David Yepsen is a political reporter for the Des Moines Register. He has gained some national significance for his reporting on the Iowa caucuses, having his columns reprinted by other papers and making appearances on all the cable news channels.
His column in Thursday's paper, "Say Good Night, Hillary", suggests it is time for Sen. Clinton to withdraw from the presidential race.
Yepsen opened his column with:
While surfing the cable news networks for election returns Tuesday night, viewers could also watch a Weather Channel story about the 1940 British withdrawal of troops from Dunkirk in World War II.
Perhaps Hillary Clinton and her people noticed it too.
Just as the Brits found it better to withdraw in order to fight again another day, it’s time for Clinton to get out of this presidential race in order for her party to prepare for what will be a tougher then expected fight against John McCain.
Yepsen points out that the reality of Clinton's situation is getting hard to ignore. A story in the today's New York Times details some of the campaign spending and fundraising problems that plague Hillary. For one thing, communications director Howard Wolfson made $267,000 in January alone. How well did that pay off? The ultimate problem for Hillary is how her campaign performs against Obama, and the Times went on to say:
Mrs. Clinton came into January with a cash advantage over Mr. Obama, with about $19 million available for the primary, compared with about $13 million for him. She wound up spending at roughly the same rate as Mr. Obama, about a million dollars a day, but because she performed dismally compared to him in raising money, she ended the month essentially in the red and was forced to lend her campaign $5 million, while he had $19 million for the coming contests.
The Yepsen column also reviews some of the other obvious problems. Hillary has lost 10 contests in a row. Attempting to turn the superdelegates against the will of the voters would turn ugly. A fight over Michigan and Florida delegates could also reflect badly on Hillary.
Hillary's debate performance last night, although very solid, did not appear to have any big moments that would turn momentum. Yepsen said that "If she departs in a gracious, classy way, she could lower her unfavorable poll ratings and enhance her power in Democratic politics and in the U.S. Senate." Hillary's closing answer in the debate was a step toward this. It was gracious and classy:
"And, you know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. Whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election should be about."
I have tremendous amount of respect for Senator Hillary Clinton. She is an outstanding senator for New York. She is the most inspiring politician that women in our country have ever had. She is smart, dedicated, hard-working, and has a great future ahead of her. I believe her best interest right now, along with the best interests of the Democratic party and the country, is to remain in the Senate. The presidency is still possible for her in the future. I agree with David Yepsen that the time has come for Hillary Clinton to step aside in favor of Barack Obama. Mr. Yepsen closed his column with:
A gracious, honorable admission of defeat isn’t something the Clintons do easily. They didn’t get where they are by being quitters. But sometimes it’s necessary.
In politics, like the theater, how you perform in your final act is the one the audience remembers.