Bill Plante: What's best for Hillary?

By Bill Plante

May 10, 2008 03:39 am

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Big Freddy's mouth was down at its corners as he folded his morning paper and signaled the waitress for a refill.

"Wrong horse?" I asked.

"End of this one for Hillary," Freddy said. "For a match race runoff, it's been everything it could have been and more."

"If she goes down, she'll fight all the way," I said.

"But she needs a battery recharge, which even the Energizer Bunny needs to keep going, because she's running on empty," Freddy said.

"Well, she and Bill have their piggy bank to tap," I said.

"Which she has tapped heavy already, but it was Bill who filled it with all those speaking fees and whatnot. Did you watch what she tried to make for a victory speech after squeaking out a 2 percent win in Indiana? And did you recognize who was standing behind her looking like death warmed over, trying to keep his eyes open? He knows over, and this is over. So do the unpledged superdelegates who are beginning to man what's left for lifeboats. They just don't want to seem like they're heading for them."

"It's best for the party, and there are bound to be letdowns for a lot of people if she folds," I said.

"But the pros know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em," Freddy said. "There's always another game to be played, but you need chips to stay in the game ahead, and the party needs all it can get. A lot of Hillary backers aren't Democrats. Some are borderline. A lot of women fought the good fight to get one of theirs in the White House. Some will go for Obama. Some will go for McCain, and some will sit this one out. The problem for the party right now is to get on with mending damage control."

"While Hillary does what?" I asked.

"What's best for Hillary," Freddy said, "which is what's best for the party."

"Vice president?" I asked.

"Possible — not likely," Freddy said. "Obama won't want Bill hanging around like Marley's ghost. But there's always tomorrow.

"It was one thing for Bush the father when he had to play second banana to Reagan. He did that for eight years before he made it to the Oval Desk. But Hillary doing that for what, eight years? Either she or Obama would be candidates for the psych ward. What's best for Hillary is what's best for the party, and vice versa, the way it was for Ted Kennedy back in the '70s. He failed twice, but hung in there and became the most powerful voice in the Senate.

"There's always tomorrow. Today is what was McCain's tomorrow eight years ago. He was what when he lost to Bush - 63?

"Obama's young enough to go for eight if he beats McCain. He gets to win a second term, she'll be 68. Who knows? Hope springs eternal. She's been at this since Arkansas when Bill was governor.

"A lot of things have changed since then, and the Clintons saw them coming during Bill's first term. The hard left and the hard right aren't where we are anymore. We've moved toward the center from both ends. If Obama sees that, he will bring some of both ends with him if he makes it against McCain.

"So does McCain, which is why he's had problems for eight years with the Republican far right. The far left didn't like Clinton but it went along. Whoever wins in November is going to have to let yesterday be yesterday.

"It takes a lot of grit to keep things on hold for eight years. It's only a mile or so from the Congress to the Oval Office, but getting from one to the other can take like forever. Eight years are not forever, but they can seem like they are when they are so close."

Bill Plante, of Newbury, is a Daily News staff columnist.