So today, after 504 days as a presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York suspended her campaign. Notice she didn't end her campaign, she “suspended” it. She did endorse her Democratic Party rival and now the presumptive nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, but she kept some doors open...just in case.
By suspending her campaign rather than ending it, she is retaining her ability to raise money. The campaign is said to be in debt to the tune of 30 million dollars. She also keeps her delegates up to the presidential nominating convention in August. And yes, it means she can “unsuspend” her campaign later in the season if she wants to.
While most analysts believed this was truly the end, some longtime Clinton watchers like former political aide Dick Morris don't believe this is truly the end. They think she is biding her time and ensuring she remains viable if something comes up that could torpedo Senator Obama. So she'll be around...just in case.
But in reality, this is the end of her campaign to seek the presidency. If Senator Obama loses this time around, she would have to wait another four years—maybe eight---to seek the office by which time she would be 69 years old. If she was yesterday's news in 2008, just think what she would be in 2012 or 2016.
Now she is being compared to Al Gore, Bill Clinton's vice president who also failed to gain the presidency. Since he's become Mr. Global Warming and earned a Nobel, he has a life direction; what can Hillary Clinton do?
Some observers are asking whether she would take the role of Senator Edward Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Others raise the possibility of a Supreme Court nomination in a Barack Obama presidency.
Whatever her future holds, it appears (barring some catastrophic event) it won't include the presidency of the United States.
More on her legacy in a future post.
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