Obama's Big Mistake

Obama and his advisors made a terrible mistake today. They caved to the Clintons. They withered before the whining, needy grievance of Bill and Hillary. They had already given Hillary Tuesday night primetime, Bill Wednesday night prime time, and now they got rolled into Hillary having her name put into nomination, getting a roll call vote and even letting Hillary's media team do her own set up and filming.

Bill is despondent because he is no longer in charge of the party and was not a successful kingmaker--or queenmaker in this case. Hillary's motives are less clear; however, what is clear is that she had the choice of saying no, of not pressing and insisting on this. Bill predictably passed up the chance for peace and was willing to risk the election for his narcissism. Hillary just miscalculated. Her recalcitrance will cost Obama in several ways.

Her last woman standing hard-enders cannot be assuaged. There is no therapy or ransom that will satisfy them. "Catharsis" is what Sen. Clinton claimed her supporters deserved. We should remember is a term from Greek tragedy. It usually follows the death of the hero. Nice.

Most importantly, in this horrible miscalculation by Obama, is the material it will provide to the Republicans. We can predict that their talking point will be: If he can't stand up to Hillary, how can we trust him with Putin and Ahmadinejad?

It's a phony issue but possibly an effective weapon, aimed at the sense of uncertainty some have concerning Obama's toughness. Obama has lost the appearance of control over the up-coming convention.

The Republicans run ads picturing Obama between two white blonde starlets, with phallic towers and obelisks in the background. The Clintons unhelpfully counteract this image of potency by trying to un-man him. This is not good for Obama and the democrats.