Hillary Clinton shocked the nation this April Fool’s Day by announcing early this morning that she was pulling out of the Democratic presidential race and throwing her support to Barack Obama. “I cannot in good faith continue my candidacy when the math says I cannot win,” Clinton stated, surprising a crowd of supporters at a breakfast event in Philadelphia. Clinton made her announcement just days after insisting that she would stay in the race until the late August convention, a decision that led many to question her motives. But these concerns were pushed aside as Clinton insisted: “this race is not about me, but rather about what is best for America, and voters have decided that Barack Obama should be the Democratic nominee.”
Just days after the Clinton camp insisted that Hillary Clinton was in the race to stay, the New York Senator shocked a crowd of supporters in dropping out of the race. Her decision brought tears to the eyes of her loyal supporters, but was seen as the best possible move she could make at a time when political insiders increasingly felt she was putting her personal interests ahead of the Democratic Party.
Prior to her public announcement, Clinton made a personal phone call to Barack Obama to inform him of her decision. Obama, who is still on his bus tour through Pennsylvania with Senator Bob Casey, told a surprised crowd in Harrisburg, “I received a call this morning from Senator Clinton announcing that she was withdrawing from the race. I told her that I appreciated her support, and that I looked forward to campaigning with her this fall to make sure that Democrats take back the White House.”
Reaction from political pundits was mixed. CNN, which has reaped high ratings from the competitive Democratic race, was less than enthusiastic. Wolf Blitzer raised questions about the role of Democratic insiders in Clinton’s withdrawal, and Lou Dobbs, who has repeatedly bashed the Democratic Party over its handling of the Florida and Michigan delegates, saw Clinton’s action as “further evidence that a Party eager to give rights to illegal aliens nonetheless denies democracy to full-fledged citizens in future primary states.”
Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, who had criticized many aspects of Clinton’s campaign, used her withdrawal to sound a positive note. “Hillary Clinton understood that she was burning every bridge for her future political career, and to her credit put the public interest ahead of her own.”
Keith Olbermann on Countdown echoed Matthews. “Hillary Clinton took a statesmanlike approach and deserves the thanks of all Democrats. She has suddenly improved her image among a large portion of the electorate that was getting increasingly exasperated by her campaign tactics.”
But not all the reaction to Clinton’s announcement was positive.
Gloria Steinem, who wrote a controversial New York Times article arguing that Clinton deserved support because women were greater victims of discrimination than African-Americans, described Clinton’s withdrawal as “a sad day for America. Once again, a talented woman is subjected to a media double standard and is forced to step down for a less qualified male. I thought our country was better than this.”
The right-wing Republican anti-feminist Ann Coulter, who had vowed to campaign for Hillary Clinton in a race against John McCain, shared Steinem’s disappointment. “It’s a clear signal that the Democratic Party takes women for granted. Clinton’s withdrawal leaves me no choice but to back John McCain against Reverend Wright’s friend Barack Obama in November.”
Attention will now turn to Obama’s potential Vice-Presidential nominees, with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey among the early favorites.
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