Clinton's backers can't believe candidacy may come to end
NEW YORK - Facing the likely end of Hillary Clinton's historic quest for the presidency, devoted supporters wrestled last night with all the stages of grief.
There was the shock of having lost the majority of delegates to Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a freshman lawmaker who many of Clinton's backers never imagined would be a threat. Some were still in denial, insisting Clinton could convince superdelegates - who jumped to Obama in droves yesterday - to reconsider.
Hopeful Clinton fans bargained: Maybe if Obama makes Clinton the pick for his running mate, female voters would support the ticket, delivering a win to the Democrats in the fall. A few accepted the all but certain conclusion that Obama had secured the delegates to win the nomination, and said the party would find a way to come together as one force against presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.
But mostly there was anger, as the mainly female supporters blamed the media, sexism, Obama - everything but the New York senator - as they bemoaned the failure of the most successful presidential female candidate in history to clinch the nomination.
"I feel very upset. I really feel that Hillary Clinton has been pushed out of the race. I don't think the media would push out a male candidate," said Sally Regenhard, who described her age as baby boomer.
Lynn Forester DuRothschild, 54, and sporting several Hillary Clinton buttons, said women would not simply accept Obama as their candidate - and might vote for Senator McCain of Arizona. "There is one man who's going to claim the presidency and get women [to vote for him], but it's not going to be Barack Obama," she said.
A few said they would never vote for Obama - even if Clinton asked them to. Others - mainly experienced politicians - expressed sadness at Clinton's loss, but maintained that the party would come together to beat McCain in the fall. "She will do anything to help us win in 2008," Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Texas Democrat, said of Clinton last night.
Clinton's backers were buoyed by the New York senator's unexpected win in the South Dakota primary, although the win came too late to deny Obama the majority of delegates he secured last night. A scream rose from the crowd at Baruch College in Manhattan as news arrived that Clinton had won South Dakota, and excited supporters shouted chants of defiance.
"Hill-a-ry! The Nominee!" the crowd yelled. "I believe in Hillary!" As Clinton spoke, they yelled "Denver! Denver!" - indicating they wanted her to fight for the nomination until the very end.
And Clinton, too, sounded more like a winner last night than a candidate whose campaign was almost certainly coming to an end. She spoke passionately about the people she had met during her long candidacy and the policy goals she hoped to achieve to help them.
"This has always been your campaign," Clinton said to her supporters, drawing a huge cheer when she said she would consider her options before deciding how to proceed. Whatever her decision, it will be made "with the best interests of our party and our country" at heart.
Even as Obama was racking up the superdelegates he needed to clinch the nomination, some of her backers said they still believed she could pull off a win by staying in the race and hoping to woo the party in her direction.
"Anything could happen. It still leaves us hoping for a miracle," said Jennie Walker, 45, who wrote a song, "It's Our Time," for Clinton. "It still leaves us very hopeful, maybe in denial," she said. 