 merl

    No, she won’t. Will Obama?

  8. Gravatar Icon 8 Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

    For those thinking that Hillary will go third party, realize the hurdles to get on the ballot in a lot of states. A few years ago in PA they made it tough for most third parties to get on the ballot, basically guaranteeing the two party monopoly. Besides, where is she going to get the money from? What makes you think any of her smarter supporters will want to blow money on the Mark Penn retirement fund?

  9. Gravatar Icon 9 jr

    Hillary’s already independent. She doesn’t care that she’s taking money away from our senate and congress races. She can’t wait to help Cindy pick out the new curtains so she can run in 2012

  10. Gravatar Icon 10 Duros62

    No, she won’t. Will Obama?

    No.

    Lieberman is the new Zell Miller.
    Clinton is the new Lieberman.

  11. Gravatar Icon 11 Matthew G. Saroff

    Damn, It’s not just Republicans who suffer from “Clinton Derangement Syndrome.”

  12. Gravatar Icon 12 sfcb

    Totally off-topic, but it’s not “no holes barred”. That’s something out of a porno. It’s “no holds barred”.

  13. Gravatar Icon 13 Lee Coles

    On Radio One, Joe Madison has asked his listeners to surround the convention hall in Denver during the DNC Convention if Billary manages to steal this thing w/o the most votes and states.

  14. Gravatar Icon 14 The Confidence Man

    When Obama finally nails down the Dem nom, Hillary will … accept McCain’s “surprise,” “bipartisan” invitation to be his VP candidate.

    Yes, a McCain-Clinton administration would be a clusterfuck of even greater proportions than Bush-Cheney — but I think a McCain-Clinton ticket would be a virtual lock (albeit one with a small margin of victory) over Obama-anyone.

  15. Gravatar Icon 15 Enlightened Liberal

    I don’t know, McCain/Clinton will probably keep the Republican base home. Can’t see them pulling the lever for the woman they call “Hitlery”. Dems will vote for Obama, independents will vote even for both and we win.

    Or maybe not, what do I know?

  16. Gravatar Icon 16 Duros62

    Yeah, I think a McNovocain/Clinton ticket would make a lot of heads go ’splody on both sides.

    Plus the fact, would the GOP really want “that woman” to have the same power that Darth Cheney enjoys now?

  17. Gravatar Icon 17 ResumeMan

    No, Clinton won’t go independent. She’s “in it to win it.” That doesn’t mean that she would stop short of destroying Obama in her quest to win the Dem nomination. But if she doesn’t she knows damn well she can’t win as an independent, so she wouldn’t try.

    And no, she won’t be McCain’s VP. It’s kind of fun to snark about, given how Rovian her politics has been lately. But just because she seems to be imitating a Republican doesn’t make her one. And as disgusted as we all are with Hillary these days, it doesn’t come close to the deep, visceral loathing that the Republican base has for the Clintons. Makes their distaste for McCain look like a love-fest. Picking Hillary as his VP would be even more deadly for McCain than it would be for Obama.

  18. Gravatar Icon 18 Bobbski

    Are you counting Teddy K. among those superDs who voted against their constiuants?

  19. Gravatar Icon 19 Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

    ResumeMan:
    You do know that Hillary was once a Goldwater Girl, right? So there is plenty of basis for that charge.

    Lee Coles:
    Joe Madison shouldn’t worry. If Hillary does steal it, Denver will make Chicago in 1968 look like a sunny Sunday afternoon stroll in the park.

  20. Gravatar Icon 20 Zython

    Ok, let’s get the Hillary fanatics out of here:

    As an out-of-state Iowa college student, why should I vote for someone that tried to prevent me from voting in the caucus which I had the right to vote in?

    I CAN provide a link, but after ignoring it 8 or 9 times, you’ll have to beg.

  21. Gravatar Icon 21 Duros62

    Because, Zython, caucuses are unfair!!!11!!

    But just because she seems to be imitating a Republican doesn’t make her one.

    From the tenor of the last, what 7 or 8 months, it seems she is imitating a Democrat.

  22. Gravatar Icon 22 Quaker in a Basement

    Will Clinton go independent?

    No.

    The “she’s out to destroy the party” notion is made up B.S.

  23. Gravatar Icon 23 Duros62

    Yes, but you gotta admit, she ain’t helping.

  24. Gravatar Icon 24 thewildlunch

    Hillary going independent is a real possibility. There are logistical problems, as has been noted above, involving getting on the ballot and money/funding. However, if she were to declare her candidacy as an independent, big donors would probably not be scarce.

    Everything she is saying now could be used as an argument for a 3-way race in November. In the fall, she could effectively characterize Obama’s Dem candidacy as illegitimate on the basis of the exclusion Mich./Florida, and her campaign could continue to paint him as an anti-american liberal for his association with Rev. Wright and others.

  25. Gravatar Icon 25 Duros62

    She’d still be wrong on both counts.

  26. Gravatar Icon 26 Rocco

    Hillary should run as an independent after what the democrap party did to her. Kennedy, Kerry, and the rest of the losers, yes losers who couldn’t win. Bill Clinton is the only winner. Obama will lose in the general no doubt about it. If Hillary makes it a three way race -it’s hers. She is by far the best choice.

  27. Gravatar Icon 27 jank brock

    I agree Rocco, I would like to see her say fuck this part (it’s fucked up anyway)and take this General Election right away from both parties.
    What a perfect time to surge ahead with a third party.

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