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To Exit or not to Exit
Posted on: May 09, 2008
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton now faces a dilemma of how she can make a dignified exit from the race. For the aides, donors and political allies of Clinton, the writing on the wall is clear that the Democratic nomination now appears out of reach.
“There is a profound sadness, I don’t think anyone sees that there’s a clear path to victory here,” said one of the staff members of Clinton’s team to Los Angels Times.
Many of the Clinton’s campaign team members feel that its time for Hillary Clinton to think of plan B. Hillary Clinton acknowledged that she had come under growing pressure to drop out. She suggested that she would remain in race at least
until Tuesday’s primary in Virginia.
Obama denied that he is the presumptive nominee and said to NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams that “if Sen. Clinton decides not to go on, or if we complete the six contests and we are ahead as we are now. But nothing is certain. I don’t want to take it for granted.”
But Hillary Clinton may find it difficult to quit having put on so much effort and raising over $200 million in the campaign. Her campaign persona is now built on the idea that she’s working-class America’s scrappy warrior. So dropping out with six contests left in the campaign season would be awkward.
“She wasn’t talking exit. She’s talking winning,” said a Democratic Party Member to Los Angels Times.
They are divided over what course she should follow. Some believe she should not drop out until the last contests on June 3. Others contend she should exit “gracefully” sometime this month.
One supporter familiar with the campaign’s operations said that Clinton wants to go out on a positive note by winning in West Virginia and Kentucky, whose primaries are May 13 and 20, respectively.
She also would want a resolution to the disputed elections in Florida and Michigan, the campaign supporter said. That would enable her to say she worked successfully to give those voters a voice.
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