One should be very cautious when choosing a metaphor with which to identify. Earlier in the week Hillary Clinton chose to equate her campaign with Eight Belles, the first filly to run in the Kentucky Derby in 9 years. The horse was listed as a 20:1 long shot, but Senator Clinton urged her supporters to put some money on the filly as a show of support to herself. I believe she also asked these same people to put some money toward her campaign, as well.
All of this sounded like a little light-hearted touching on popular culture for the candidate earlier this week. Yet as the dust settles on this tragic day for Eight Belles, I keep thinking about all of the ironies in this story.
I am a horse lover. I have been since childhood. I have trained and shown horses. I happily took my first "real" job mucking stalls just to be around the animals more. I am saddened and in shock at how this horse went down. But still the various levels of metaphor keep leaping out at me.
She was doing pretty well in the race, perhaps better than expected. Then, "out of nowhere" came this colt "Big Brown"--really his name, but I found irony in it. This colt was the "least experienced" horse to run this race since 1929. He has only ran in three races prior, and they weren't exactly high stakes. Never-the-less, he ran faster and with more talent than has been seen in a very long time. He blew past the other horses, and this long shot filly was the only one with enough in reserve to take pursuit. She showed heart and passion for the run. She did come in second, but would have been set up for a great career. Apparently the love (breeding) of running became her sole focus and she worked her entire self too hard. She crossed the finish line and fell. They found her two front ankles to be broken (no official explanation, but is sounds like stress fractures to me). She had to be euthanized right there on the track with thousands of fans watching the end.
When she broke from the pack in pursuit of the winner, it was apparent to observers that she had no chance of actually catching him. But she had such determination that they started cheering her on to see how close she could come. Who knows, if she had pulled back a hundred feet sooner (well ahead of the pack, but still number two) would she have avoided complete ruin--and death? We will never know.
This is a grim story, but talking in metaphors, what happens when Hillary comes in second. Has she run "full out" a few yards too long? Will there be anything worth saving? Will her ultimate demise be so thorough, that there is little joy left in the winning (or the party)? I am a fan of horses, not so much Hillary, but I hope that this election "horse race" can end on a better note as we have to "trailer up" and move on to the next one.