Is Hillary Just Getting Started Or Just About Done?

Clinton Has A Devoted Following And Potentially Large Clout In The Senate, But The Presidency Is An Uncertain Prospect

by Bruce Stokes

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008


Hillary Rodham Clinton now has to prove F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong by demonstrating that American lives do indeed have second acts. But as the post-defeat careers of Eugene McCarthy, Gary Hart, and Bill Bradley attest, getting those acts together can be mighty difficult for the runner-up in a battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And, warns 75-year-old Clinton delegate Jerry Straughan of California, "The clock is running. She is 60 years old. I think she has 15 more years."

How Clinton uses that time could determine her political legacy. She leaves Denver as the spiritual leader of the women's movement. But much is beyond her control. If Barack Obama wins the White House, Clinton could play second fiddle to him in national politics for eight long years. If Obama loses, Clinton risks being blamed because she kept fighting for the nomination until June.

The Obama camp already holds a grudge against her for a variety of campaign incidents. They have been no more willing to let go of their animosity than have the Clinton partisans, whose gripes have received far more press in recent days.

Many -- perhaps millions -- of Clinton's devotees have not given up the dream that Act 2 will be in the Oval Office. "I still see her future as the president of the United States," said Martha Flores-Vazquez, a Clinton delegate from New York.

Most supporters expect Clinton to become the liberal voice of the Senate -- first and foremost on universal health care, but also on competitiveness and jobs. "She can be the Teddy Kennedy of her era," predicted former Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee. Few see her ever taking a formal leadership role in the Senate.

Nevertheless, Clinton's successes in the spring primaries are expected to be an unparalleled asset on Capitol Hill. "She will be a moral leader and a political force in the Senate and the nation," predicted Ann Lewis, a Clinton confidant. "No other senator comes back to that body with 18 million votes, with a core of enthusiastic supporters and more than a million names on her e-mail list."

But some supporters would like to see less glitz and more elbow grease. "She should go back to the Senate in the fall and just do her job," said Etta Walker, a Clinton delegate from Kansas, reflecting the public's low opinion of lawmakers' work ethic. "People like people doing their jobs."

Others foresee a future outside Congress for Clinton. "She could be governor of New York. Or, I would like to see her on the Supreme Court," said Polly Baca, a Clinton delegate from Colorado.

Ultimately, the size of the stage on which Clinton will perform her second act will depend on many things beyond her control, such as whether Obama wins in November. But surely she has already calculated that on Election Day 2012 she will be just 65. And on Election Day 2016, she will be 69 -- three years younger than John McCain will be on Friday.

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