Clinton's RFK Statement Made Sense to Me

But first, I wanted to clear up some confusion regarding what she actually said the other day regarding Bobby Kennedy and the context in which she said it.

Intro

Contrary to what some believe here, she did not stand up in front of a crowd with a bull-horn and command them, "Remember Bobby Kennedy?  Kill Obama!  Kill Obama!"

She made some remarks in a private meeting with journalists -- albeit one that she knew was taped and on the record -- in the context of questioning as to exactly why she continues to carry on her candidacy when a nomination victory for her is very implausible, if not impossible.

People who were at the meeting have clarified what was going on in the room at the time.  It just didn't happen the way that it was presented as happening here in so many recommended diaries.

Moving on ...

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Surprise, Surprise

Her remark surprised me in a couple of ways.

The first is that it indicated to me that she is no longer a candidate in this race in her own mind.  She is going through the motions.  She is running out the clock.  She sees value in the legacy of "being the first female candidate to take the race all the way to the convention."  She is standing by her supporters and -- yes -- her donors.

She is no longer speaking to voters, not in South Dakota, or anywhere else.

I honestly thought that she had maintained, through sheer force of will, a commitment to the race, to driving it all the way to the conclusion, where possibly she might ...

But no.

Second, I was surprised at how casually she exposed a key clue here as to what kind of thinking is going on in her campaign:

She acknowledged that she and her people think that only absolutely exceptional and extraordinary -- even unthinkable -- circumstances will make her the nominee.  Am I happy that she invoked Bobby's name?  No.  (More on that below.)  But I can see how conversations might be taking place in the Clinton headquarters, along the lines of:

"Can we really win this thing?"

"No.  The only way we win is if Obama died.  That's how screwed we are."

Even Hillary knows that she will not be the nominee, not unless something absolutely extraordinary were to happen.  She just won't.

(As above, though, I was surprised at the breeziness with which she communicated it.)

Finally, about invoking Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

Oh, no she just didn't.

But she did and, once I overcame my astonishment, I just don't see where she did it in a way that diminished his memory at all, or shamed it, or engrandized herself on its back or anything like that.  She mentioned it as a campaign event that dramatically changed the race ... and that was it.

That was it.

The surprise to me was that she did not -- or does not -- seem to understand what Bobby Kennedy's 1968 candidacy meant and means to many people in the Democratic base, even to people like me who were, as the Religious Right says, "pre-born."

The assassination was personally tragic to his family and those who knew and loved him.  In terms of our movement as Democrats and Liberals (and yes, you Progressives out there, too) -- it was a cataclysmic event and it set in motion further events of history from which, in some ways, we have not yet recovered.

Somehow, after so many years being a high-visibility Democrat ...

She doesn't know us.

She's hardly unique on that point.  Seeing Nancy Pelosi get in front of cameras and ecstatically announce yet another free trade partnership deal with country XYZ in Latin America ...  Seeing the flash of victory in her eyes ...  Seeing her look at America and say, "Isn't this all grand?!"

(Answer:  No.)

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Conclusion

So ...  Anyway ...

I understood what Sen. Clinton meant when she talked about Bobby Kennedy's assassination.  She didn't mean what you think she did.  What she did mean should gladden the hearts of Obama supporters, not cloud them, even if she came across as coarse and unseemly.

But the lingering impression remains ...

She doesn't know us.

She just doesn't know us.

And that really surprised me.